Thanks for the info, Mike. The guide was the one who told us that the palace was eventually given to one of Catherine's favorites, but she gave us a lot of wrong info, so I am sure you are right! The place looked pretty abandoned though, when you got closer to it you could see broken windows, etc. I can't imagine anything is still stored in there!
I was wondering who the guy in the statue was, thanks! Wasn't the city of Tver renamed after Kalinin and then renamed back to Tver? Is Kalinin from Tver originally?