In pre-revolutionary Russia, great attention was paid to the spiritual life of society, creating equal conditions for various Christian denominations, including Roman Catholicism. To this day, a complex of beautiful buildings of the Roman Catholic Spiritual College, founded by the decree of Emperor Alexander I, has been preserved. The former estate of the famous Russian poet Derzhavin, who had already passed away at that time, was acquired for this purpose. The well-known architect Alexey Mikhailovich Gornostayev took on the reconstruction of the estate, starting work in 1846.

The need for such a college arose due to the large number of Catholics in the Russian Empire, which increased after the annexation of the Kingdom of Poland under Catherine II. Russian monarchs recognized the importance of a delicate approach to religious issues. Thus, the college was founded in St. Petersburg in 1801, and the complex of buildings appeared in 1846. Under the guidance of architect Gornostayev, construction progressed quickly, and soon everything was completed. For nearly 70 years, the Roman Catholic Spiritual College fulfilled its functions, but after the arrival of Soviet power in 1918, it was closed, and the building was repurposed for communal housing.

Unfortunately, due to careless handling of the interiors during the Soviet era, the interior decoration of the building was almost destroyed, but the structure itself has been preserved. In the 1990s, the idea of creating a museum dedicated to poet Derzhavin emerged, and a final decision was made in 1998. Restoration of the ancient interiors began in the early 2000s, and in 2003, the museum opened. Today, it continues to operate, and the external and internal appearance of the former Derzhavin estate serves as an example of pre-revolutionary architecture.