Catherine's Park Pavilion. Catherine's Park in Tsarskoye Selo. Tsarskoye Selo review

Catherine Park is one of the most beautiful parks in St. Petersburg. It was planted in Tsarskoye Selo in the 18th century.

I happened to be there more than once. I suspect that, like many Petersburgers, almost every summer I meet and conduct impromptu excursions for my friends in the center of St. Petersburg and its suburbs. The territory of Tsarskoye Selo is simply huge, in order to see everything you need to spend the whole day, or even more. But it's worth it!

Usually my friends and I take coffee in a thermos, sandwiches and other goodies on our little trip and hit the road. I like to ride the minibus to the park as in my student years. It's fast, and you can admire nature along the way. After visiting the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum (be sure to visit it!) we find a cozy place in the park or on the lake and have a picnic. We are interested in discussing what we saw, once again admiring the view of the Catherine Palace from the outside. Then we go further into the depths of the park, and I continue to tell my guests about the monuments and structures, share with them what I remember from history, and they with me.

As you know, Tsarskoye Selo was the favorite country residence of the Russian emperors. Each of them brought something new to the landscape, something of their own, beloved. All of them treated him like an expensive casket that keeps a pearl - a palace. I imagine it as a woven pattern, in which each next ruler wove something of his own, which was important for him or was fashionable during his reign.

Architects and garden masters tried to convey and preserve for us everything that was built many centuries ago.

History of the park

The Catherine Park owes its appearance to the Russian Tsar Peter the Great. It was he who, in 1710, gave his wife Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya (in Orthodoxy Ekaterina Alekseevna Mikhailova, in the future Empress Catherine I) the Sarskaya and Slavyanskaya manors with adjacent villages. In 1717, the construction of a summer residence for the Empress began. It was a small, modest stone palace. The Empress herself participated in the organization of the construction.

In 1720, the Dutch masters J. Rosen and I. Vogt began to arrange the park. At this time, the Old Garden (modern regular park) appeared. It was located on three ledges directly in front of the palace. The architecture of the park was designed in the then fashionable French style, which implies the taming of nature and its subjugation to man. A distinctive feature of the style is a clear planning of the territory, the formation of straight alleys, the giving of artificial forms to shrubs and trees. As planned, the park was supposed to complement and emphasize the luxury of the palace.

After the accession to the throne of Elizabeth Petrovna, Tsarskoye Selo became the official imperial residence. Here the most important guests were met and the most magnificent receptions were held. Probably, no Russian emperor is more associated with balls, masquerades and stormy spectacular festivities than she is. Tsarskoye Selo of her time was the best way to characterize the love of luxury and the idle lifestyle of her mistress. During her reign, the palace was rebuilt, the park was expanded and ennobled. I read somewhere that once, when the Empress was returning to Tsarskoye Selo, already at the entrance to the palace, she saw a glow from her carriage and was very frightened that the palace was on fire! It really burned, but not with fire, but with a golden glow - a reflection of the setting sun. I would like to see this at least once!

So, in the 1750s, a small two-story palace began to be rebuilt. Court architect F.B. Rassrelli was engaged in the design of the Catherine Palace. He also worked on the design of the park. It is not surprising that the regular park turned out to be just as pompous. Dense green labyrinths turning into small open-air halls, graceful sculptures by Italian masters, many different flowers of shrubs - all this should once again emphasize the luxury and splendor of the Catherine Palace.

Empress Elizaveta Petrovna was very fond of her country residence and spent a lot of time here. Luxurious balls, dinners were held regularly. After the meal, the Empress invited her guests for a walk in the park on a sleigh or carriages. The park was equipped with swings, carousels, slides. Fireworks went up in the evening.

One of the guests' favorite places was Katalnaya Gora. Architect F.B. Rastrelli came up with an unusual and interesting engineering solution. The mountain was a pavilion, from which slopes went out to the sides. They were built on top of the hill, repeating the natural landscape of the site. The guests used single and double wheelchairs for descent, which moved along metal rails. These carriages were lifted up with the help of special mechanisms driven by horses. If you imagine how everything in the park was built on a grand scale, then the feeling of going down the mountain was probably no worse than on slides in modern amusement parks!

By order of Empress F.B. Rastrelli also designs the buildings of the Hermitage and the Grotto.

The Hermitage building is a small and interesting two-storey building deep in the park. The exterior decoration of the building completely repeated the decoration of the Catherine Palace. The palace and the Hermitage were connected by an alley along which the guests strolled. The Hermitage was designed for small balls, meetings and dinners, especially during the warm season.

The Empress liked to invite guests here to surprise them with an outlandish engineering invention - a lifting canape (sofa). The dining room and meeting rooms were on the second floor, but no one walked up the stairs, guests and food were also raised using special devices. It was unusual and extremely funny. Another unusual decision of the empress was to arrange an orchestra on the street, and not inside the building. Muted music poured through the windows of the building, making the celebration truly magical.

The grotto was built on the shore of the Big Lake in 1755-1756. Empress Elizaveta Petrovna certainly wanted to have a place where she could enjoy the view of the Big Lake and, if desired, go down from the pier to the boat.

Catherine II paid much attention to the arrangement of Tsarskoye Selo. By her order, the fashionable at that time English park (modern landscape park) was laid out. A distinctive feature of this style is not the taming of nature, but submission to it. English parks are characterized by winding water channels that lead to wide flower meadows. This is a kind of wild parks. A minimum of interference to only emphasize the beauty of nature.

During the construction of the English park, the old park underwent partial changes. Half-moon ponds appeared. The water system, consisting of canals and ponds, was an important part of the decoration of the park. Here everything was thought out for the relaxation and entertainment of the royal people and their guests. Small boats were waiting for them everywhere, on which they could swim, enjoying the views from the water. It must have been great to take a boat ride like this on a hot summer day, and maybe even swim!

Catherine II tried to introduce the newest and most fashionable Western trends into the architectural design. Many monuments were erected in the park, glorifying the merits of the Empress and the victory in the Russian-Turkish war in the second half of the 18th century. Under the Empress, the Cold Bath pavilion with the Agate Rooms and the Concert Hall were also erected.

The Cameron Gallery was built at the transition from a regular park to a landscape park. The Empress wanted to have a place for walks, private conversations and private reflections.

All buildings in the English park were designed in a classical style with minimal facade decoration. Rigidity and simplicity in every detail.

All this time, perennial trees and shrubs were brought into the park, sent from the gardens of St. Petersburg and from abroad. Here, perhaps, even the oaks that Peter I planted have been preserved.

In a later period, large-scale redevelopment was no longer carried out. In Soviet times, the palace and park complex became a museum. In 1918, the Catherine Palace received its first visitors.

During the Great Patriotic War, the city of Pushkin was captured by fascist troops. Tsarskoye Selo suffered the invasion hard. Many works of art were lost, and the buildings themselves were also seriously damaged. The German invaders used some of them for their household needs, sparing neither the interiors nor the furniture. Many paintings and art objects, including the Amber Room, were taken out and lost forever. A significant number of trees have been destroyed in the park. After the liberation of Pushkin from the Catherine Palace and many other premises, only ruins remained.

Even before the end of the war, work began on the restoration of the museum complex. In 1983, the palace and park ensemble "Tsarskoye Selo" received the official status of a reserve. Today its full name is the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum-Reserve. Most of the restoration work was completed in 2010, on the eve of Pushkin's 300th birthday. But many restoration works both in the buildings and in the park are still going on.

What to see

Of course, the main pearl of the park is the Catherine Palace. I talked about it in more detail in one of. But there are many interesting places that are also worth seeing.

The Hermitage is a kind of echo of the luxury of the Catherine Palace, a kind of projection in miniature. As I have already said, they are connected by a straight alley, along which the guests of the Empress once walked. This small building is decorated in the Baroque style, in the same color scheme as the palace. The decoration of the 18th century has been preserved in the Hermitage almost unchanged.

Pay attention to the Hermitage Kitchen - the unusual architecture of the building is made in the gothic style that was fashionable at that time. Here, by the way, is another entrance to the park.

Grotto - a small building in a marine style, stands on the shores of the Big Lake.

The Cold Bath Pavilion is located between the Zubovsky building of the Catherine Palace and the Cameron Gallery. It was intended for bathing and recreation of the imperial family. The building was erected in 1787 by the architect C. Cameron. It is also called the terms of Cameron.

The baths themselves are located on the first floor. On the second - six rooms for rest. Due to the rich interior, they received the name Agate Rooms.

The main facade of the building overlooks the terrace, where the Hanging Garden is located.

Cameron Gallery - located at the intersection of the regular and landscape parts of the park. The structure is located on a hill, and it offers a beautiful view of the park and the Big Lake.

The "Upper Bath" pavilion was intended for the imperial family's water procedures.

The pavilion "Lower bath" was intended for water procedures of the courtiers.

Moreyskaya (or Small Rostral) column is located between the First and Second Lower Ponds. It was erected in honor of the victory of the Russian fleet near the Morea peninsula during the Russian-Turkish war.

The gate "To my dear colleagues" is an original cast-iron monument. It is located in the southeast of the park.

The Chesme column is located in the middle of the Big Lake. It was installed in honor of the victory in the Battle of Chesma (1770) of the Russian fleet over the Turkish one.

Admiralty - several pavilions on the shore of the Big Lake in the south side of the park. Built in honor of the annexation of the Tauride Khanate (Crimea) to Russia.

The Marble (Palladiev) bridge is installed over the channel that connects the Big Pond with the Swan Pond.

Pavilion "Turkish bath" - the last building erected in the Catherine Park. The pavilion is a monument to victories in the Russian-Turkish war. As planned by the architect I. A. Monighetti, the building looks like a Turkish mosque.

The ruin tower is another monument dedicated to the victories of Russian troops in the Russian-Turkish war. The tower is unusual in that it looks like a Doric column connected to a pavilion. She looks like she's sinking into the ground. The exterior decoration of the walls is also unusual. Their surface is artificially "aged" with the help of painted cracks.

The Gatchina (Orlovsky) gates led to the road towards Gatchina, where the estate of Count G. G. Orlov was located. Catherine II highly appreciated the count's contribution to saving Moscow from the plague. The gates became a kind of gratitude to the Empress. Outwardly, the gates look like a triumphal arch.

The Hall on the Island pavilion is located in the heart of the Big Lake on a small island. It was intended to host concerts and dinners for guests floating on the Great Lake. At the moment, there is a concert hall in which the solemn events of the museum take place.

The granite terrace (“Ruska Terrace”) was built in 1810 on the site of Katalnaya Gora.

The fountain "Girl with a jug" was made by the famous sculptor P. P. Sokolov especially for the Tsarskoye Selo park. The statue of a girl is located on a rock as on a kind of pedestal. At the girl's feet is a broken jug, from which a stream of water flows.

The concert hall in the southwestern part of the park was built in 1782-1788 according to the design of the architect D. Quarenghi.

The ruin kitchen was built according to the project of G. Quarenghi in 1785-1786 for preparing meals for the guests of the Concert Hall.

The Chinese gazebo was built on the border between the Catherine Park and the New Garden of the Alexander Park. It is also called Squeaky because of the weather vane, which makes a creak in the wind.

Cahul (Rumyantsev) obelisk. The architect of the project is A. Rinaldi.

It was installed in 1772 in honor of the victory of Russian troops over Turkish troops on the Kagul River.

When to visit

The park is open to visitors all year round, but keep in mind that not all museums are open all year round. Therefore, if you decide to definitely visit all the places in the park, it is better to choose summer time.

How to get there

The State Museum-Reserve "Tsarskoye Selo" is located at the address:, Pushkin, st. Sadovaya, d. 7.

You can get to the place in the following ways:

• By electric train from the Vitebsk railway station you can get to the station "Tsarskoe Selo" in the city of Pushkin. The ticket price is about 40 rudders and the travel time is approximately 30 minutes. You can get from the station to the museum by fixed-route taxis No. 371, 377, 382, ​​buses No. 371, 382. You can walk to the museum on foot. This will take approximately 30 minutes or even less.
• By fixed-route taxis No. 286, 287, 342, 347, 545. They depart from the Moskovskaya metro station. The stop is located behind the House of Soviets. Here is their ring. On minibuses, Pushkin, Tsarskoye Selo will be written in large letters. The fare is about 40 rubles. Travel time is 30-40 minutes if there are no traffic jams.
• Bus number 187 stops opposite McDonald's on Moskovsky Prospekt, fixed-route taxis also stop here, which follow from the ring from the House of Soviets. The bus goes to the station "Tsarskoye Selo" in the city of Pushkin. The fare is 30 rubles. From there you can get to the park by bus, fixed-route taxi or on foot.
• By fixed-route taxis No. 545, 286, 287, bus No. 186 from the Kupchino metro station. Travel time is about 30 minutes. Their ring is located on Vitebsky Prospekt from the side of the metro.

Working mode:

• from October 21 to April 24, admission to the park is free;
• from April 25 to October 20, admission is paid from 9:00 to 19:00;
• from September to April, the park is open from 7:00 to 21:00;
• from May to July from 7:00 to 23:00;
• in August, the park is open from 7:00 to 22:00.

Ticket price:

• for adults from April 25 - 120 rubles;
• schoolchildren, students; members of the unions of artists, architects, designers of Russia; cadets, conscripts - 60 rubles;
• pensioners of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus - 30 rubles;
• visitors under 16 years old - free of charge.

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Preservation of old-growth trees has not only ecological, but also important cultural and historical significance. Patriarch trees are associated with historical figures, events, memories, folk tales and traditions.

old willow

Old trees have been sacred since ancient times, myths and legends, literary works were composed about them.

More than 100 years ago, in Europe and the USA, activities began on the systematic protection of ancient trees, including their inventory, care and protection of their habitat, as well as educational work with the population. Old trees were supplied with signs, memorial plaques and even awarded medals. Albums were published about interesting trees associated with historical and cultural events. Obituaries were often published for their deaths. The protection of trees from felling was carried out by the public, institutions, religious organizations or the law. Under protection were taken not only old, but also original trees, distinguished by unusual features or historical significance.

Several thousand trees grow within the city of Moscow, more than 100 years old - lindens, oaks, elms, larches and others. Many of them are located in specially protected natural areas of parks and reserves or are natural monuments.

Catherine's Park is no exception.

In ancient times, this area was part of the village of Sushcheva. In the 17th century there was a grove, preserved in the XVIII century. In the "Description of urban pasture land 1763-1780" here it says “Sushchevskaya Sloboda of the Novgorod Hundred and the land belonging to it of various ranks of people, with an area of ​​77 acres 1181 sq.

Oaks have survived to this day, which are about two hundred years old, almost in the very center of the park, there is a willow, which has already exceeded 200, and the amazing thing is that willows do not live more than 100 years at all, and ours stands, endures all the hardships of the city life and the vagaries of nature.

Today I would like to tell you about one of my favorite places in Moscow - Catherine's park (previously "CDSA Park") , tell some of his stories, maybe read yours and, hopefully, find in the comments someone who also cares about this park. The story, as you might guess from the title, in this post will be about the eastern part of the park. I wanted to talk about it for several reasons: this is my residence in those parts for more than two decades, and the memories that overwhelmed me after a recent visit there; and the fact that the place for the central part of the capital is really unique and green. Well, here we are at the eastern entrance.

(The commandments say: don’t saddle an iron horse, don’t smoke, don’t bring dogs, don’t follow the green serpent’s lead). I understand everything, but bicycles? True, if you are an agile cyclist, you will be caught for a long time in order to be kicked out of the 16 hectare territory of the park. I didn't see a bike patrol there :)

I wanted to put in a hat a photo that I took recently, but something I don’t like it. The sign on top is periodically redone, but I have not yet reached the understanding of the reasons for this. If we compare the two photographs, then from the latest innovations we can immediately distinguish the disappearance of the sign "Do not put a car at the gate", the appearance of two streetlights and the change of the previous name plate to a new one. The monogram logo "EP" was rejected, not otherwise.

We enter and immediately a little Wikipedia:
The park has two entrances - the western one, from the side of Suvorov Square (near the building of the Theater of the Russian Army) and the eastern one, from the side of Olimpiyskiy Prospekt (opposite the Olimpiyskiy sports complex).

I will make a small correction - there are four entrances to the park (there is also a south gate and a north gate, though I can’t say anything about them yet).

In the central part of the park there is a pond with an area of ​​1.9 hectares.

The pond is large (there is also a small second one now in the western part). In summer, boat and catamaran rentals are available.
It was thoroughly restored in 1998, when it was completely drained, deepened, the banks were laid out and ennobled (although its former swampiness is always in my heart). Metropolitan poachers (they suddenly appeared) at night set up nets in the puddle left at the bottom to profit from carp and crucian carp. The builders also did not disdain fish. I don’t know if the fish were destined to die, but new fish of different breeds were already launched into the new life of the pond. Local go-getters at a game of dominoes even said that one of them almost saw a sturgeon there. Such amazing stories of "domino players" caused a restrained smile.

Now, due to the season, the view is fairly gray:

In the spring, ducks always fly to the pond and breed. Sometimes even the ice is still standing, and they are already here.
Ducks are different, I can only say that you should beware of close contacts with this character, especially when there is a brood nearby:

The red duck or Ogar defends its brood furiously, I saw a couple of times how a duck ran into a man who was reading a newspaper spread on a bench, it was both funny and scary for him, the duck really didn’t like how he shook the newspaper. Naturally, both adults and ducklings love bread - bring and feed boldly in spring and summer.

In summer, boat and catamaran rentals are available. View from the former "boat station".

This is what it looked like in 1966:

It is noteworthy that both pictures were taken from the "boat station", the boats from which set sail only in the second picture. In the renovated park, you can rent a boat for yourself in a place marked in red.
For a long time the “boat station” has not received ships, there is a cafe there, which functions normally in the summer:

And in winter, "at half strength" and in half the range, if you will:

And once in the early 90s there were no cafes and boats too, but what can I say, there were a lot of things in the whole country in those years:

(cameras, for example)

This long-suffering pier is worth noting. The photograph below is dated (approximately) 1939 and is captioned lower left "new boat dock". At its dawn, and this is how it was:

Summing up with the former boat station, I’ll say that a cafe took root there already N years ago, winter prices in it are ridiculous for the center - I checked it.

In one of the pictures, you can see a blue spherical building - a planetarium.

(thanks for the photo) orbicraft )

The planetarium is small, but works well for children and adults. There is even a "vyrviglazny" site. If you check the schedule, then you can visit the planetarium on your own or with your family.
If you are a sofa astrologer and are interested, here is a map for you:

There was an old dance floor in the park, from Soviet times, but, as I was told yesterday orbicraft she (being with a roof full of snow) collapsed grandiosely. And it was like this:

(rescued football battles of local youth on rainy days)

Oh, to watch this roof fall. It's good that no one was hurt.
The journey through the eastern part of the Catherine Park is coming to an end and we are heading to the exit leading to the Olympic sports complex:

And from the past the same way out, not so, however, “luxurious”:

Let me summarize the eastern part of the park:

In winter - ice rink on the pond, along the perimeter of the pond there is a ski track. Playground one at the entrance, very small. There are no slides. Eat cafe, which is better to visit in the summer, but probably the summer prices are completely different. Drinks in the cafe in winter Tea coffee, it is easy to have a snack, sit (albeit in close quarters) in the warmth.
For true connoisseurs in winter, they organize hole and gentlemen-"walruses" can use it. I just don’t know - is the water cleaner in winter? :)
The park is great for sports, jogging, exercises, paths made of paving stones are not slippery, but for roller skates or boards they will not be the best option. Good park for picnics, but watch the warning signs "about some lawns" and, of course, no campfires, you never know.
Suitable for summer wedding photography, and even in winter, when there is a lot of pure snow, and everything has not yet begun to melt, it is very suitable. In fact, the decor of the park for the photo is somewhat banal, but they love it.
In summer you can feed the ducks, but remember about the villain Ogar. In any season visit the planetarium if you check his schedule beforehand, the "show" doesn't happen often. Boats and catamarans are rented in the summer, it seems like I even saw a transparent ball there, which you need to climb into. Personally, I appreciate the park for the indescribable greenery and liveliness in the summer d, and in winter for silence and pleasant melancholy.

For some, the disadvantages of the eastern part may seem to be the absence of any attractions and entertainment (once upon a time they were), I do not attribute this to disadvantages. There are enough benches in the park for everyone, and most often one or two people sit on each long bench. For some reason, it is common for our people to try to occupy exactly the free one and consider the shop “busy” if there is at least one rider per 7 meters.
I won’t write about toilets, because I don’t know how things are with this. In winter, I didn’t see booths, in a cafe that I didn’t think to ask at the “boat station”. The question remained open.
The more active part of the park is the western part, but I will talk about it next time. Visit Ekaterininsky and other parks of the capital, spend more time on the street. Thank you very much for your attention.

The small Catherine Park is located in the Meshchansky municipal district of Moscow. It is located between the streets of the Soviet Army, Olympic Avenue and Suvorovskaya Square.

In every city there are places about which there is nothing special to say, no bright events are connected with them, and there is nothing interesting for most people in them. Well the park. Well, a pond. And what? Whether it's a museum of erotica on the Arbat! And here? Trees? Ducks? But these are not boring places, but we are, and we will be so until we learn to enjoy any flower.

A long time ago, in the 12th-13th centuries, there was the village of Sushchevo, which later became the Sushchevskaya Sloboda. On the territory of the park there was a chain of ponds in the bed of the Naprudnaya River (other names are Samoteka, Sinichka), which flowed into the Neglinnaya.

One of the first buildings in the park was the church of Tryphon. It was erected in 1492. The Exaltation of the Cross Monastery was also moved here and the stone church of John the Warrior was built.

In the second half of the 18th century, next to the church of John the Warrior, the country estate of Count V.S. Saltykov was founded. After the death of the count, the estate passed to his son, a participant in the Suvorov campaigns, Count A.V. Saltykov. The new owner of the estate was one of the close nobles of Empress Catherine II.

Soon the empress bought the estate. It was rebuilt into the building of the Invalid Home for soldiers of the Russian army, which later became the Ekaterininsky Institute for Noble Maidens, and the park was named Ekaterininsky.

In 1802, already in the reign of Emperor Alexander I, instead of the Invalid House, the Ekaterininsky Institute for Noble Maidens was located in the estate. But it is called "Catherine's" not in honor of Empress Catherine II, but in honor of St. Catherine. The new building for it was built by the architect Ivan Gilardi.

The war of 1812 greatly disfigured the estate and the park, and Ivan Gilardi's son, Dmitry Gilardi, was already engaged in their restoration.

Already in the 20th century, the Naprudnaya River was enclosed in a pipe along its entire length, with the exception of a large pond. The Church of John the Warrior was demolished, and Ekaterininskaya Square (now Suvorovskaya Square) was enlarged at the expense of part of the park. The Catherine Institute since February 1928 was renamed the Central House of the Red Army.

In 1979, the eastern part was cut off from the park, along which the Olympic Avenue was laid. On the site of the church of John the Warrior, destroyed in the 30s of the 20th century, the TsDKA hotel (now the Slavyanka hotel) was built.

Immediately to the left of the entrance is a stage, a dance floor. A lot of old people are dancing the waltz. We looked. Amazingly touching and lovely picture. They are not at dominoes, they don’t hand over bottles, they don’t discuss neighbors on the bench, they go dancing. God bless them.

On the left side of the park is the statue "To the Stars" by sculptor Grigory Postnikov. In the monument, Grigory Nikolayevich captured a young half-naked titan launching a rocket into the sky.

The very idea of ​​launching a space rocket by hand, and not by equipment, is beautiful and patriotic. We can do everything! And on the other hand, it can be understood as follows: launch a rocket, even with your hand, even with any technique, the result will be the same.

Not far behind the trees we see the Armenian Cathedral of Surb-Khach, built a few years ago on Olimpiyskiy Avenue.

We go to the northwest corner of the park, and we pass into its "appendix", fenced with new buildings and connected to the park itself by a narrow isthmus.

There is a memorial stone dedicated to the bicentenary of the victory in the war with Napoleon in 1812.

The Chapel of Alexander Nevsky and John the Warrior is part of the memorial complex dedicated to Generalissimo A.V. Suvorov.

The monument to the great Russian commander A. V. Suvorov, who made many glorious victories and campaigns, was erected in 2006 in Catherine's Park next to the chapel.

Once on this place was the Church of John the Warrior. In the 1920s, the temple was destroyed by the Bolsheviks.

Suvorov Alexander Vasilievich - the great Russian commander who did not suffer a single defeat in his military career (more than 60 battles), Prince of Italy (1799), Count Rymniksky (1789), Count of the Holy Roman Empire, Generalissimo of the Russian land and sea forces , holder of all Russian orders of his time, awarded to men, as well as many foreign military orders.

“He was a man of small stature, lean, frail, ill-built, with a monkey face, with lively, sly eyes and grips so strange and hilariously funny that it was impossible to see him without laughter or pity; but under this original shell lurked the gifts of a great military genius. Suvorov knew how to make the soldiers idolize themselves and be afraid. (King Louis XVIII of France)

In the same part of the park is the "Social and Rehabilitation Center for Veterans of Wars and the Armed Forces." It is probably a pleasure to lie down for treatment here, especially in spring, but the proximity of Prospekt Mira raises doubts about the purity of the air.

Jasmine blooms. He is one of the last to bloom. The sun has already passed its climax, and the daylight hours have begun to decrease, and it is in bloom.

This year, due to illness, I missed the flowering of bird cherry and lilac, but I will not miss jasmine.

There is a rotunda here, in which, as the legend says, “The Empress liked to drink tea with Count Saltykov. In a nearby greenhouse, lemons were grown for their tea drinking. True, which empress and with which of the Saltykov counts is not specified.

This pavilion is called "The Rotunda of Catherine II". The rotunda is located on the bank of the Great Ekaterininsky Pond. This wooden arched structure was erected on the site of an old rotunda.

Now renting this pavilion costs 1,000 rubles per hour, people like to arrange photo sessions there on wedding days, and in summer you can often meet brides in dazzling white dresses in the park. And my missus is in green, the color of the rotunda.

Catherine Park is literally squeezed from all sides by the Olimpiysky sports complex, the Theater of the Russian Army, the Museum of the Armed Forces, the Cultural Center of the Armed Forces, Suvorovskaya Square and Durov's corner.

There is only one restaurant, which is on the water on the Big Pond. We did not go into it.

The park has two entrances - Central, from the side of Suvorovskaya Square and Dostoevskaya metro station, and from the side of Olimpiyskiy Prospekt opposite the stadium.

Hidden in the depths of the garden is a planetarium built in 1958. A special astronomical apparatus is installed here, thanks to which visitors can see comets, stars, planets and eclipses. Unfortunately, the planetarium is not designed for a large number of visitors, so an appointment is required to visit it. And you thought there was only one planetarium in Moscow? I thought so too.

This horse does not belong to the main attractions of the park. So what? She was created to give people joy, so I do not regret taking pictures for her.

The approaching houses are simply crushing. What freedom in Kolomenskoye, and what non-freedom here.

Here it is, the former Catherine's Institute for Noble Maidens. As it should be for all institutions of noble maidens, a bust of Frunze was installed in front of its entrance. Now here is the Cultural Center of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

Opposite the entrance we see the building of the Theater of the Soviet Army. It was the first theater building built after the revolution. From a bird's eye view, the building looks like a regular five-pointed star. "Invented" such a form, oddly enough, Kliment Voroshilov.

Voroshilov, completely desperate to explain to stupid architects how to build a theater, somehow grabbed an ashtray in the form of a five-pointed star from the table, slapped it on a sheet of paper, and said: "That's how to build it!" So they built it, but the building turned out to be extremely inconvenient for the theater.

Next to the park and the theater is the Central Museum of the Armed Forces (former Museum of the Soviet Army), it was founded in 1919.

In 1924 the museum became known as the Central Museum of the Red Army and Navy. Since 1951 - the Central Museum of the Soviet Army, since 1965 - the Central Museum of the Armed Forces of the USSR, since 1993 - the Central Museum of the Armed Forces. Remembering all this is impossible, and no one needs to.

The monument to the dead sailors of the nuclear submarine "Kursk" (sculptor L. Kerbel) was opened on August 12, 2002 to the right of the building of the Central Museum of the Armed Forces, 2 years after the tragedy on the nuclear submarine.

Map of the Catherine Park.

Tsarskoye Selo is a museum-reserve located near St. Petersburg in the city of Pushkin. Tsarskoye Selo is one of the three most visited attractions in St. Petersburg, not counting the northernmost capital. The other two attractions are of course the Hermitage and Peterhof. In our short acquaintance with St. Petersburg, among other things, we visited two of them. And today we will talk about Tsarskoye Selo, a museum with a rich and complex history.

How to get to Tsarskoye Selo

The easiest, most convenient and fastest way to get to Tsarskoye Selo is a fixed-route taxi. To do this, you need to take the metro to the Moskovskaya station. Here, between Moscow Square and the House of Soviets, there is a parking lot for suburban buses and minibuses. If it will be difficult for you to orient yourself, just ask the suburban bus stop or the House of Soviets. From this stop to Tsarskoye Selo go minibuses No. 287, 342, 545. You can see in detail the route of minibuses with stops using the application. There is another option by train from the Vitebsk railway station, but in Pushkin you still have to transfer to a minibus. We left for Tsarskoe Selo from the Moskovskaya metro station and in 30 minutes we were there.

Arriving in Pushkin only after lunch and after analyzing the queue to the palace, we decided to confine ourselves to a walk in the park. It is worth mentioning that a ticket to the park, for which you also need to stand in line, is not an entrance ticket to the palace, where you need to stand additionally after entering the park. There are several pavilions in the park, and several exhibitions in the palace. Prices for visiting museum expositions can be found on the official website of the Tsarskoye Selo Museum-Reserve.

There is an arch near the ticket office. This arch connects the Church Wing with the Imperial Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, where Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin studied from 1811 to 1817 and graduated from it among the first enrollment.

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Great Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo

The Catherine Palace is named after Empress Catherine I, by whose order the building was founded in 1717. The Saar manor estate was a gift from Peter I to his wife, now it is Tsarskoye Selo. The palace was the country residence of three Russian empresses: Catherine I, Elizabeth Petrovna and Catherine II. Each of the empresses contributed something of her own to the appearance of the Great Catherine Palace. The current view of the palace is the work of the famous architect Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli, whose bust is installed on the north side of the palace.

By order of Elizabeth Petrovna Rastrelli, the Catherine Palace was rebuilt and significantly enlarged. So in 1756, a 325-meter palace with a gilded facade appeared before the stunned guests. After the death of its predecessor, the Palace with the park passed into the possession of Catherine the Great, who, until the end of her reign, made adjustments to the appearance of the park and the palace, but nothing essentially changed in the palace.

The building of the palace was badly damaged during the Nazi occupation during the Great Patriotic War. In addition to the charred building, the palace lost its main relic - the Amber Room, which was taken out of Russia. Now the Amber Room, meticulously recreated by restorers, is open to the public in the Great Catherine Palace. The palace itself is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Catherine's Park in Tsarskoye Selo

Catherine's Park, as well as Catherine's Palace, can only be accessed through one entrance, although there are more of them. It is located on Sadovaya Street, not far from the minibus stop, they bring you to the very entrance, and they pick you up from it. Catherine Park is fabulously rich. You can walk in the park for more than one day and still it will be difficult to leave here after seeing all its sights. On the territory of more than 100 hectares, in addition to the palace itself, there are many pavilions, bridges and monuments built at different times and in different architectural styles.

cameron gallery

You can start your acquaintance with the pavilions of the park not far from the Grand Palace, from the southern wing. The southern wing of the palace, or as it is correct to call it Zubovsky, is named after the last favorite of Catherine II, Platon Zubov, for whom it was erected. The Cold Bath and the Cameron Gallery are also located here. All three pavilions are connected by a ramp with faces of Roman emperors.

The Cameron Gallery is named after the architect Cameron, who built this pavilion. The upper tier is decorated with busts of idols of Catherine the Great, and the pavilion itself was intended for philosophical walks and conversations.

From here you can enjoy beautiful views of the entire park and the maid of honor's garden.

Cameron's commitment to ancient art is visible to the naked eye.

Mirror Ponds and Upper Bath

Opposite the Great Catherine Palace there is a regular park, one of the main places in which is occupied by two Mirror Ponds. On the northern side of the pond farthest from the Cameron Gallery is the Upper Bath.

As the name implies, this building served as a steam room for members of the imperial family. Currently, admission to this pavilion is free; it presents an exposition dedicated to cinematographic art, or rather, to all Russian films shot on the territory of Tsarskoye Selo. In one of the rooms, equipment from the set of Anna Karenina is presented as exhibits.

Not far from the Upper Bath, there is the Lower Bath pavilion, where the entrance is already paid.

Only rainy St. Petersburg weather can spoil the walk, otherwise it is very pleasant to walk along the cozy paths, shady alleys and symmetrically trimmed lawns and it is easy to forget about the time.

Grotto Pavilion, Tsarskoye Selo

The regular park can be conditionally divided into the Old Garden and the Hermitage Grove. The Old Garden includes two Mirror Ponds, the Upper and Lower Baths and the Grotto Pavilion.

The grotto, built by Rastrelli himself, was decorated in accordance with its name. The patrons of the seas, dolphins and shells create the mood of the sea. The interior decoration of the Grotto changed many times, so the tuff disappeared from the walls, making the room even more similar to the grotto. Many sculptures and paintings from the Grotto are currently in the St. Petersburg Hermitage.

Hermitage Pavilion, Tsarskoye Selo

The Old Garden is separated from the Hermitage Grove by the Fish Canal, through which several stone bridges are thrown. The bridges fit very colorfully into the created landscape.

The Hermitage Grove is named after the main building in this part of the park. The Hermitage Pavilion is also the main attraction of the entire regular park.

The Hermitage is one of the classic examples of Russian Baroque. Tellingly, the project was developed by Zemtsov, and Rastrelli only executed it, adding some details, such as columns. The interior decoration is also characteristic of the Baroque architectural style, which can be easily seen by purchasing a ticket to the Hermitage pavilion. Having paid a little more and having arrived at a certain time, you will be given a tour of the internal halls of the Hermitage with a demonstration of the lifting table mechanism. The lifting mechanism allowed the reigning persons who ate meals to receive replaceable dishes without seeing the servants. The mechanism lowered the table into the kitchen, located on the ground floor, and the already set table rose to the refectory.

Lower ponds and their sights

The northeastern border of the park is conditionally limited by the lower ponds. Behind the last third are symbolic gates.

The gate "To my dear colleagues" was built in 1817 in honor of the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812. The text engraved on the gate belongs to the hand of Alexander I.

Nearby there is a cast-iron gazebo where you can relax from the bustle of a regular park. It should be noted that almost no one reaches this part of the park.

The cascade bridge delimits the Second Lower Pond and the Third Lower Pond.

The same cascade bridge delimits the First and Second Lower Ponds. Next to this cascade bridge there is the Moreyskaya Column, which is a monument to Russia's victory in the Russian-Turkish war.

Thus, moving from the Third Pond to the First, we reached the Big Lake, on the shore of which, and on the lake itself, there are many sights. The first thing we saw was Rabbit Island, there is a ferry nearby that takes everyone to the Big Island. The ferry has a schedule and cost. And on the Big Island there is a concert hall "On the Island" and the Chesme (Oryol) Column, the works of the famous architect Antonio Rinaldi. It was erected in honor of the naval victories of Count Orlov.

Admiralty and Turkish bath

Here, on the shores of the Big Lake, already at the end of the 18th century, three brick buildings were built, under the single name of the Admiralty. These buildings are no longer built in the Russian Baroque style, but closer to the Gothic.


On the opposite bank of the Big Lake from the Grotto pavilion, there is a Turkish bath. The pavilion conceived by Alexander I was brought to life by the architect Monighetti. The Turkish bath was built in memory of the Russian-Turkish war. During the Great Patriotic War the pavilion was destroyed and later restored. Entrance to the Turkish bath pavilion is paid.

Landscape park, Tsarskoye Selo

Behind the Big Lake begins the Landscape Park. Many channels through which bridges are laid, paths, hills and trees make the walk unforgettable. Being here, you can easily lose the feeling of reality and fall into a real fairy tale.

Walking through the Landscape Park, we crossed Ramp Alley, which leads to the Cameron Gallery. And on the way we will see the Granite Terrace. I would like to admit that we have spied on all the names and locations of pavilions and alleys in the free map, which is issued at the box office along with a ticket to the park, so you will not be left without a rescue landmark.

From the Granite Terrace, decorated with exact copies of ancient statues, a view of the Admiralty opens.

And if you look from the terrace in a straight line, then we will see the same Concert Hall on the Big Island, in front of it is the sculpture of “Nerva, Caesar of Rome”, and even closer to us is the statue of “Venus with Cupid”.

In the southwestern part of the park, the Upper Ponds are located, which have become the main element of the landscape design of this part of the park.

In the very bowels of the islands, surrounded by a pond, there is the Ruin Kitchen Pavilion.

Near the pavilion Concert Hall.

The Creaky (Chinese) arbor, conceived by the architect Rastrelli and embodied by Neelov, is located right on the border with the Alexander Garden.

From here you can already move towards the exit from the park, that is, towards the Great Catherine Palace. On the way we came across another pavilion, the Evening Hall. One of the latest buildings of the Catherine Park, built already in the 19th century.

Already almost next to the Zubovsky wing, to which we came out, there is a colorful Pergola (Trill Arbor), a favorite place for photo shoots of newlyweds.

Perloga is a conditional boundary of the so-called Own Garden. It is easy to recognize it by the marble fountain and the Nymph sculpture.

We left the territory of Catherine's Park not through the main entrance, but through Triangular Square, past the Golden Gates of the Catherine's Palace. From this side of the palace, we showed at the very beginning of the article. By the way, the entrance to the inner territory of the palace is allowed only as part of an excursion group with passes.

Opposite the Golden Gate to the Catherine Palace is the entrance to the Alexander Garden. We, having rounded the palace buildings, again find ourselves on Sadovaya Street, next to the arch. Next to the lyceum is the first stone church in Pushkin.

Tsarskoye Selo review

There are some tips for everyone who decides to visit Tsarskoye Selo in St. Petersburg. If your trip coincided with the tourist season, and this is May-September, then be prepared for a huge number of people. As mentioned above, Tsarskoye Selo is one of the most visited sights of the northern capital. The visitors here are very different and not only our compatriots, but also many foreigners, and the delegations from China are very numerous. Therefore, if you have a desire to take a walk not only in the Catherine Park, but also visit the Catherine Palace itself, you should come here early in the morning and take sandwiches with you, because standing in line and walking through the park can take all day.

As for us personally, the road from St. Petersburg is not at all tedious. Tiring only a large number of people. But here, not everything is so bad, large clusters are only at the Catherine Palace itself (the queue at the palace) and at the Cameron Gallery. The rest of the park is almost empty, so it will be comfortable to walk along it even at the rush hour and in the season itself. As for the entrance to the palace, if you still intend to get inside, be prepared to stand in a 2-3 hour queue. But the inconvenience doesn't end there. Due to the large flow of tourists, you will not be allowed to freely walk around the halls of the palace. The tour is very limited in time, and you can see the Amber Room almost without stopping. So if you still want to see the legendary Amber Room, be patient.