Yusupov's garden. The past and present of the St. Petersburg "pearl"

At the beginning of the 18th century the Yusupov garden was an unremarkable piece of land bordered by the Fontanka River and Sadovaya Street. It was then that he was presented to Prince GD. Yusupov Peter the Great. Later, under the guidance of the son of the prince - Senator BG Yusupov, a beautiful garden with ponds and canals was laid out on this place, and a baroque mansion was built on the bank of the Fontanka River.

Later, in 1789, when the son of BG returned from France. Yusupov and brought with him a large collection of paintings and sculptures, the question of the reconstruction of the mansion was ripe. To implement the architectural design was invited sculptor D. Kvarnegi, who managed to create a palace in 1793 in a classical style.

Significant changes have undergone and the adjacent garden. On its territory was dug a huge pond with four islands, bridges, and in its waters launched goldfish. Throughout the garden appeared artificial bulk picturesque hills, flower beds, marble statues, graceful gazebos and greenhouses with rare fruits. Yusupov garden opened its gates to all those wishing to walk along its magnificent territory. But soon this idea had to be abandoned because of the frequent cases of hooliganism and theft.

In 1810, the family of Prince Yusupov fell apart, and he sold his estate to the city. The garden acquired a new master - the Institute of the Corps of Engineers of Communications, and soon the construction of educational and residential buildings began on its territory. This greatly reduced the area of the garden and disfigured once the magnificent landscapes.

Fifty years later, in 1863, at the behest of Alexander II, part of the garden was re-opened to the general public. For this, a pond with two islands was cleared. Have brought to them connecting chain bridges, have constructed a boat station and have started a fountain. Yusupov garden has become incredibly popular among the townspeople. In summer there was a shooting gallery, and in the winter - a skating rink, slides were built and Christmas festivities with fireworks and pancakes were held.

In 1878, the first competitions of figure skaters took place in the Yusupov Garden, and from that moment it began to be considered the birthplace of figure skating in Russia. In 1887, the entire garden was handed over to the Society of Skaters, and a year later the figure skating school started working here. But the garden was still open to the citizens during the holidays and festivities. For a short time here the first hockey team was founded in the country and organized the Russian championships in figure skating.

From 1892 to 1900 the Yusupov Garden underwent the most pernicious changes for it. Its northeastern part was built up with official offices of the Ministry of Railways, including the Railway Museum. And in the northwestern part of the city is the Imperial Salvation Society on the water, which built a large number of buildings on the territory - residential buildings, a warehouse, a chancery, a museum and a meeting hall. On this site, all the trees were cut down and the equipment for training in water rescue was installed.

After 1917, the figure skating school continued its work, and in 1924 the first Soviet figure skating championship was held here. But the garden was renamed the Children's Park of Oktyabrsky District of Leningrad. In 1990 it got its former name.

Now the Yusupov garden of St. Petersburg is incredibly beautiful and well-groomed, at any time of the year it accepts citizens and visitors of the city. There are concerts of classical music, a festival of blues music, in the winter an ice rink is opened and, as before, there are Christmas parties.

Journey through St. Petersburg to the Yusupov garden to metro stations: Sadovaya, Spasskaya, Sennaya square. From the metro to the st. Sadovaya, 54.