Famous gardens and parks of St. Petersburg

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

The northern capital of Russia is famous not only for its numerous sights and unique architecture. Special attention deserves the magnificent gardens and parks of St. Petersburg, the first of which appeared immediately after the founding of the city. Most of them in those days were part of the estates and had the same layout. In addition, the gardens were characterized by trimmed trees and a symmetrical grid of paths. At the end of the eighteenth century, the first landscape parks of St. Petersburg began to appear. The most famous of them are the garden laid out at the Yusupov Palace and the Tauride Garden. In the nineteenth century, the first public parks began to open in the city, such as, for example, Aleksandrovsky next to the Peter and Paul Fortress. After 1917, absolutely all the gardens of the city became public. Many parks in St. Petersburg are witnesses of important historical events that took place at different times.

Mikhailovsky Garden

At present, the Mikhailovsky Garden is one of the most comfortable and well-known in St. Petersburg. North side of the parkbounded by the Moika River and the Field of Mars, on the east side by Sadovaya Street. In the south, the garden rests on the Mikhailovsky Palace, the Benois Wing and the Ethnographic Museum, and in the west - on the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. The area on which the park is located today originally belonged to a Swedish landowner. After the victory, the tsar decided to build a large estate on this site for his wife and set up a garden, which was unofficially called Tsaritsyn. To take care of the park area, Peter even specially ordered a well-known gardener from Hannover. Thanks to the efforts of the latter, lush flower beds were laid out along the banks of the garden, the created ponds were given an intricate figured shape, numerous flower beds were arranged, and decorative marble sculptures were installed in the alleys.

Alexander Park

The official opening of Alexander Park took place on August 30, 1845, and it was timed to coincide with the day of the celebration of the memory of Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky. This garden is located on the Petrograd side of the northern capital and occupies a rather large territory, by the standards of the center. In its form, the Alexander Park in St. Petersburg resembles a large crescent, which is bounded by Kronverkskaya embankment on one side and Kronverksky Prospekt on the other. Currently, the garden houses the Music Hall, a monument to the destroyer, the Leningrad Zoo and Artillery Island.

Summer Garden

Speaking of such sights as the parks of St. Petersburg, it is impossible to ignore the magnificent Summer Garden. He himself ordered to lay it at one time on the banks of the NevaPeter the Great. In 1704, the tsar returned from a trip to Europe and ordered the creation of a park similar to those he had seen. Peter himself drew a plan and signed a decree, according to which the garden should be planted annually with annual plants. Hence the name of the park. In 1706, the first fountain appeared on the territory of this large complex, and four years later, the Summer Palace of Peter was erected near the Neva. The king also wanted to decorate the park with numerous statues, and they began to be brought here in large numbers from all over the world. The heirs of Peter the Great continued this work, and during the reign of Elizabeth there were already about two hundred of them.

Babushkina Park

The Babushkin Park (St. Petersburg, corner of Obukhovskaya Oborony Avenue and Farforovskaya Street), formerly called the Vienna Garden, was created at the end of the eighteenth century and conceived as a folk entertainment complex. To do this, in 1887, a variety of carousels, swings, shooting ranges were installed here and an open area for dancing was built. In 1931, the garden was officially renamed the park named after I. V. Babushkin, a revolutionary whose sculptural bust was installed in the Park in 1956, and subsequently disappeared without a trace. Currently, this garden is one of the most interesting places in St. Petersburg. Founded back in the time of Catherine II, today it has become a real Park of Fairy Tales, where it will be pleasant to spend time for both children and adults. Moreover, the complex is located on the banks of the famous Neva.

Catherine Park

Ekaterininsky Park, which is part of the Tsarskoye Selo nature reserve (not all St. Petersburg parks are located within the city), consists of two parts: the "English Garden" and the so-called Old Garden. The latter was created in 1720-1722 and was located right in front of the Empress's palace. It was divided into three ledges, on the last of which were the Bolshoy and Mill Mirror Ponds. In the eighteenth century, the Old Garden was redesigned and significantly expanded. All work was supervised by Rastrelli. According to the project of a well-known architect, the Hermitage and Grotto pavilions, as well as Katalnaya Gora, were built. Later, in 1770-1773, the Admir alty complex, the Upper and Lower baths appeared on the territory of the park. Five years later, the Catherine Park was filled with sculptures and monuments, embodying the greatness of the reign of Catherine II. Among them, the Ruin Tower, the Crimean Column and the Turkish Cascade stand out today.

Moscow Victory Park

Moscow Victory Park (St. Petersburg, Kuznetsovskaya street, 25) today occupies a territory with a total area of more than sixty-five hectares. Before the Great Patriotic War, this place was called the Syzran field and was occupied by the quarries of a brick factory. The official laying of the Victory Park took place in October 1945, and more than a thousand Leningraders took part in this event. Within just one month, about seventeen thousand trees were planted, dug and ennoblednumerous canals and ponds. All work was completed in 1957, along with the installation of propylae, on the inside of which there are bronze compositions dedicated to home front workers and the exploits of Soviet soldiers.