English park - visiting card of Peterhof

The palace and park ensemble of Peterhof is a monument of world architecture. Not inferior to luxury Versailles, the residence of the emperors of Russia amazes with its grandeur and amazing beauty. The most popular suburb of St. Petersburg is a huge number of tourists who dream of seeing a unique landmark in which every palace, fountain or park has its own history.

The English park occupying a huge territory is no exception. Defeated yet following the European fashion that followed, Catherine II, he became an ornament of her three-story mansion, in which the Empress rested.

Business card

Landscape masterpiece can be called without exaggeration the visiting card of Peterhof. Thanks to the efforts of garden masters D. Gavrilov, D. Meders and architect D. Quarenghi, the English park grew on the territory.

His heart was a picturesque pond, which appeared even during the reign of Peter I. He ordered the partition of the Troitsky creek to be blocked, as a result of the works and formed a pond with winding banks.

Picturesque pond

In the 30-ies of the XVIII century, the territory adjacent to the pond was given to a menagerie, where wild boars were kept. A few decades later it was demolished, and in its place appeared the English park, decorated with a nearby palace.

Giving a pacifying mood pond divides the green zone into two parts and is its center. Planting trees and laying even alleys were handled by gardeners who created a real miracle. They very skillfully entered a picturesque pond into a broken English park, and a complete impression of the natural origin of the landscape was created.

In 1781, all construction work was completed, and construction began. Later, the architect Quarenghi created the so-called "Birch House", which emphasized the picturesque decoration.

Guest house

A log country hut with upholstered birch walls and a roof covered with a thick layer of straw did not seem to be anything interesting. However, behind the unprepossessing facade were hidden colorful interiors of the living room for reception of visitors with exquisite mirrors of various forms, expensive parquet and six rooms decorated with quaint ornamentation.

English palace in classical style

At this time, by order of Catherine begin to build a palace, called the English. He became the place where the Empress retired, moving away from public affairs. The building built on the bank of the pond, monumentally looking among lush thickets and planted trees, looked very strict. A powerful granite staircase, six columns, supporting a loggia, a mezzanine - all this fully expressed the classical style in architecture. Laconic was the interior decoration of the halls, where the stucco was assigned the main role.

Restraint in everything

The building, located on an artificial hill near the pond, was devoid of all luxury. Even the grand halls did not shine with a lush interior, but were removed in a low-key style. The views of the guests attracted portraits of European monarchs, hung on the walls.

The architect's shortcoming

By the way, when designing the palace, the European architect did not take into account the local climate, forgetting about the vestibule, which led to severe winter problems. And the masters working with him were afraid to point out the mistake they made.

Original bridges

The English park (Peterhof) included not only the palace built over 15 years ago. Eleven original bridges also caused surprise, giving a special splendor to the landscape. Narochito decorated in the form of debris and underlined by rough stone blocks, they became a real treasure of the park zone.

Destruction of the park after the death of Catherine II

Unfortunately, after the death of his mother, the proud Pavel I, who dreamed to change the existing way, ordered to destroy the pavilions in the park, and turned the palace into a military barracks.

Revival of the palace

The English park (Peterhof), whose photo is presented in the article, was returned to life only during the reign of Alexander I, who tried to restore his former appearance. Quarenghi was engaged in repairing the palace, which served as a place of residence for foreign diplomats, who came from all countries to luxury receptions in Peterhof. In addition, there were musical concerts and exhibitions of paintings by artists.

The destroyed masterpiece

After 1917 the masterpiece of classicism turned into an ordinary sanatorium, and during the Great Patriotic War it was completely destroyed, as evidenced by the marble pedestal.

The English park (Peterhof) occupies more than 170 hectares.

How to get there?

The picturesque green oasis is located 1.7 km from the center of St. Petersburg at: Peterhof, ul. Peterhof. Independently you can get by train from the Baltic station, by shuttle buses No. 404, 224, 200, 343, 103, 424 or by meteor from the Hermitage pier. Travel time - from half an hour to 40 minutes.

Peterhof with a palace and park ensemble is the most favorite place for tourists to relax in the atmosphere of the past centuries. The world-famous monument of architecture is a real achievement of national culture. A visit to the English park will give aesthetic pleasure, and everyone will be imbued with the magical charm of a historical place.