Mikhailovsky Garden in St. Petersburg is one of the most popular and well-maintained parks, which is located in the very center of the city. In this rare monument of landscape architecture XVIII — early XIX centuries, two different styles of landscape art were uniquely combined on one territory - regular or French, and landscape, English. The park is also characterized by the architectural harmony of the embodied plan of the great architect Carlo Rossi - the unity of the building of the Mikhailovsky Palace and the natural landscape of the Mikhailovsky Garden. The garden is protected as an object cultural heritage federal significance.

Area: 10 hectares

Where is

The territory of the garden is limited by Sadovaya Street, the Moika River and the Griboyedov Canal. To the south of the Mikhailovsky Garden is the Mikhailovsky Palace, as well as the buildings of the Ethnographic Museum and the Benois Wing. Near the northwestern part of the Mikhailovsky Garden is the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood.

Entrance to the garden

Visitors can enter from Sadovaya Street or from the Griboyedov Canal embankment. Entry cost: free.

Story

The Mikhailovsky Garden appeared at the beginning of the 18th century, by decision of Peter I, simultaneously with the Summer Garden. At first it was called the Third Summer Garden, because the first two gardens belonged to the Tsar, and in this one they began to build a castle for the Tsarina, Catherine I. General plan three Summer Gardens were completed by order of the sovereign by the architect Jean-Baptiste Leblond. In those years, the garden area was larger than it is today, and planners had to drain the site by constructing additional channels to drain the water.

On the current site of the Rossi Pavilion, a compact Catherine Palace with a golden spire, which was called the “Golden Mansion”. Fruit trees and berry bushes were planted around, and pineapples and bananas were grown in greenhouses. Nightingales caught in three provinces were brought to the garden. Alleys in the form of green corridors alternated with ponds in which live fish were bred.

Anna Ioanovna III, having become king, started a large-scale reconstruction of the garden, highlighting great place for hunting wild boars, hares and deer - Jagdgarten. Special galleries were built for hunters, the stone walls of which protected them from stray bullets. With her, a soap house appeared in the garden - an imperial bath with a fountain and rooms for relaxation.

Years later, Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli built the Summer Palace and a labyrinth garden with a main alley leading to Nevsky Prospekt for Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. The garden was laid out in the then fashionable regular style, with cross-shaped alleys, topiary trees, fountains and marble statues. Flowerbeds were also laid out in the garden and pavilions, gazebos and slides with swings were installed.

In 1817, the construction of the Mikhailovsky Palace began, after which the garden began to be called Mikhailovsky. It was redesigned again, trying to give it a more natural, “landscape” character. Instead of fish ponds, an English lawn appeared, and vegetable gardens were replaced by paths for horse riding. And on the site of the “Golden Mansion,” the architect Rossi built a pavilion-pier for small boats of the imperial family.

Settled in the palace Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich with his wife Elena Pavlovna, who often organized extensive high-society festivities in the garden. The Mikhailovsky Garden was opened to the public in 1898, 3 years after it was transferred to the Emperor's Museum Alexandra III. True, according to the sign on the gate, not everyone could visit the garden: soldiers and dogs were prohibited from entering.

Forged lattice of the Mikhailovsky Garden

In 1881, Narodnaya Volya mortally wounded Emperor Alexander II on the embankment of the Catherine Canal, near the Mikhailovsky Garden. In memory of the tragedy, the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, known as the “Savior on Spilled Blood,” was built on this site. In order to separate the temple from the Mikhailovsky Garden, an artistic lattice was made in the Art Nouveau style, which is an interweaving of fancy large flowers and leaves, decorated with gilded details. Forged elements of the fence alternate with columns, flowerpots and urns, and a memorial plaque is placed at the site where Alexander II was wounded.

Video review of the Mikhailovsky Garden fence

Modern garden life

In 1999, the Mikhailovsky Garden was transferred to the State Russian Museum. Since then, a gradual reconstruction of the garden has been underway in order to return it to the appearance intended by Carlo Rossi. Over the years, new trees were planted, and paths were removed that distorted the architect’s original plan. A bust of Karl Rossi appeared near the Rossi pavilion, and busts of the artists Karl Bryullov and Alexander Ivanov, copying the original ones, were also installed in the garden sculptural works XIX century.

Events in the Mikhailovsky Garden

The garden regularly organizes public events- concerts and festivals. Every summer in the Mikhailovsky Garden is held summer festival"Imperial Gardens of Russia", which demonstrates original ideas in area landscape design. Members of the British royal family, who are related to the Russian imperial house, came more than once to look at the work of professionals and amateur gardeners.

In 2018, for the first time, the Summer Garden, rather than Mikhailovsky, was chosen as the venue for the XI festival “Imperial Gardens of Russia” (from June 21 to 27). According to the organizers, the transfer of the event venue to the favorite garden of Peter I is symbolic of the celebration of 300 years since the publication of Peter’s decree on holding assemblies. In June 2019, in the Mikhailovsky Garden you could show your Creative skills on creating costumes as part of the inclusive project “Art Transformations”.

Exhibitions in the Mikhailovsky Garden

In 2017, as part of the “Imperial Gardens of Russia” festival, an exhibition of Russian avant-garde art was held in the garden. And in May-June 2018, visitors to the Mikhailovsky Garden could admire designer benches painted by artists who participated in the international action"Peace Shop"

How to get to the Mikhailovsky Garden

The garden is located in the central area of ​​St. Petersburg, so it can be reached from different parts of the city by choosing the most convenient public transport route.

Not far from the entrance to the Mikhailovsky Garden there are public transport stops: bus: No. 3, No. 22, No. 27, No. 49, K212, trolleybus: No. 5, No. 22 and tram: № 3.

From Metro Gostiny Dvor"(Nevsko-Vasileostrovskaya or green Line): go towards Gostiny Dvor, onto Sadovaya Street. Go straight, after about 350 m the lattice of the Mikhailovsky Garden will be visible on the left.

From metro station "Nevsky Prospekt"(Moscow-Petrogradskaya or blue line): go towards the Griboyedov Canal, along the embankment and pass the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. Then walk along the fence of the Mikhailovsky Garden to the entrance.

From Palace Square: go towards the Moika River embankment near the Pevchesky Bridge. After crossing the bridge, turn left. Then follow the embankment, skirting Konyushennaya Square, to the second Garden Bridge.

On car: the garden is located opposite the Mikhailovsky Castle, you need to go by car to Sadovaya Street.

On Taxi: It is convenient to get to the Mikhailovsky Garden using taxi ordering applications operating in St. Petersburg (Yandex. Taxi, Uber, Gett, Maxim).

Video review of the Mikhailovsky Garden

Mikhailovsky Garden on Google Panorama

St. Petersburg is a city with a rich history. Every successful event held here once has every chance of receiving “annual” status. This happened with the exhibition of landscape art “Imperial Gardens”. Initially it was planned as one of the venues for the capital's holiday, but today it has become a place of pilgrimage for residents, guests of the city and foreign tourists.

What to see: history and program of the event

The first festival called “Imperial Gardens of Russia” took place exactly 10 years ago and was timed to celebrate the 110th anniversary of the Russian Museum. The main exposition to this day is the landscape design exhibition-competition: every year specialists are given a theme, in accordance with which they compose their compositions on one of the segments Mikhailovsky Garden.
“Imperial Gardens of Russia” is called the first Russian festival of landscape art, it is put on a par with major events of this kind in Europe.
In 2018, the exhibition will be held from June 21 to 27 and will be called “Flower Assembly”. For the first time, its location will be the Summer Garden with many magnificent fountains and ancient sculptures of mythical characters and gods. Hundreds of annual flowers will be planted on the territory of the Front Grounds, imitating a bright living carpet. The arched structures of Berso will be decorated with floral compositions, and the designers will complement the “Bird Yard” bosquet with citrus trees and pots of geraniums. The Menagerie Pond bosquet will turn into a floral fantasy with petals and reflections of flowers.
The program includes botanical lectures and floral master classes, fashion shows. For lovers of live sound, concerts with the participation of musical groups will be held.

Festival "Imperial Gardens of Russia 2018": how to get there?

The nearest metro stations are Nevsky Prospekt and Gostiny Dvor. Ground public transport is also available – the “Summer Garden” and “Garden Bridge” stops are nearby. At a distance of 600 meters lies Nevsky Prospekt, from where you can get to any point in the Northern capital.

You can buy a ticket for the Flower Assembly event on our website online. To do this, click the “Buy a ticket” button at the top right of the page.

What to see nearby?

After visiting the exhibition, you can look into the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood and become immersed in the art of architecture from the early 20th century. Not far from the Mikhailovsky Garden is located

On June 9, it opened its doors to visitors for the tenth time. The anniversary exhibition of landscape art is dedicated to the theme of the avant-garde. According to tradition, the festival is held during the white nights season; for visitors, the organizers and participants present a variety of landscape compositions, garden art objects and installations on the territory of the Mikhailovsky Garden. During the festival, the Mikhailovsky Garden turns into a cultural and entertainment venue. Concerts, lectures, master classes, excursions, fashion shows, and special programs designed for different ages of visitors are held here.

I have been trying not to miss this event for several years now. Mikhailovsky Garden, summer weather, a sea of ​​greenery and flowers, installations on a given theme... It is interesting to compare your view of landscape objects with the ideas of the authors. I will try to take you along the alleys of the garden, stopping at those objects that somehow attracted my attention - an interesting idea, original execution, a symbiosis of materials used, simply beautiful and original, and sometimes touching and sincere. On Full description I don’t pretend to be a festival in any way, I present exclusively my view of Avangardens 2017.

Before introducing the festival participants, I would like to draw attention to social projects. There are about a dozen of them, including mostly educational institutions or creative studios for “young” representatives.

"Dancing Garden" Boarding school No. 1 in the Vyborg district of St. Petersburg for deaf children.

"The fruits of enlightenment." Yukkov boarding school and the department of sociocultural communications of the Russian Museum.

Flowerbed "Suprematism". Psychoneurological boarding school No. 7 of St. Petersburg.

“Let’s give the bird a house.” School No. 432 of the Kolpinsky district of St. Petersburg. The composition is large, a couple of separate objects. The truth arises great desire occupy the offered houses yourself?

The interior of a kitchen from the 60s of the last century with kitchen utensils painted in the avant-garde style is presented in the “Total Gardening” project. The composition was created at the Center for Support of Young Disabled People named after Bishop Maletsky. A great idea for a summer cottage using old furniture.

“Sakermakhrepyaka” (Surreal hairdressing salon). HairFucker Studio. The chair is there for a reason - you can sit down and look at the mannequins with original hairstyles.

The kids were delighted. Very interesting and original works, visitors were happy to stop at the objects, and there was just a queue lined up near “Sakermakhrepyak” to visit.

Let's move on to the works of the festival participants. Several "floating" objects were presented.
"Flying over the city." Gnilovskaya Anastasia.

Installation "Butterfly Effect". Tsvetkova Natalia.

"Through space and time." Kalinichenko Irina.

There were also simply flying objects, and they were clearly recognizable objects. In the Mikhailovsky Garden, “natural fliers” rested on the green grass or “parked” on tree branches.

Project “The Rooks of the Avant-Garde Have Arrived.” St. Petersburg Art and Industry Academy named after A.L. Stieglitz. The author of the project is Anastasia Kolesnik.

Visitors looked at the details of the “Nest” project from the landscape studio “DEREVO PARK” with great pleasure. It was not possible to catch the moment when the “Nest” itself would have been without visitors, so here are only the details of the composition.

The living birds did not break away from the “flying brotherhood” and, demonstrating great dignity and a certain amount of courage, posed for annoying photographers.

The water surface of the pond was occupied by the “Zangezi” project of the creative team Performance “Zangezi” and the St. Petersburg State University Alumni Association.

Two heart objects were presented at the festival. The first is “The Heart of the Garden” from Olga Podolskaya’s gallery.

The second is “The Heart of the Avant-Garde,” created in the creative workshop “Masters of the Forest.”

Since 2017 was declared the Year of Ecology in Russia, the theme of ecology was also touched upon in the exhibition works. Several installations were presented Ecological festival arts "Kronfest" and the Museum of the History of Kronstadt.
The author of the fish is Yuri Stupitsa.

Several works All-Russian competition wood carvers "STIHL". The work of Roman Chernykh “Alangasary”. Alangasar is an ancient mythical giant from Udmurt mythology.

A modern satirical composition – “Burned at Work” by Alexey Ilyin.

“Asters” of the Ecological and Biological Center “Krestovsky Island” of the St. Petersburg City Palace of Youth Creativity. As the basis for the idea, the participants took the painting “Asters” by one of the leaders of the Russian avant-garde, Aristarkh Lentulov, and they can try to repeat this composition on personal plot provided there is sufficient free space.

Another painting at the festival is “To the last line...” (participant - Office for the Development of Horticulture and Vegetable Gardening in St. Petersburg). The basis for this composition is “Suprematist drawing” by I.V. Klyun (Klyunkov).

Rational avant-garde. Composition “New geometry as art”. Landscape Anatomy Company.

The image of a person in installations. “Remember the shadow – new monumentalism.” Author: Igor Baskin.

"The Quiet People" Institute of Finland in St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg Academy of Arts named after A.L. Stieglitz. This is the view of the author of the project, Reyo Kela, on people, society and time. The author does not give his definition of who his quiet people are. Dumb? Forgotten? Self-distanced? Viewers are invited to draw their own conclusions. What’s interesting is that if the “Quiet People” throw off their clothes, faceless crosses will remain in the clearing.

I would love to stay for a meditation session on a bench from the “Dialogues” project, presented by the Consulate General of Finland in St. Petersburg.

And I listened to “Suprematist Organ”. Music was presented by the St. Petersburg Institute of Arts and Restoration and the State Academic Capella of St. Petersburg.

The caterpillars marching in Vera Viglina’s project “Forms of Life – Life of Forms” made me smile.

Several projects in the “true” colors of the Russian avant-garde – red, black, white.

"Bather". Creative association “4/30/9”

"Ecology of Revolution: Rebuilding the World-2." Divina Harmonia Design School.

Studio "Khmel" in the project "Wheel of Education" raises the issue of recycling and recycling of waste. An excellent solution for using car tires in modern landscape design.

I would especially like to note the project of the Guild of Perfumers “Russian Avangard. Perfume projection". Russian perfumers - members of the Perfumers Guild - have created a line of fragrances in the Avangard and Revolution styles. Along one of the alleys of the Mikhailovsky Garden there are stands with storage tanks filled with aroma gel. The fragrances dedicated to the people and events of the revolutions of 1917 are presented. The aroma “I am Mayakovsky” turned out to be too cloying for me, the aroma “Malevich” was saturated with a variety of smells, just as an artist’s paintings are saturated with the color of paints. But the aroma “Anarchy” turned out to be very sweet, light and slightly dizzying. I was so carried away by “absorbing” the smells that I forgot to capture the “alley with smells”. But you definitely won’t pass by. Where visitors with zeal and pleasure “bow” to multi-colored tanks (and each scent also has its own color), the Perfumers Guild operates. There is a perfumer on duty in the alley, answering questions; the scents you like can be purchased in the souvenir shops of the Russian Museum.

We had a pleasant walk through the Mikhailovsky Garden. Objects and installations of the Avangard, greenery, flowers, “postcard” city views around. The exhibition is open for a few more days, you still have time to paint your own picture of the Avangardens.

The eleventh annual festival of landscape and floral art, which is usually held in the Mikhailovsky Garden, will move to the Summer Garden this season. This was announced on Tuesday, June 5, by the director of the State Russian Museum, Vladimir Gusev, a Dialogue correspondent reports.

“300 years ago - in 1718 - Peter I issued a decree on holding Assemblies, and the first of them was held in the Summer Garden. This festival of ours will be called “Flower Assembly”. This is how we remind you of the history of Russia: it is important for us that the “Imperial Gardens” do not simply turn into a glamorous flower festival, but still have a museum basis. The Summer Palace of Peter I is the place where it began new page Russian statehood. They are the same age as St. Petersburg, and the gardens also began with St. Petersburg,” Gusev said.

According to him, this year the nature of the festival will change - when it was held in the Mikhailovsky Garden, the exhibition was based on installations and landscape compositions, while now the emphasis will be on the use of fresh flowers. For this reason, the dates of the festival have been changed - it will take place not at the beginning, but at the end of the month, from the 21st to the 27th, since the flowers should bloom. The location also imposes its limitations - the Summer Garden does not have extensive lawns on which compositions could be placed, so the organizers will have to decorate - carefully, since the appearance of the garden is under the protection of KGIOP - the existing elements of its decoration: hedges, fountains... By the way, the guests of the festival A lot of interesting innovations await.

“For example, we plan to make the Tsaritsyn fountain perfumed. This has never happened in the history of Russia, because there were only four such fountains in the world, and the first of them appeared in 1900 at an exhibition in Paris. We hope that this experiment will succeed, and tonight ( on Tuesdays the Summer Garden is traditionally closed for cleaning and maintenance - Dialog news agency) there will be a “trying on” of the fragrance. This will be an exclusive, unusual event: in fact, Peter I loved these, and the Summer Garden was an experimental platform for him, where he tried out various innovations brought from Europe (mainly from Holland). Then he built Strelna, and then Peterhof, but the Summer Garden is the progenitor of all gardens of the European tradition [in Russia],” noted Olga Cherdantseva, chief custodian gardens of the Russian Museum and director of the festival “Imperial Gardens of Russia”.

In addition, 50 photographs of famous European palace gardens will be exhibited along the main avenue. The photo project takes place under the auspices of the Association for the Conservation of the Heritage of European Gardens.

“It would probably be easier for us to hold the festival as usual, in the Mikhailovsky Garden - but the festival working group decided to postpone it to this year. As the person responsible for the preservation of the Summer Garden, I perceived this initiative with caution - but we will work, and I think it will work out well. The Summer Garden is not Mikhailovsky, here we cannot afford to make landscape installations on the lawns: it is simply impossible. Therefore, it was decided to make small flower arrangements; The main fountains and bosquets will be decorated. All this will have to be fastened very gently - no glue, no drilling, no interference at all with the structural elements. I think landscapers have their own tricks,” said Sergei Rennie, head of the “Gardens” branch of the Russian Museum.

“Whether we will continue to hold it there, or organize it in both places, we will see how much funds are enough,” Gusev added.

Let us note that entrance to the Summer Garden on these days will be paid - a ticket will cost 500 rubles (on the website of the gardens of the Russian Museum the price is now 430 rubles, or 160 for preferential categories). In addition to the fact that this will make it possible to partially return the funds spent on holding the festival, the management of the State Russian Museum intends in this way to make sure that the festival will not have an excessive influx of visitors (although the garden already receives a million people a year). In addition, for three days before the start of the “Imperial Gardens of Russia” festival (June 18-20) and two days after its end (June 28-29), the Summer Garden will be completely closed - due to the need for installation and dismantling of decorations, respectively.

“We may keep some compositions for ourselves, especially, probably, from social projects that will be placed in the French Parterre bosquet,” Rennie noted.

The International Festival of Landscape Art "Imperial Gardens of Russia" is an annual large-scale cultural event, which is carried out by the Russian Museum and on its territory - in the Mikhailovsky Garden.

The first international festival “Imperial Gardens of Russia” was held from May 30 to June 3, 2008 in the Mikhailovsky Garden and was timed to celebrate the 110th anniversary of the Russian Museum. The main organizer of the festival was the Russian Museum with the support of Charitable Foundation His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent and the Union of Gardeners of Russia. Since then, the festival has become an annual holiday for citizens and guests of the city, as well as one of the landmark events cultural life St. Petersburg.

The central event of the festival is the holding of a landscape exhibition-competition. In areas of the Mikhailovsky Garden specially allocated for the exhibition, competition participants create landscape compositions on a given theme. Every year the team working group festival is developing new topic and a task for participants in the exhibition-competition, and also forms a scenario plan for the entire festival, which also includes a variety of cultural, entertainment and educational activities.

The festival is designed for a wide audience. First of all, these are citizens and guests of the city, as well as specialists in the field of landscape and gardening art. In addition to the landscape exhibition-competition, the festival program includes extensive cultural and entertainment activities: concerts, master classes, lectures, excursions, fashion shows, special programs designed for children of different ages, as well as for people and children with disabilities.

The Mikhailovsky Garden was chosen as the venue for the festival, and this is no coincidence. The Mikhailovsky Garden is part of the unique architectural and artistic complex of the Russian Museum and is an outstanding monument of landscape art, located in the historical center of St. Petersburg.

The “Imperial Gardens of Russia” festival does not have fixed dates, but traditionally takes place during the White Nights in the first half of June and lasts ten days.

The festival "Imperial Gardens of Russia" is the first landscape festival in Russia and today the only one in the North-West. It stands among such famous landscape events in the world as: the Chelsea Flower Show, London; Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, England; International "Garden Festival" in Chaumont-sur-Loire, France, etc.

The festival is not a commercial project; it, first of all, has a socially significant and educational role, and is supported by sponsors.

The development of the landscape festival is extremely important for the tourist destination, improving the environmental situation in the metropolis, creating a school of gardening art and landscape design, and for the sustainability of the urban environment. All this together creates serious potential for the development of culture on the one hand and economic development the city as a whole. High attendance and positive response in the media suggests that this festival project of the museum is necessary for the development of both the tourist destination and environmental consciousness among residents and guests of the city. Cultural events that create a highly aesthetic environment and carry educational ideas cannot exist without the support of socially responsible business. And over the years the festival has been held, it has already acquired permanent partners and sponsors who support the festival even in difficult times.

The festival “Imperial Gardens of Russia” is included in the annual calendar of events of the Committee for Culture of St. Petersburg.

In 2013, the festival was awarded the Highest Russian award in the field of landscape architecture of the Russian National Award in landscape architecture in the “EVENT OF THE YEAR” nomination.

In 2014, he took first place in the finals of the NATIONAL PRIZE in the field of event tourism “Russian Event Awards” in the nomination BEST PROJECT IN THE FIELD OF CULTURE

For the Russian Museum as the world's largest collection of works of national visual arts, the festival is of particular importance in solving such cultural and educational tasks as fostering interest in historical territories and reviving the traditions of Russian gardening art. With the opening of a new “exhibition hall” in the open air, the Russian Museum has an additional opportunity to realize its creative potential.