Admiralteysky garden in St. Petersburg - one of the best parks in the city

The Admiralty Garden is a landmark of St. Petersburg, which causes a lot of confusion in the tourist plans of the newcomers. To begin with, it is not on the newest maps of the city. Now the garden is called Alexandrovsky, and besides it, in St. Petersburg there is another park with the same exact name. So how do you make it clear?

Alexander Park is on the Petrograd side. And our garden is located in the heart of the city and goes to the Senate and Palace Square. And what else do we need to know about this landmark? It is possible to say without exaggeration that the Alexander Garden (formerly Admiralty) is a visiting card of St. Petersburg. Or his beautiful and well-groomed face.

History of the Admiralty

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

Soon the Admiralty lost its defensive significance. Therefore, the need for a glacis has disappeared. For a long time it was used as a platform for storing large-sized goods - masts, anchors, etc. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the glacis was used for the needs of the Marine Market.

Admiralty Meadow

But gradually the glacis became more and more neglected. It is overgrown with grass and has received in the people the name "Admiralty meadow". But the building of the fortress played too much role in the planning of the city. In the year 1717, Peter the Great laid the basic layout of St. Petersburg.

According to the tsar's plan, three avenues were to pass through the city, diverging from the Admiralty: Voznesensky, Nevsky and Gorokhovaya streets. Therefore, the former glacis should have been somehow ennobled. The Admiralty Garden in St. Petersburg was founded by captured Swedes. They planted the first birch trees, laying a beautiful avenue to Nevsky Prospekt. During the reign of Anna Ioannovna, the Admiralty meadow was used for folk festivities, which were held at public expense, for drill guardsmen, for grazing cattle from court cribs. But already in the middle of the eighteenth century the meadow gradually began to turn into a park. There were trellis fences, palisades, avenues, benches. In the last decade of the century, a huge area of the former glacis began to be paved until it became a complex of squares - the Admiralty, Petrovskaya and Isaakievskaya squares.

The Alexander Garden (St. Petersburg)

In the first half of the nineteenth century, the improvement of the meadow continued. It is noteworthy that this territory was open to the general public. But along the perimeter the meadow was surrounded by a fence, and guardsmen stood at the entrance near the turnstiles. In the garden, French tenants Marcel and Francois Villot opened a tea and coffee house. The meadow gradually sat down with trees, lilac bushes. From Tsarskoe Selo flowers were brought and planted on flowerbeds.

Since the thirties, two marble sculptures have been moved from the Tauride Palace to the future Admiralty Garden. But all these works did not have a single plan. Finally, in 1872, by the bicentenary of Peter the Great, the city duma decided to take up professionally. For the breakdown of the garden was invited botanist and master of park art E. Regel. A year later on July 8th, Alexander II arrived in the place, who personally planted the oak. Then it was decided to call the new garden an imperial name.

Description of the park

This place has a huge area - nine hectares. It's nice to take a walk in the shadow of age-old trees. From the garden you can easily see the sights of St. Petersburg - St. Isaac's Cathedral, the monument to Peter the Great, the Admiralty building. Even before the revolution, a fountain was broken here. The Admiralty Garden was decorated with numerous sculptures - busts of famous Russian figures. On the perimeter of the park was a metal lattice, along which a granite parapet was laid. There was no shortage of gardens and beautiful pavilions with verandas. In the summer, the hearing of the walkers rejoiced the brass band. In Soviet times, the park was named the Gorky Workers' Garden. It created a clearing 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 Admiralty Garden. And in 1997 it was decided to perpetuate the memory of the emperor. Therefore, the sights were returned to the former name. In the people he wears a joking name "Sashkin Gardens". According to Petrograders, this is a great place to relax. It does not feel that you are in the very center of a metropolis. It's green, quiet, and there are wonderful views. Recently, festivals of seasonal flowers are held in the garden. And in winter an ice slide is set up.