Tsarskoe Selo, the beautiful summer residence of the tsars, was originally built in the eighteenth century. Peter the Great led the battles against Sweden and, having barely conquered the mouth of the Neva River, he began to build the city of St. Petersburg. The city was named not after himself, but after his patron saint, St. Peter. He ordered the nobles and merchants from Moscow to come populate his new city. Having done that, he began to build palaces, mansions, and country houses on the outskirts of the city, and encouraged his people to do the same. Tsarskoe Selo began as one of these small country estates. Before the Great Northern War had even ended, St. Petersburg was well established as a Russian city.
In 1708 Peter the Great passed the administration of Tsarskoe Selo to his good friend and advisor, Alexander Menshikov. Menshikov, however, did not have possession of Tsarskoe Selo for very long. In an order given by Peter I in 1710, some of the lands owned by Menshikov, including Tsarskoe Selo, were given to the future Catherine I, Empress of Russia.