St Petersburg s Parks and Gardens St

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St. Petersburg's Parks and Gardens St. Petersburg is the greenest of Russia's major cities. The statistics are impressive: Over 200 parks and gardens, plus over a thousand treelined streets and more than 700 leafy squares. I would like to tell you about 5 popular parks of St. Petersburg.

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*The Alexander Garden is located in the very center of St. Petersburg, next to Palace Square and behind the Admiralty. Until 1806, the area was covered by the Admiralty's fortifications, but after these were removed it became Admiralty Square. At the beginning of the 19 th century an avenue was laid out along the front of the main Admiralty, and very quickly became a fashionable place for the Petersburg aristocracy to promenade.

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* The Alexander Garden was laid out in 1872 -1874 over what had been Admiralty Square, to a design by the landscape gardener Eduard Regel, as part of the celebrations of the 200 th anniversary of the birth of Peter the Great. The Garden was formally opened in 1874 in the presence of Alexander II. A fountain was installed in 1880 - it is known as the musical or dancing fountain because of the way it reacts to any music being played in the Garden. At the end of the 19 th century, statues of great Russian cultural figures - the poets Vasily. Zhukovsky and Mikhail Lermontov, the writer Nikolai Gogol, the composer Mikhail Glinka and the traveler Nikolai Przhevalsky - were installed.

*The Alexander Garden was restored to its former glories at the beginning of the 1920 s. During the Siege of Leningrad in the Second World War, not one tree in the Garden was cut down. The Garden was severely damaged by air -raids and shelling, but was again restored and opened to the public immediately the Siege was lifted.

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* St. Petersburg's Botanical Garden - or, to give it its full title, the Botanical Garden of the V. L. Komarov Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences - is located on the Petrograd side, and is one of the oldest Botanical Gardens in the country. The Garden was founded in 1714 by order of Peter the Great as the Apothecary's Garden, and soon became a center for horticultural research that was the equal of any other in Europe in terms of the importance and size of its collection. Originally the Apothecary's Garden focused mainly on growing medicinal herbs, but soon people began bringing saplings and seeds of rare and exotic plants - for which a greenhouse was specially built. Expeditions to various parts of the earth regularly augmented the Botanical Garden's collection with new sorts of trees, shrubs, flowers, and other plants.

* Today, most of the Botanical Garden is designed in English landscape style. Plants from Russia's temperate zone grow uncovered, while the greenhouses house a large collection of tropical and sub-tropical plants; the Garden's 'Alpine hills' are also home to flora from the Caucasus, the Mediterranean, and Asia. In addition to all this, the Botanical Garden also has a collection of various types of fern, Chinese and Japanese plants, palms, bamboo, conifers, orchids, and much more. Giant water-lilies flower every summer and fall in the pool of one of the greenhouses - their leaves can reach 2 meters in diameter, and can support weights of up to 60 kg.

* In May every year, the rare, tropical Queen of the Night flowers - for one night only. Because of this, the Botanical Garden remains open on that one night until midnight. The collection was seriously damaged during the Second World War, and unique examples of palms, ferns, and cacti died. But despite all the hunger that Leningraders suffered during the Siege, the Botanic Garden's collection of seeds and plants was not touched. After the War the collection was partially replenished, and today the Botanical Garden is again conducting large-scale research, with a rich collection of plants from around the world in its greenhouses.

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*The Summer Garden is located where the Fontanka River flows out of the Neva River. It was founded in 1704 by order of Peter the Great, who was personally involved in planning it, and is laid out according to strict geometrical principles. The Summer Garden is home to marble statues acquired from Europe especially for Russia's new capital, and also to rare flowers and plants, as well as fountains.

* The Summer Garden is also the location of Peter the Great's first Summer Palace, built by the great Italian architect Domenico. Trezzini. * In 1777 the Summer Garden was severely damaged by flooding: Several statues were destroyed and fountains broken. However, it was soon restored to its original regular plan. Today its avenues are adorned by 79 sculptures by Italian sculptors of the 17 th and 18 th centuries. * The Neva River end of the Summer Garden is bounded by a fence designed by the architect Yury. Felten in 1773 -1786.

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* The Michael Garden takes its name from the Michael Palace (better known to visitors as the main building of the Russian Museum). Throughout its long and varied history it has been a formal French garden, a hunting reserve and nursery, and during the reign of the Empress Elizabeth it housed labyrinths and fountains. Under the Emperor Paul the Garden was used for horseback riding, and it began to acquire its present features at the beginning of the 19 th century. The construction of the Michael Castle and after that the Michael Palace, both of which border the garden, fixed the Michael Garden in its present boundaries.

*In the north-east corner of the Garden, on the banks of the Moika River, is a small pavilion built in Empire Style by Carlo Rossi in 1825. Next to the pavilion is a symbolic composition called the Tree of Freedom, made out of old oak by the sculptor Anatoly Solovyov.

*The Michael Garden was closed after the summer season in 2002 for restoration, and opened again for St. Petersburg's 300 th anniversary in 2003. Today it is once again a favorite place for Petersburgers to go for a walk, or simply to relax and do nothing. Classical music concerts are often held here in late spring and summer.

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*The Tauride Garden was laid out in 1783 -1789 on the estate of Grigory Potemkin behind the Tauride Palace from which it took its name. Potemkin was one of Catherine the Great's favorites , and the Empress gave Potemkin the land the title of Prince of Tauridia. The Tauride Garden was landscaped in true Romantic style, designed to imitate nature, with ponds and canals and picturesque rolling landscape. Trees and shrubs were brought in especially from England.

* In 1866 the Tauride Garden was opened to the public, and became a favorite spot with city dwellers for walks and children's games. * During the Siege of Leningrad the Tauride Garden was used for the same purpose as many of St. Petersburg's other gardens, being turned into a vegetable garden to provide food. The Tauride Garden was substantially damaged during the war. After the war the Tauride Garden was restored, and in 1962 a Monument to the Young Heroes of the Defense of Leningrad was unveiled.

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*The Kirov Central Culture and Leisure Park on Elagin Island is a one of favorite spot for Petersburgers to spend free time relaxing with family and friends. The centerpiece of the island is the Elagin Palace, which is now a museum holding a wonderful collection of decorative and applied art.

*Work on the creation of the Park began in 1931. It was based on the Elagin Palace Park, which was built for the Empress Maria Fyodorovna. In 1932, part of the park was opened to the public, and fairground attractions, a children's park and a boat-house were built; in the winter there was skiing, sledding and ice-skating.

*After the Park opened, work continued to improve it. The Main Alley was extended and had flower-beds and green spaces added alongside it, and sculptures and decorative vases were installed. But further development was interrupted by the Second World War, during which defense equipment was installed in the park and removed only in 1944.

*For the next 20 years, the park (named after former Leningrad Communist Party boss Sergei Kirov, who was assassinated in 1934) underwent repairs. The Elagin Palace was restored, new trees and shrubs were planted, and many of the buildings in the park were rebuilt or restored. Today the Park draws Petersburgers and visitors to the city in large numbers, either to visit the Elagin Palace, go on a boat trip or horse ride, or just to walk along the picturesque alleys.