When a messenger told Empress Catherine the Great about the Russian victory over the Turkish Fleet at the Bay of Chesma, she immediately decided to have a church built on the spot she was standing. Ten years later, in 1780, the foreign looking, white and red striped building was finished. Across from the church stands the neo-gothic Chesma palace. It served as a stopping ground for Catherine on her way to Tsarskoye Selo. It was also where Rasputin was laid in state after his murder. The church served as a museum during Soviet times but was revived as a place of worship in 1999. The palace currently houses an elderly person’s home.