In 1692, Peter I founded the Soldier's Sloboda of Colonel F.Ya. Lefort with 500 households on the high left bank of the Senichka River, away from the Yauza. The sloboda was planned along the river in two rows of narrow rectangular blocks with small wooden yards, typical for such settlements.

At the southern border of the sloboda, the Church of Peter and Paul was built. This first settlement was named Lefortovo, which later spread to the entire district. However, after the capital was moved to St. Petersburg, the sloboda lost its original significance, and by a decree in 1714, it was included in the list of places for settlement by merchants. But, like other remote slobodas, it did not attract merchants and was settled by small craftsmen and the poorest officials.

In 1707, wooden buildings of the Military Hospital were placed between the Soldier's Sloboda and the Yauza, which became the main medical center of Moscow and served as a medical educational institution. To the north of the hospital, by the Senichka, a pharmacy garden was laid out for growing medicinal herbs.

Golovinsky Garden, also known as Lefortovsky Park, was created in 1703 by order of Field Marshal Fyodor Golovin and named after Peter I's advisor Franz Yakovlevich Lefort. The park was designed in the style of Versailles and earned the nickname "Versailles on the Yauza." In 1722, Peter I acquired Golovin's estate to make it his Moscow residence and transformed the park in a Dutch style. The following year, Nikolai Bidloo began to decorate the park with sculptures, dams, and cascades, conducting large-scale earthworks.

In 1730, celebrations for the coronation of Anna Ioannovna took place at the Lefort residence, which she made her main Moscow residence and renamed "Annenhof." Legend has it that the "Annenhof Grove" appeared overnight at the whim of the empress when adult trees were planted.

For the construction of the summer palace, Anna Ioannovna invited architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli, who built the Summer Annenhof in the Baroque style. In 1736, he moved the Winter Annenhof from the Kremlin so that the empress could reside in the palace year-round. Rastrelli also worked on the park area, adding the Upper Garden with decorations from his father.

In 1742, Elizabeth Petrovna restored the park's name to "Golovinsky Garden" and made it open for visits. Under her, new buildings appeared: the theater "Opera House," the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, and the palace designed by Ivan Korobov and Bartolomeo Rastrelli.

In 1773, construction began on a new palace for Catherine II, designed by Prince Peter Makulov and architect Antonio Rinaldi. Completed in 1796, it became the largest building in Moscow. Giacomo Quarenghi worked on the finishing of the facades and interiors, while Francesco Camporesi handled the stucco work.

After the death of Catherine II, Paul I transferred the park and palaces to the military. The Catherine Palace became barracks for the police regiment of Nikolai Arkhara, and parade grounds appeared in the park area.

After the death of Paul I, the park remained under military control, and none of the subsequent emperors lived in the Lefort palaces. In 1856, celebrations for the coronation of Alexander II took place in the former Catherine Palace.

The complex was restored after the Patriotic War by Osip Bove and transferred to the cadet corps. In 1904, the park suffered greatly from a hurricane.

During the Soviet era, the park was transferred to the Officers' House of the Moscow Military District. In 1932, the Military Academy of Armored Forces was located in the Catherine Palace, now the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 1934, a stadium was built in the park.