Elizabeth has commissioned the lovely Smolny Convent and the Winter Palace, though she died before both buildings were completed. Ironically, during Elizabeth's reign the area near the palace, which later became the Palace Square, was used as a grazing land for the royal cows. Elizabeth tried to follow many of her father's policies. Unlike some of her predecessors, she preferred to appoint Russians and not foreigners to the highest positions in the country. Being a patron of national arts and sciences, she established the Russian Academy of Arts. It has to be mentioned that Elizabeth was a very lively woman: she preferred to skip work when possible and enjoy balls, receptions, masquerades, firework displays, and other things which were a lot of fun.

Elizabeth's nephew Peter III did not rule for too long. Shortly after assuming power he was overthrown by his wife, a German princess, who soon became the famous Catherine the Great. Under her rule St. Petersburg turned into a "Grand City".

Catherine the Great

Catherine the Great assumed power in 1762 after a coup d' etat, which she engineered together with the officers of the Royal Guard. Unlike her husband, she was well loved by the country's elite and received a very good press in Europe thanks to her contacts with many figures of the French Enlightenment. Catherine's court was extremely luxurious. She was the first to move into the newly built Winter Palace.