Originally being populated by Russians and Finns, the ancient settlement of Strelna, situated on the Southern Shore of the Gulf of Finland, was changing hands several times. Russians and Swedes were fighting for this land till 1617, when the area finally went to Sweden. But after the Northern War this territory was recovered by Russians and the development of the area was started by Peter the Great. Initially Strelna was meant to be the Russian Versailles – it was planned to build a richly decorated palace and park ensemble with fountains and gardens, but later Peter the Great found Peterhof as a better place to realize his plans and Strelna remained undeveloped.

In the beginning of 18^th century the architects Lebnon and Rastrelli submitted the project of future residence and the wooden palace was built, but in 1720 it was reconstructed into a permanent residence by the architect Nikolo Miketti. The new palace was presented to Elizabeth, tsar’s daughter, but it was used mostly as wine-cellar. After several more reconstructions, the residence went to the son of Emperor Paul I, Konstantin. Since that time the residence got its present name – Konstantinovsky Palace.

Strelna belonged to the imperial family until the October revolution of 1917, when all the treasures, books, magnificent collections of paintings and pottery were distributed to different museums of Petrograd. During the World War II the area was occupied by Germans and the gardens and palace were completely destroyed. After the restoration of 1950s the territory of Konstantinovsky residence remained unclaimed. Only in 2002, before 300^th anniversary of Saint Petersburg, this area in Strelna went to hands of government and Russian president of that time Vladimir Putin decided to make his official residence in Strelna. The Palace went thought the complete reconstruction, the area got its modern look with canals, gardens and fountains.

Nowadays Strelna is a luxurious architectural complex with magnificent Konstantinovsky Palace and a number of richly decorated cottages bearing the names of the Russian cities called "The Consular Village". The State complex, called "Palace of Congresses, is used as a president residence, museum and business center at the same time.