MENSHIKOV PALACE

One of Peter I's closest pals was Aleksander Menshikov. Born to non-aristocratic parents, his rise to prominence was due to his having befriended Peter in childhood. Peter bestowed the governorship of Petersburg upon Menshikov and also that of Pushkin (Tsarskoye Selo) which he later took back. Before Peterhoff was built, Peter held official functions and parties at Menshikov's place.

Catherine I, Peter's second wife, was originally a serving girl working for Menshikov. Menshikov knew how much Peter liked women, particularly other people's women, and so despite their good friendship he was reluctant to show this particular serving girl to the tsar. Nonetheless, Peter was a crafty fellow and he managed to swoop her away from Menshikov. From there it was all grapes and roses for the girl who became tsarina and even ruled the country for a couple of years after Peter's death. Menshikov's fate after Peter's death was not quite as fortunate. He and his family were packed off to Siberia after he over-asserted himself in an attempt to weasel into power, culminating in a failed attempt to marry his daughter to Peter II. And people say there was no social mobility in pre-Revolutionary Russia. The palace exhibition, "Russian Culture of the First Third of the 18th Century," is interesting as an illustration of how the nobility lived back then.

Universitetskaya Naberezhnaya 15. Metro: Vasileostrovskaya. Open on an excursion-only basis 10:30-16:30, closed Mondays; call two days in advance or beg and plead. Tel: 213 1112. <\p>