Admir alty Garden in St. Petersburg - one of the best parks in the city

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

Admir alty Garden is a landmark of St. Petersburg, instilling a lot of confusion in the tourist plans of visitors. Let's start with the fact that it is not on the latest maps of the city. Now the garden is called Aleksandrovsky, and besides it, in St. Petersburg there is another park with the exact same name. So how do you get clarity?

Alexander Park is located on the Petrograd side. And our garden is located in the very center of the city and overlooks the Senate and Palace Squares. What else do we need to know about this attraction? It can be said without exaggeration that the Alexander Garden (formerly the Admir alty Garden) is the hallmark of St. Petersburg. Or his handsome and well-groomed face.

History of the Admir alty

Before taking on a modern look, the garden (or rather, the place where it was laid out) performed various useful functions. Who would have thought that these age-old trees grow on military ditches and trenches! The name for the future garden was given by the Main Admir alty in St. Petersburg. The firstthe stone in this fortress-shipyard was laid in 1704. As expected for a fortification, it was surrounded by ditches and ramparts. And the vast space in front of the Admir alty was cleared for artillery in case of an enemy attack from land. This site was called "glacis" in the military language.

Soon the Admir alty lost its defensive value. Therefore, the need for a glacis has disappeared. For a long time it was used as a storage area for bulky goods - masts, anchors, etc. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the glacis was used for the needs of the Sea Market.

Admir alty Meadow

But gradually the glacis became more neglected. It was overgrown with grass and was popularly called "Admir alty Meadow". But the building of the fortress played too big a role in the planning of the city. Back in 1721, Peter the Great laid the basic planning scheme for St. Petersburg.

According to the plan of the tsar, three avenues were supposed to pass through the city, diverging in rays from the Admir alty: Voznesensky, Nevsky and Gorokhovaya street. Therefore, the former glacis had to be ennobled somehow. The Admir alty Garden in St. Petersburg was founded by captured Swedes. It was they who planted the first birches, laying a beautiful alley to Nevsky Prospekt. During the reign of Anna Ioannovna, the Admir alty Meadow was used for festivities, which were held at public expense, for the drill of the guards, for grazing cattle from the court stables. But already in the middle of the eighteenth century the meadowgradually began to turn into a park. There were trellis fences, palisades, alleys, benches. In the last decade of the century, a huge area of the former glacis began to be paved, until it turned into a complex of squares - Admir alteiskaya, Petrovsky and Isaakievskaya.

Alexander Garden (St. Petersburg)

In the first half of the nineteenth century, the arrangement of the meadow continued. It is noteworthy that this area was open to the general public. But along the perimeter the meadow was surrounded by a fence, and at the entrance, near the turnstiles, there were guardsmen. In the garden, French tenants Marcel and François Villot opened a tea and coffee house. The meadow was gradually planted with trees and lilac bushes. Flowers were brought from Tsarskoye Selo and planted in flowerbeds.

From the thirties, two marble sculptures were transferred from the Tauride Palace to the future Admir alty Garden. But all these works did not have a single plan. Finally, in 1872, on the occasion of the bicentennial of Peter the Great, the City Duma decided to get down to business professionally. A botanist and master of park art E. Regel was invited to lay out the garden. A year later, on July 8, Alexander II arrived at the place, who planted an oak tree with his own hands. At the same time, it was decided to name the new garden by the imperial name.

Description of the park

This place has a huge area - nine hectares. Here it is pleasant to walk under the shade of centuries-old trees. The sights of St. Petersburg are perfectly visible from the garden - St. Isaac's Cathedral,monument to Peter the Great, Admir alty building. Even before the revolution, a fountain was broken here. The Admir alty Garden was decorated with numerous sculptures - busts of famous Russian figures. The park was fenced around the perimeter with a metal grating, along which a granite parapet was laid. There was no shortage of gardens and beautiful pavilions with verandas. In the summer, the wind band delighted the hearing of the walkers. In Soviet times, the park was called the Workers' Garden named after M. Gorky. Clearings were created in it for the passage of demonstrators and equipment for the parade.

Modernity

In the eighty-ninth year of the last century, the park was again renamed the Admir alty Garden. And in 1997, it was decided to perpetuate the memory of the emperor. Therefore, the sights were returned to their former name. Among the people, it bears the playful name "Sashkin's Garden". According to St. Petersburg residents, this is a great place to relax. It does not feel like you are in the very center of the metropolis. It is green, quiet, and offers wonderful views. In recent years, festivals of seasonal flowers have been held in the garden. And in winter, an ice slide is installed.