Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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PARKS & GARDENS
Summer Gardens
(Letny Sad) This is the place to rest on a bench after a day of
visiting museums, or to escape from the crush of city sidewalks—or to imagine how Peter
the Great spent his summer afternoons. The lush greenery (at least for a few months of the
year) almost makes you forget that these gardens were entirely planned, designed for Peter's
pleasure walks and adhering to the city's rules of classicism. Peter brought in marble
Renaissance-era statues from Italy to give the park a more European feel. He and his suc-
cessors threw grand receptions here with dancing, drinking, and fireworks under the end-
less sun of the White Nights. The statues and fountains serve as landmarks in case you get
disoriented. The shrubbery was once carefully trimmed but now its groomers allow trees to
take on more abundant forms. The Summer Palace is open to visitors, its rooms re-created
as they would have been in Peter's time. The small two-story building was not heated, so it
was a summer treat. Glance inside the Coffee House and the Tea House, too. The park
closes for a few weeks in spring, usually in April, for a “drying out” period as the slush melts.
Entrance from Kutuzov Embankment (Naberezhnya Kutuzova) or Panteleimon Bridge (Panteleimonovsky
Most). Park daily 10am-8pm; admission charged during festivals. Summer Palace Wed-Sun 10am-6pm.
Tickets 200 rubles adults, 70 rubles children 8 and up. Metro: Gostiny Dvor or Gorkovskaya.
Taurida Gardens
(Tavrichesky Sad) This park is gradually returning to its past
splendor, when its ponds were thronged with boaters, and aristocratic families strolled its
winding lanes and rolling hills. Now it's one of the few good places to take kids near the
city center, with a skating rink and sledding slopes in winter, a carousel and other rides,
and plenty of woodland to frolic in. Some of the grounds are in disrepair, with chipped
alleys and rusted fences. The park, originally a private garden for Catherine the Great's
adviser and lover Grigory Potemkin, reflects Catherine's informal landscaping style, in
contrast to the rigidity of Peter's Summer Gardens. The gardens host open-air jazz festi-
vals during the White Nights and other concerts throughout the summer.
2 Ulitsa Potemkinskaya. Daily 7am-10pm. Metro: Chernyshevskaya.
Victory Park
(Park Pobedy) Built to celebrate the victory over Nazi Germany in
World War II, this extensive city park is far from the city center but has its own metro
stop. If you're staying nearby or are traveling with children, it's worth a visit. It suffers
from the forced triumphal feeling of many Soviet parks, but if you ignore the massive
monuments, the many outdoor attractions make it feel human-sized again. Its ponds
offer skating and sledding in winter, and boating and water bikes in summer (though
they're rather rickety). Elsewhere you can find tennis courts, flower gardens, and an
amusement park. On a sobering note, the park was built on the site of a brick factory
whose ovens were used to burn corpses of victims of the 900-day Nazi siege.
Moskovsky Prospekt. Daily 10am-9pm. Free admission to park, with small charge for park rides. Metro:
Park Pobedy.
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MONUMENTS, MEMORIALS & SQUARES
St. Petersburg is full of unforgettable architectural moments, if you take a minute—or
15—to stop and look around. Of the city's chief monuments, at the top on your list
should be the
Bronze Horseman (Medny Vsadnik)
. This most famous of St.
