First stone palace in Sarskaya Manor (the name of Tsarskoe Selo in the beginning of the XVIII century) was built upon the project by I. Braunstein as a summer country seat of Catherine I. In the end of 1742-beginning of 1743 extensive works on enlargment and rebuilding of the palace for Elizaveta Petrovna have started. The works were run by famous Russian architects M. Zemtsov, A. Kvassov, I. Tchevakinsky. In 1748 F. Rastrelli took the lead on the construction. The works were ended by 1756.
The palace impresses with its dimensions: the length of the facade is more that 300 meters. Sky-blue walls together with white columns and gilt decorations create a festive mood, so much corresponding to the person of "merry queen" Elizaveta. The facades are decorated with statures of atlants, lion masks and other sculptural effigies. The complex of the palace includes from the North side a court church, which is emphasized with five small cupolas. The South side of the palace relied with a cupola above the front stairs. In front of the facade there was a parade ground, limited with out-houses and circumferences - service blocks put in a semicircle.
The inner rooms of the palace were decorated in great splendour. Rustler created a ceremonial suite of rooms that pierced the building - from main stair to court church. It took about 100 kilograms of gold to gilt all the internal and external details of decoration. The Amber Room became the real pearl of the decoration of palace rooms. It was offered to Peter the Great by the king of Prussia and it was assembled in 1755 by the order of Elizaveta Petrovna. Grand hall and palace church outlooked by its splendour from the other interiors of Elizabethan period.
In the second part of the XVIII-XIX centuries part of the halls was reconstructed in other architectural styles, the Grand stair was taken to a new place. The palace was seriously harmed during the Second World War. The repair and restoration work isn't finished yet.