Branches:
The School of Filonov
Marble Palace

The School of Filonov

6 October 2023—15 April 2024

“The Collective of Masters of Analytical Art. The School of Filonov” existed from the summer of 1925 until the master’s death in December 1941. The school’s work was based on ...

From Orest Kiprensky to Pavel Fedotov. Drawings and Watercolours of the First Half of the 19th Century
St Michael’s Castle

From Orest Kiprensky to Pavel Fedotov. Drawings and Watercolours of the First Half of the 19th Century

12 October 2023—26 February 2024

The exhibition From Orest Kiprensky to Pavel Fedotov, introduces viewers to some of the finest e...

Vasily Surikov. 175th Anniversary of the Artist's Birth
The State Russian Museum

Vasily Surikov. 175th Anniversary of the Artist's Birth

1 December 2023—10 June 2024

The exhibition presents over 120 paintings and graphic works by Surikov from the museums in St Petersburg, Moscow and Krasnoyarsk, including th...

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Military Parades: Porcelain and Watercolour
Stroganov Palace

Military Parades: Porcelain and Watercolour

15 December 2023—13 May 2024

The exhibition is dedicated to a hundred-year-old tradition of producing decorative “military plates” depicting imperial army uniforms. Besides plates, t...

Opening hours
The Mikhailovsky Garden

Monday 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Mikhailovsky Palace, Benois Wing are open until 8:p.m.
Tuesday The Museum is closed
Wednesday 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Thursday 1:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Friday 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Sunday 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Ticket offices close 30 minutes earlier

Getting here
The Mikhailovsky Garden, St. Petersburg
Metro - Gostiny Dvor, Nevsky Prospekt

History

Mikhailovsky Garden is a very rare monument of landscape design of the XVIII — early XIX century, representing a unique combination of two different styles of landscaping — regular, or “French”, style, and landscape, or “English”, style. It is also a great example of architectural cohesion of a man-made structure (Mikhailovsky Palace) and natural landscape (Mikhailovsky Garden), created by a prominent architect Carlo Rossi.

Mikhailovsky Garden forms part of a larger landscape composition in the heart of St Petersburg that also comprises the Summer Garden and the Field of Mars. Over many years of its existence the layout of the garden has been changed several times in accordance with the fashion and the tastes of its owners.

Originally the land now occupied by the Summer and Mikhailovsky Gardens, as well as the garden surrounding Engineers’ Castle, and Engineers’ Park, was occupied by villages as well as an estate and hunting grounds of the Swedish Captain Konow — as shown in the documents of 1698. In 1716-1717, by order of Peter I, architect J.-B. Leblond designed the General plan of the three Summer Gardens. The First and the Second Gardens were located where the modern Summer Garden now stands. The Third one accommodated Catherine I’s palace. The area of the modern Mikhailovsky Garden was once part of the Third Summer Garden and was called the Swedish Garden.

Leblond’s plan was essentially an idea of creating a grand unified ensemble of parks and palaces. All sketches, personally approved by Peter I, were included in the plan. The north-eastern area comprising Catherine I’s palace was of formal design. The sketch depicting the palace is almost identical to the layout of the central part of Peter I’s Upper Palace in Peterhof. Pyramid-shaped fur trees grew beside the palace. An alley lined with chestnut trees went towards the parterre with trellis gazebo and a geometrically shaped pool with a fountain and sculptures.

The south-western side of the garden was originally laid out as a regular orchard. The Russian imperial court garden with its plantations of fruit trees, herbs and roots, had greenhouses, conservatories and cellars for growing exotic plants and fruit. During the reign of Anna Ioannovna part of the Swedish Garden comprised plots with “spare” maple trees — a nursery. Besides, there was a so-called “yagd-garten” — small hunting grounds, where hares and deer were kept in special fenced areas for royal hunts.

In 1741 Empress Elizaveta Petrovna suggested that Rastrelli design a new Summer palace on the site of Catherine I’s palace and the surrounding garden. In April 1743 Rastrelli presented a plan of a labyrinth-shaped garden decorated with sculpture and fountains. Behind the palace was another formal garden with two geometrically shaped ponds, a fountain and a lace patterned flowerbed. The Swedish Garden underwent some changes too. The area was divided into geometrically shaped plots with intersecting alleys, with five rectangular ponds dug in the middle. Thus, it could be said, the Third Summer Garden and the Swedish Garden represented another example of the Russian landscaping art of the XVIII century.

By order of Pavel I, Elizaveta’s palace was dismantled and Mikhailovsky Castle was built on its foundation in 1787-1801. The area adjoining the castle comprised both Rastrelli’s and the Swedish Garden. The plan of the castle grounds included keeping two of the geometric ponds with trees along their perimeters. According to the plan, four of the five ponds were preserved in the Swedish Garden. They were connected by an underground canal that continued up to the western geometric pond. Pointedly, the design of the water system of the ponds and canals was unique.

Mikhailovsky Castle was built as an inaccessible fortress with draw-bridges, surrounded by water. The canals (the Resurrection, the Church and the Bypass Canals) around the castle (and the square in front of it with an equestrian statue of Peter I) formed a grandiose architectural ensemble of the XVIII century, unparalleled in the world architecture. The Third Summer Garden became known as the Upper Summer Garden and Mikhailovsky Garden. The layout of the Swedish Garden and its role as an orchard (in the western part) and a formal garden for walks (in the eastern part) didn’t change. Unfortunately, the unique ensemble didn’t last long in this guise. After Pavel I’s assassination the castle was no longer used as a royal residence. The royal family moved out of the castle, and the park and canals eventually became dilapidated. In 1822 the castle was handed over to the Central College of Engineering.

1819 saw a new stage in the evolution of the gardens. A large contribution to the reorganization of the gardens was made by architect C. I. Rossi. On the site of the old greenhouses adjoining the Upper Summer Garden from the south, by order of Alexander I Rossi implemented one of the most grandiose projects — the construction of Mikhailovsky Palace for Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich. This involved the reorganization of Mikhailovsky Garden, and renovation of the square facing the southern facade of the new palace. Essentially, this was the last palace ensemble built in the city. The final project for renovation of the garden next to Mikhailovsky Palace, designed by Rossi in cooperation with architect A. Menelas, was approved by the Emperor in April 1822. In 1823 Emperor Alexander I approved Rossi’s plan for reorganization of the area around Mikhailovsky Castle. Following the plan, the Church Canal was filled in and the eastern geometric pond in Mikhailovsky Garden was made smaller. Only the Resurrection Canal along the southern facade of the castle was left untouched. However, Rossi preserved the unique water system of the ponds of Mikhailovsky Garden and canals of Mikhailovsky Castle, adding an underground collector which connected the largest pond with the Moika river, thus providing additional water circulation. In accordance with the plan, two rows of pruned trees were planted around Mikhailovsky Castle.

A characteristic feature of the layout of Mikhailovsky Garden in Rossi’s plan was preservation of certain areas designed by Leblond and Rastrelli. C. Rossi created an exemplary English style garden, using all methods typical of landscape style and borrowed from English landscaping and architecture of 1715-1760. In front of the facade of Mikhailovsky Palace, facing the garden, Rossi designed a large lawn of irregular oval shape, lined with an alley and forming part of the regular layout. Another typical feature of an English garden was the use of ponds of irregular shape. Due to this the architect turned previously geometric pools into picturesque large ponds with more naturally shaped banks, and smaller rectangular ponds in the centre of the garden were removed. Another traditional element of a landscape park in the garden was a pavilion with a pier on the bank of the Moika river. Built on the foundation of the first wooden palace of Catherine I, the pavilion was meant for romantic dates on summer evenings with a cup of tea and a game of cards.

There were many flowerbeds and shrubs in blossom in Mikhailovsky garden. The most valuable part of the layout preserved by Rossi during the renovations was the system of alleys forming the centrepiece of the composition. Some of the plants along the alleys were preserved, and picturesque groups of trees were added. Before the revolution the garden was a court garden and was closed to the general public. The later history of Mikhailovsky Garden is as tragic as the history of all historic areas.

In 1902 the smaller eastern pond grew shallow and was filled in. At the same time, due to the construction of the Church of Resurrection (architect A.A. Parland) and the new garden railing, the western part of the garden became considerably smaller.

In 1922 the garden was renamed IOFR Garden (International Organization of Fighters for the Revolution). The former Mikhailovsky Garden under this “poetic” new name was turned into a common city park. A path was laid across the English lawn, special areas were designed for stages and pavilions where exhibitions were held in 1924. Later they were replaced by children’s playgrounds. In the early 1960s the construction of a tennis court and a public toilet was allowed. Trees and shrubs were planted haphazardly. Growing trees eventually covered the facade of Mikhailovsky Palace and the view from the palace to the Field of Mars. Changes were made yearly, moving further away from a once majestic historic landscape.

An examination in 2000 indicated that the garden was in critical condition. Mikhailovsky Garden underwent extensive restoration in 2001-2007. The plan of restoration was based on the idea of preserving English landscape style in the centre of the garden while keeping a regular French layout along the perimeter. The restoration recreated one of the best gardens in the central part of St Petersburg and brought back the historic significance of the Mikhailovsky Palace and Garden ensemble.

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