Fountain house is the second name of  Sheremetiev Palace which was constructed in a baroque  style by the famous architect Savva Chevakinsky. The palace is situated in the left bank of Fontanka river opposite the empress’ Summer House. Peter the Great personally assigned this place for Field-Marshal Boris Sheremetiev for his contribution to the Northern War. The palace became famous not only for its architecture, but also for the romantic lovestory of Count Nikolai Sheremetev and the brilliant serf singer Prascovya Kovaleva-Zhemchugova, who later became Countess Sheremeteva, besides the palace was the favorite place to visit by such great writers as Pushkin, Zhukovsky, Turgenev, Glinka, Serov, Stasov, and many other talented writes, composers, artists and painters. After the revolution the palace became the property of Soviet state.

In 1936 the palace became the place of living  for the well-known Russian poetess Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966), who settled in a wing with her husband. In 1989 it was decided to create in the Fountain House the museum devoted to life and work of Akhmatova. The museum of Akhmatova contains well-known portraits and photographs of the poetess and her contemporaries, books from her library, rare editions, unique autographs of Silver Age poets and assorted memorabilia. The other part of the palace was transferred to the museum dedicated to the history of the Sheremetiev family and besides there is exhibition of musical instruments.