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On the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and the Fontanka Embankment the large Anichkov Palace complex is located. Both the palace and the bridge were named after Leutenant-Colonet M.Anichkov who supervised the building of the first wooden bridge.

In 1741 the construction of a vast country estate with a palace was started near the Anichkov Bridge. Anichkov Palace was one of earliest palace structures of B.-F.Rastrelli(1741-1751). In fact it had been M.G.Zemtsov who had started it before he died, having had time only to lay the foundations. The construction was completed by Rastrelli who might have party been tied by his predecessor's design. The exterior of the building did not differ from the modern one, unless to regard the entrance with a closed-type balcony that was added later. The window flamings were richly decorated with stucco, there stood shaped vases on the roof and elaborate domes elevated over the side wings. For a long time the palace was the property of the imperial family, since 1937 to 1990 it was the Palace of Pioneers, and now it's a museum over the Romanov family.