Count Pyotr Vasilyevich Zavadovsky participated in the Russo-Turkish War, distinguishing himself in battles at Larga and Kagul. He conducted several successful military operations with a small detachment and was recognized as a hero of the campaign. In 1775, at a ball celebrating the victory over the Turks, he met Empress Catherine II.

The prominent and stately count caught the attention of Catherine II, who bestowed upon him a diamond ring as a mark of her highest favor. Soon, the empress appointed Zavadovsky as her personal secretary, entrusting him with correspondence and the preparation of decrees, accountable only to her.

However, Zavadovsky's connection with Catherine was short-lived. By 1777, she turned her attention to a new favorite, Semyon Zorich, and Peter Vasilyevich was sent on a six-month leave. He found the break with the empress difficult to bear.

Later, Pyotr Zavadovsky married, though probably not for love, and remembered Catherine until the end of his days. In 1781, he was appointed manager of the Noble Loan Bank in St. Petersburg, and from 1786, he became the director of the State Loan Bank. Under Emperor Paul, Zavadovsky fell out of favor and was exiled to Lyalichi, but Alexander I appointed him Minister of Public Education.

In gratitude for his service to Catherine II, Zavadovsky received 60,000 hectares of land in the village of Lyalichi and 2,500 serfs. The count was born in the village of Krasnovichi in the Chernigov province, so the choice of land was not accidental. He renamed his gift to Ekaterinodar.

Once, Zavadovsky participated in discussions about the construction of an assignation bank in St. Petersburg, which he liked very much. Upon learning of this, Catherine II commissioned Giacomo Quarenghi to design a palace for the count in Lyalichi, likely funding its construction.

Quarenghi, a renowned architect, designed many buildings in St. Petersburg, including the Smolny Institute and the Hermitage Theater. His work in Lyalichi was a unique case. Upon seeing the palace design, Zavadovsky noted that it was too large, but Catherine insisted on its construction.

To deliver bricks to Lyalichi, Zavadovsky organized a human chain of serfs who passed bricks hand to hand over a distance of 30 km. The architecture of the estate belongs to the era of mature classicism, and the finishing was very expensive, including gilded stucco and artistic painting.

In the main hall of the palace, two large staircases led to the second floor, where the living quarters were located. Many rooms had their own names, such as the round hall and the mirror hall. The windows were adorned with bas-reliefs of Catherine II, and her statue stood in the vestibule. However, the empress herself never visited the estate.

The palace had a symmetrical shape with two rounded wings ending in pavilions. The wings housed guest rooms, and the connecting corridor was single-story with high ceilings.

Zavadovsky took pride in his Lyalichi estate, which featured rotundas, alleys, statues, stables, and artificial ponds. In the count's gardens and greenhouses, exotic plants grew, including pineapples, which he loved to add to borscht.

In the 21st century, almost nothing remains of the palace. After Zavadovsky's death, the estate fell into decline. His son, who inherited the estate, soon sold it or lost it in a card game. Maintaining the palace was expensive, and by the 20th century, it changed several owners, gradually losing its former beauty.

After the revolution, a Jewish commune settled in the estate, and then the main building was dismantled, using the bricks to build a factory. A school was established in the left wing and pavilion, retaining Soviet paint.

Where the central house once stood, a forest now grows, and the floor has collapsed. In 1980, a restoration project for the estate was developed, but it was not implemented. Currently, the church of Saint Catherine has been partially restored, while the remaining buildings are just ruins.