SUMMER GARDEN, Introduction

Hi, my name’s Scott, and I’m your personal guide. Along with MyWoWo, I’d like to welcome you to one of the Wonders of the World: the Summer Garden, the oldest park in St. Petersburg.

Beautiful though it is, the Summer Garden you see today is very different from how it was originally designed in 1704, by Peter the Great, who took his inspiration from the most beautiful gardens in Europe. Some of the most famous architects and landscape architects of the time contributed to the creation of the park.

There were fountains, marble busts, gilded sculptures, a maze, a beautiful artificial cave, groves, hedges, and aviaries. Of the buildings erected later, only the Summer Palace of Peter the Great has survived.

Sadly, in 1777, a disastrous flood irreparably damaged much of the garden and many of the statues. The Fontanka River and the Swan Canal run parallel to the two long sides of the park, bordered on the two shorter sides by the Neva and by another artificial canal. This makes the Summer Garden vulnerable to flooding....