The terrace of twelve pavilion-like buildings is a splendid example of civic architecture in the first third of the 18th century. It was built between 1722 and 1742 by Domenico Trezzini to house Russian’s supreme government ministries – the Senate and the collegia instituted by Peter the Great. Each building is under its own roof and has its own entrance.
In 1819 a part of, and in 1835 the entire collegia complex was assigned to the Saint Petersburg University. Saint Petersburg University made a significant contribution to the development of Russian science. It was the alma mater of many illustrious figures in Russian science and arts – Menshikov, Pavlov, Mendeleev, Blok and others.