Mikhailovsky Garden in St. Petersburg is one of the most amazing park areas of the architecture of the XVIII century. The complex is unique in that it combines immediately two styles of landscape design: landscape and regular. The founder of the park is Peter the Great. The emperor gave him the name "Summer Garden". Today the area of the park is 10 ha.
Such a garden in St. Petersburg was given a special status: a monument of landscape architecture, and created by the famous architect of those times - Karl Rossi.
Historical reference
Three centuries ago, on the territory of the park we were interested in were settlements of peasants, as well as hunting grounds of captain Kanau. But in 1716, the great emperor of Russia Peter I gave the decree on the construction of the General Plan of the Three Summer Gardens to the town planner Jean-Baptiste Leblon. The first two parks were located on the lands of this Summer Garden. The third was the current Mikhailovsky Garden.
In fact, Leblon combined the plots into a gigantic garden and park complex. Peter the Great personally approved the plans he had planned. The palace layout was identical in 98% of the central part of the top of Peterhof. Fir trees grew there, gardeners gave them the shape of pyramids. The chestnut alley led straight to the stall with a pergola (trellis arbor).
For the first time in the southwest, the Mikhailovsky Garden in St. Petersburg was planned as a regular one. Specialists grew fruit trees, medicinal herbs and healthy roots there. Greenhouses and hotbeds were built in the garden, in which exotic plants and fruits grew.
Elizabeth's innovations - daughters of Peter
The daughter of the emperor - Elizaveta Petrovna - in 1741 commissioned Bartolomeo Rastrelli, an outstanding architect of the time, to create a new project for the Summer Palace on the grounds of the palace of Catherine the First. This project was prepared by the architect in the spring of 1743. Mikhailovsky Garden (St. Petersburg) was a maze park filled with fountains and sculptures.
The reverse side of the palace was planned by Rastrelli in the form of another garden, on the territory of which the architect designed two ponds in the form of figures, and also placed a fountain and a flower garden in the form of patterned lace. The land was planned taking into account the clarity of geometric shapes, straight and intersecting alleys. And in the center dug up five ponds of rectangular shape.
Mikhailovsky Palace
When Paul the First ascended the Russian throne , the Summer Garden again underwent a lot of changes. In 1787, the palace was demolished in the park. And by 1801, by order of Paul I, the architects erected the Mikhailovsky Palace.
This castle is an analogue of an impregnable fortress. It has drawbridges, the walls of the palace are surrounded by moats of three canals:
- Voskresensky.
- Church.
- Bypass.
At this time, the Summer Garden received its modern new name - Mikhailovsky, or the Upper Summer Garden. The layout was not changed at that time. But after the death of Paul the First, the autocratic family leaves the castle, and the parks and canals become desolate. A few years later, in 1822, the palace was transferred to the Main Engineering School.
Attractions nearby
As you already understood, the Mikhailovsky Garden in St. Petersburg is located in the historical center of the Northern capital. Therefore, plan your trip to the park carefully, because it is surrounded by museums, temples and monuments.
List of attractions nearby:
- Russian Museum - 125 m.
- Ethnographic Museum - 222 m.
- Engineering Castle - 241 m.
- Savior on Blood - 246 m.
- Mikhailovsky Theater - 301 m.
- Arts Square (monument to Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin) - 303 m.
- Theater Bridge - 306 m.
- Monument to Peter the Great from Rastrelli - 308 m.
Interesting facts about the garden
Mikhailovsky Garden in St. Petersburg is an object of cultural heritage of the Russian Federation. This status has been assigned to the park for its centuries-old history. Over three centuries, he has seen a lot. Three hundred years ago there were hunting grounds belonging to the Swedish captain Kanau. And the openwork lattice fence of the park is another work of art. It is an interweaving of art nouveau leaves and flowers. It is held by 36 columns, decorated on top with urns and flowerpots. During the Great Patriotic War, trenches were dug in the park to hide from bullets not only soldiers, but also sculptures of the Russian Museum. Today the park complex is 10 hectares of flowering and fragrant lawns.
Come to St. Petersburg - a place worthy of attention!