Review article

Grotto at the Krestovy Pond, a federal cultural heritage object of the XVIII century, a part of the «Catherine Palace» ensemble (1772-1776), referred to in scientific literature as «Rastrelli Grotto», is located in Moscow, Krasnokursantsky Proezd, 3/5. Scientific research carried out in the process of the cultural heritage object preservation, allowed clarifying the history of its creation, identifying the names of architects who participated in the construction, performing a reliable attribute study. The extant up to our time Grotto at the Krestovy Pond should be considered as a structure referring to the 1720-s - the first decade of the XIX century, a the creative genius symbiosis of a pleiad of outstanding architects N. L. Bidloo, V. V. Rastrelli, A. N. Bakarev (M. F. Kazakov), each of whom has left a spirit of his time in the architectural appearance of the park edifice design.