Summer Garden

Categories / City Topography/Green Areas/Gardens, Orchards
Categories / Architecture/Architectural Monuments/Architectural Ensembles
SUMMER GARDEN (Dvortsovaya Embankment), an 18th-19th century landscaping monument. It is the oldest city garden in the central part of St. Petersburg, and is situated on the left bank of Neva, on an island formed by Fontanka River, Moika River and Lebyazhay Canal, it has an area of 11.7 hectares. It was founded in 1704 by order and to the designs of Peter the Great near his summer residence (1703). The laying out of the Summer Garden started during the construction of stone Summer Palace of Peter the Great in 1712, and finished in 1725. It is a regular garden with straight alleys of pollard trees and bushes, landscaped ponds and fountains, statues and busts, park constructions - galleries, trellises and pergolas, conservatories and pavilions. The garden was created in the style of Dutch Baroque, with planning and buildings designed by architects I.M. Ugryumov (Matveev), F. Vasilyev, J.B. Le Blond, N. Michetti, M.G. Zemtsov, F.B. Rastrelli; the gardeners were Y. Roozen, I. Surmin and I. Efman. The original planning has been preserved only in the main features. Decorative sculptures, consisting of marble statues and busts, are an important element of the Summer Garden artistic decoration. In 1728 there were approximately 100 pieces of art on historical, allegorical and mythological subjects, most of them were made by 17th and 18th century Italian sculptors (P. Baratta, A. Taliapietra, P. Gropelli, et al.). Ninety statues and busts have been preserved to the present day. Numerous fountains (which gave the name to Fontanka River) complement the sculptures by their lead and gold groupings, depicting mainly scenes from Aesop's fables. Peter the Great bought a steam machine from England to deliver water to the water-jets, but during the flood of 1777, the fountains were destroyed and were not reconstructed. A fence was built along Neva Embankment in 1771-84 (architect Y.M. Velten, P.E. Egorov), which is a masterpiece of 18th century Russian Classicism; it consists of 36 granite pillars crowned with vases and urns, and an iron forged grille with gilded bronze ornamentation (in the 1950s, a part of lacking details was replaced by new aluminium ones during the restoration). Originally the fence had three gates granting entrance to the major alleys (today there are two gates in the centre). A stone terrace was constructed on the bank of Lebyazhya Canal in 1797-98 (architect G.P. Pilnikov), on which a cast iron tripod vase was installed in 1825 (architect L.I. Charlemagne). A cast iron fence was erected along the south border of the Summer Garden in 1825-26 (architect Charlemagne, by P.P. Bazen original) - it is decorated with armoury and shields with Gorgon face. In 1826, Grotto pavilion near Fontanka River (the 1710s, architect A. Schluter, G.I. Mattarnovi) was rebuilt as a Coffee House (architect K.I. Rossi, sculptor V.I. Demut-Malinovsky; from 1984 - an exhibition hall). In 1827, architect Charlemagne built the Tea House, a wooden pavilion decorated with Dorian columns, a balustrade and carved wooden ornamentation (restored in 1984). In 1826-27, a part of the Summer Garden alleys were altered to enable riding. A decorative vase made of Elfdalen rose porphyry (a gift of Sweden King Charles XIV to Emperor Nicholas I) was installed on bank of the Karpiev Pond (1714-16) under the guidance of Demut-Malinovsky in the autumn of 1839. A monument to I.A. Krylov was opened in the Summer Garden in 1854-55 (1851-53, sculptor P.K. Klodt, artist A.A. Agin). Peter the Great organised assemblies, court festivities, receptions in honour of foreign ambassadors was organised in the Summer Garden. Then the Summer Garden became a palace garden and, from 1755, was opened one or two days a week for noble public. It fell into disrepair in the second half of the 18th century, many park buildings disappeared. From the late 18th century the Summer Garden became a public place; Krylov, Alexander Puskin, et al. were among its frequent visitors. On 4 March 1866, D.V. Karakozov attempted to assassinated Emperor Alexander II at the gate of Nevskaya Fence; a stone chapel was built on its place (1866-67, architect R.I. Kuzmin; destroyed in 1930). After lifting the Siege of 1941-44, sculptures of the Summer Garden, which had been hidden in earth, were returned on their plinths, the territory was arranged, buildings were restored, and new trees were planted there. Today, the Summer Garden has approximately 3,000 trees of more then 10 species, mainly lindens (some have been preserved from the time of Peter the Great) and maples; over 22,000 lilac bushes, hawthorn, jasmine and others are planted in groups and hedges. From the 1990s, marble sculptures and busts were replaced with copies. Today the Summer Garden is an exhibition complex and a museum of 18th century garden sculpture. Archaeological and restoration works are undertaken here.

References: Болотова Г. Р. Летний сад. 2-е изд., испр. и доп. Л., 1988; Козлова Т. Д., Кареева Н. Д. Летний сад и дворец-музей Петра I. СПб., 1999.

S. V. Boglachev. Agin Alexander Alexeevich
Alexander II, Emperor
Baratta Pietro
Bazen Peter Petrovich
Charlemagne Ludwig Iosifovich
Demut-Malinovsky Vasily Ivanovich
Efman I.
Egorov Peter Egorovich
Felten Yury (Georg Friedrich) Matveevich
Gropelli P.
Karakozov Dmitry Vladimirovich
Karl XIV Johan, King
Klodt von Jurgensburg Peter Karlovich
Krylov Ivan Andreevich
Kuzmin Roman Ivanovich
Le Blond Jean-Baptiste Alexander
Mattarnovi Georg Iogann
Michetti Niccolo
Nicholas I, Emperor
Peter I, Emperor
Pilnikov Grigory Petrovich
Pushkin Alexander Sergeevich
Rastrelli Francesco de
Roozen Yan
Rossi Carl Ivanovich (Carlo Giovanni)
Schluter Andreas
Surmin Ilya
Taliapietra A.
Ugryumov Ivan Matveevich
Vasilyev Fedor
Zemtsov Mikhail Grigorievich
Dvortsovaya Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city
Summer Garden/Saint Petersburg, city
Болотова Г. Р. Летний сад. 2-е изд., испр. и доп. Л., 1988
Козлова Т. Д., Кареева Н. Д. Летний сад и дворец-музей Петра I. СПб., 1999 Lifting of the Siege, 1944
1704
1784
1855