Polish Garden is a small cozy park in the center of St. Petersburg. It is always quiet and calm here: as if there are no bustling city streets, noisy highways in the world. There is only you and nature. At the same time, everyone who enters here remains within walking distance from the usual whirlpool of life: Fontanka embankment is nearby, a five-minute walk to the Tekhnologicheskiy Institut metro station.
Polish parishioners
Why Polish garden? Because nearby is the Catholic Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, most of whose parishioners were Poles. From 1873 to 1926, the temple was a cathedral, was the residence of the Metropolitan of Mogilev (St. Petersburg was part of the Mogilev Archdiocese, the Metropolitan headed the Catholic Church of a vast empire).
In 1930 the cathedral was closed. During the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) the building was damaged by bombings, it was restored. Later, the converted building was used as a design office. Activities of the Catholic Church in itrevived in the 1990s. In 1994, the temple was again registered as a parish of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Farewell, gloomy garden
The Polish Garden (St. Petersburg) adorns the beautiful house where Gavriil Derzhavin spent the last years of his life, a Russian poet of the Enlightenment, statesman, friend of Alexander Pushkin (older in age). Since 2006, the Polish Garden has been an integral part of the All-Russian Museum of A. S. Pushkin (Memorial Museum-Lyceum of A. S. Pushkin).
It's hard to believe that the Polish Garden was gloomy and unkempt for quite a long time, the surrounding residents walked their dogs here. Now everything is different. At the beginning of the 2000s, the garden was completely reconstructed: dead trees were removed, young shrubs were planted, and beautiful flower beds with an amazing combination of flowers were planted. The footpaths have been redesigned. Wrought iron benches gave the glorious green island of St. Petersburg a special, solemn look.
Against this background, the architectural ensemble (including the owner's mansion, twin outbuildings, a guest house) looks especially harmonious and attractive. This is noted by both residents of St. Petersburg and guests of the city.
Internal interiors are decorated in the style of the era of Catherine II. While developing a project to restore the decoration of the rooms, the specialists studied a huge amount of special literature, which describes similar objects of the past.
According to the English model
The whole appearance of the Polish garden of the XXI century was formed, diligently avoiding modern trends in landscape gardeningdesign. Delicate lighting and video cameras do not count. With the help of innovations, all corners of the recreation area that have come down to us from Derzhavin's times are emphasized, unusually shaded and protected.
Restoration proceeded according to archival drawings created at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries. It is known that the architect N. A. Lvov conceived the “pure charm” of the English model – a landscape park of an irregular style: without an abundance of straight alleys, with many bridges (wooden structures were replaced with iron ones) and ponds.
By the way, Nikolai Alexandrovich Lvov (a relative of Derzhavin's wife Darya Alexandrovna) was known for his multifaceted nature: he knew a lot about poetry, tried himself as a composer, made translations. In addition, he was fond of botany. Apparently, this is why the Polish Garden, whose address has long been known to many, turned out to be so beautiful and, if you like, stylish. In the 19th century, the owners of the site changed more than once, each bringing their own changes to the landscape.
Although you are not Derzhavin, but still…
Water mirrors reflecting the crowns of trees, graceful passages, cozy pavilions - according to some St. Petersburg residents, it is worth going to the Polish Garden on your wedding day. Your wedding photo session will be great! Brides and grooms decorate the park with their presence, and he, in turn, generously “gives” his landscapes to the newlyweds. For a long good memory.
Going to the Polish Garden, you can count on a relaxed retreat. Indeed, here no one interferes with anyone: there is a dispersed peaceful coexistence of newly-made mothers withcarriages, young and old couples in love, wedding flocks.
The directions of the paths, the location of the reservoirs, the architecture - everything, as it was under the old man Derzhavin. There is an opinion that while such objects as the Polish Garden are preserved, the concept of “memory of a place” continues to live. Walking along the bridges, walking along the alleys, you can dream up plenty: imagine yourself as a wise philosopher Gavriil Romanovich (or one of his contemporaries).
Good traditions
Green branches of trees hide the scenic platform of the Polish Garden from direct sunlight. In the warm season (spring, summer, autumn) concerts are held here, literary and musical compositions, theatrical performances are played. Is this not a continuation of the good old traditions? “Conversations of the Lovers of the Russian Word” have been held in the kindergarten since 1811.
In 2011, the "old-new" park was opened to visitors. Paid entrance. Some are sad for the times when you could go to the park as much as you like and "for so". But a low "monetary barrier" saves the Polish Garden (photo - in the article) from the uncontrolled stay on its territory of savage brewers, who are attracted by well-groomed, cozy spaces. True, this category of visitors manages to quickly turn heavenly corners into hellishly dirty places.
In the garden, in the garden
The flower gardens in the garden delight the eye: graceful roses, golden marigolds, shaggy asters and other flowers make this place especially attractive. They say in the Polish gardenannual and perennial plants - more than a thousand species. About 5 thousand flowering shrubs, several hundred trees.
They say that the four oak trees that grow in front of the master's house were brought from Tatarstan, from the small homeland of G. R. Derzhavin. There is a garden (as under Gavriil Romanovich!). In the season, pumpkin, zucchini, ornamental cabbage, onion, cucumbers grow on the beds. Imagine: a gazebo on a hill, and lashes of potential salinity curl along the slopes of the hill.
Optimization is evident. The land under the park is nothing at all, just over two hectares, but there was a place for everything: green spaces, a playground, and a summer cafe. There is an opinion that the public catering "glass" is a modern thing with pathos claims. Well, a little pathos never hurt anyone.
Entrance is free in winter
How to find the Polish Garden (St. Petersburg)? The address for everyone who wants to visit a cozy place: Fontanka River Embankment, house 118. In summer (during the paid period), the main entrance is open from the Fontanka side, you can enter the garden from Derzhavinsky Lane (it connects the embankment and 1st Krasnoarmeiskaya Street).
When yellow and red autumn leaves fall to the ground (by the way, amazing apple trees with red leaves grow in the garden, which unusually color the area even without autumn "intervention"), entry from Derzhavinsky Lane is prohibited. From November 1, the gates are locked until the next park season. The snow-covered garden is free to visit.
The garden is open seven days a week
Polish garden opening hours hasthe following: from 10:30 to 20:00. The box office closes at 19:30. A ticket costs 60 rubles (there is a solid list of beneficiaries, for example, it includes schoolchildren under 16 years old), a monthly subscription is 600 rubles (data from April 1, 2016). There are no days off and short (pre-holiday) days.
At the entrance you can read an appeal to the citizens of St. Petersburg and guests of the city to take care of the elements of garden architecture, to keep order and cleanliness. Strict "no" - walking dogs, drinking alcohol, cycling, walking on lawns. Nobody walks. Everything is decorous and noble.
And yet… Part of the people really miss the times when the students of Technolozhka and Voenmech freely walked around the garden, breathed, rustled leaves… Master's and stray dogs drove across the open spaces… There is an opinion that a monument of federal significance, beautiful, solemn and noble, ceased to be a native St. Petersburg garden for the inhabitants of the district. But he lives, the Polish Garden (St. Petersburg)! Let his story continue!
For reference: a five-minute walk from the green sights of St. Petersburg - the Theater of Rains (a small drama theater), the youth theater "On the Fontanka", the metrological museum. There are other attractions, for example, a monument to Dmitry Mendeleev, the Trinity-Izmailovsky Cathedral, etc.
