Alexander Garden is a public garden located in the heart of St. Petersburg, between such important sights of the city as: Admiralty, Palace Square andSt. Isaac's Cathedral.
Today, the Alexander Garden is a shady place for walking and relaxing, while its history is inextricably linked with the history of the Admiralty building.
The garden is located on the site of the former fortifications and the glacis of the Admiralty Fortress-shipyard. Read more about the building of the Main Admiralty in St. Petersburg…
The garden was planned for the 200th anniversary of Peter I by the St. Petersburg City Duma.
The creation of the garden was entrusted to the St. Petersburg botanist E. L. Regel. Work on the layout of the garden began on July 3, 1872. Trees and shrubs were planted in the garden.
The garden was opened in 1874 and named after the Emperor Alexander II.
In Soviet times, the garden was redeveloped and redeveloped-first into the garden of Workers, and then into the Garden of Workers named after M. Gorky.
The historical name "Alexander Garden" was returned in 1997.
Since June 2001, the garden was reconstructed.
Today, the Alexander Garden has an area of about 9 hectares., elongated shape and is a green area for walking and recreation of citizens and guests of the city. On summer days, you can take shelter from the heat in the garden and relax while walking around the center of St. Petersburg.
In the garden there are places to relax, alleys for walking, a children's playground, flower beds, lawns, several monuments and a fountain.
The official opening of the fountain in the Alexander Garden took place on October 13, 1879. At that time, it was the largest fountain in the center of St. Petersburg.
The architects of the fountain were I. A. Merz and A. R. Geschwend, and the engineer was N. L. Benois.
The bottom, bowl and outer rim of the fountain are made of Serdobolsky granite.
The central jets of the fountain hit a height of up to 17 meters. The height of the fountain jet can change in time with the music playing in the garden. For this reason, the fountain in the Alexander Garden is also called "musical" or "dancing".
View of the fountain and the tower of the Admiralty building with the famous spire with a weather vane
The fountain is surrounded by 4 monuments: M. Y. Lermontov, M. I. Glinka, A. M. Gorchakov and N. V. Gogol.
In the Alexander Garden there are also:
- monument to the Russian traveler, geographer and explorer of Central Asia - Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky.
The monument was opened on October 20, 1892.
The monument is a bronze bust of N. M. Przhevalsky, mounted on a high pedestal made of granite. Next to the lower part of the pedestal is a bronze figure of a camel with travel bags.
In the center of St. Petersburg in 1839, the first 204 gas lamps were lit, which replaced the oil street lamps. In honor of this event in 2010 in the Alexander Garden at the monument to Przhevalsky were installed lanterns with gas burners;
- sculptures "Hercules of Farnese" and " Flora of Farnese»;
- monument to V. A. Zhukovsky.
In the northern part of the park, on the Senate Square, which is visually part of the Alexander Garden, there is one of the most famous and monumental monuments of St. Petersburg - the monument to Peter I or "The Bronze Horseman".
The monument was created in the period from 1766 to 1782 on the initiative of Catherine II, who wanted to honor the memory of Peter the Great.
The main author of the project was the French sculptor Etienne Maurice Falcone, who came to St. Petersburg from Paris specifically for this work.
The monument is made of bronze and is a sculptural composition, which depicts Peter I, sitting on a rearing horse.
The sculptural composition stands on a huge pedestal made of solid stone, which Falcone gave the shape of a wave crest. Learn more about the «Bronze Horseman Monument»…
View of the Alexander Garden from the colonnade of St. Isaac's Cathedral. More about the observation deck-the colonnade of St. Isaac's Cathedral…
All accommodation facilities in St. Petersburg, including in the city center and near the Alexander Garden, can be viewed and booked here
