Lomonosov is a town in the Leningrad Region. It stands at the mouth of Karasta River on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland. It is a seaport.

The town of Lomonosov – initially named Oranienbaum (the town’s railway station has preserved the of name Oranienbaum) – is located at the distance of forty kilometers away from St. Petersburg. The town was named after the ingenious Russian scientist, educator, poet, and artist Mikail Lomonosov in 1948.

The country site where Lomonosov is located now was presented by Peter I to his colleague - the grand duke A. D. Menshikov. The duke launched construction of a large-scale estate named Oranienbaum, i.e. “a wild orange tree”. In 1948 Oranienbaum was renamed into Lomonosov.

Palace and park ensemble of Lomonosov (Oranienbaum) is a most valuable unique monument of the Russian culture and art of the 18th century.

Oranienbaum is the only St. Petersburg suburb, which was not subject to destruction by fascist aggressors in days of the Great Patriotic War. Damaged but not destroyed by war, the palaces, museums and parks of the Lomonosov town have preserved 18th century decorative designs in all their authenticity and originality. Therefore they are of enormous artistic value as original architectural monuments that acquaint us with history and art of the past.

The palace and park set of Oranienbaum includes three ensembles. This is the Bolshoy Palace, Petershtadt and Sobstvennaya Dacha with its main constructions of the Chinese Palace and Waterslide Pavilion. They vividly represent the architecture of baroque of the early 18th century and classicism of the 1760s-70s.

The Oranienbaum art ensemble created by inspired renowned architects, painters, and talented handicraftsmen of the 17th century, holds an absolutely special place in the history of the Russian and world culture.

Till 1917 Oranienbaum was a country residence of the imperial family and the nobility. Then it was turned into a museum. Today in the area of the Lomonosov town harbours 210 history and culture monuments.