Background
Domenico was born in Astano, near Lugano, in the Italian-speaking Ticino (at that time a condominium of the Old Swiss Confederacy).
Domenico was born in Astano, near Lugano, in the Italian-speaking Ticino (at that time a condominium of the Old Swiss Confederacy).
He probably studied in Rome.
Subsequently, as he was working in Denmark, he was offered by Peter I of Russia, among other architects, to design buildings in the new Russian capital city, Saint St. Petersburg. Since 1703, when the city was founded, he substantially contributed to its most representative buildings. He also helped found and design Kronstadt and the Alexander Nevsky Monastery.
Domenico Trezzini was very important for another aspect of Russian architectural history: in founding a school based on the European model, he laid the foundations for the development of the Petrine Baroque.