Ippolito Monighetti (1819 – 1878) became a popular architect for the Russian nobility of the mid-19th century, when a lavish and fanciful Baroque-like style was back in fashion. In the 1850s, he was commissioned by Nicholas I of Russia for refurbishing several rooms in the Zubov Wing of the Catherine Palace, including private rooms of the Emperor and Empress. But his most important work was the Main Staircase in the centre of the palace. Its moulded and carved decoration in the “Second Rococo” style remind of Bartolomeo Rastrelli’s spectacular Chinese Hall that was located here in the mid-1700s. For the Catherine Park, Monighetti designed the Turkish Bath pavilion, an original monument to Russo-Turkish Wars of 1828-1829.