A St. Petersburg palace that once belonged to Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich of Russia will be put up for auction on Wednesday with the initial price of 700 million rubles ($22.7 million), the St. Petersburg Property Fund said on its website.
Two buildings of the palace, located in St. Petersburg's historic center, on the bank of the Neva River, are included in the federal list of historical monuments. It was built in 1885 by Russian architect Maximilian Messmacher for Mikhail Mikhailovich, a grandson of Emperor Nicholas I.
However, Mikhail Mikhailovich never lived in the palace as he was sent into exile after marrying Countess Sophie of Merenberg, a granddaughter of Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, without his parents' permission.
The palace, which is built in a Neo-Renaissance style, is now under reconstruction.
ST. PETERSBURG, November 10 (RIA Novosti)
