Landscape Of Tsaritsyn Island In Peterhof

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

The revived garden on Tsaritsyno Island in Peterhof

About a year ago, on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the capital of the fountains of Peterhof, islands were opened after restoration in the city of the same name on Olga's pond. A century and a half ago, by order of Nicholas I, pavilions were created for his wife Alexandra Feodorovna and daughter Olga, named Tsaritsyn and Holguin. They were designed by the architect Andrei Ivanovich Shtakenshneider. Tsaritsyn's pavilion was built in the style of an ancient Roman dwelling, Holguin - in the style of Italian villas.

For long post-war decades, these truly heavenly corners of Peterhof were closed pending restoration. It began four years before the anniversary, and in record time, the islands with pavilions acquired their original appearance.

The original features have been restored to the unique interiors; the lost sculpture has been copied from the originals. The bronze praying boy and the crystal column returned to their places, as well as many other artistic treasures, the abundance of which on Tsaritsyno Island earned him the fame of a treasure island.

Gardener's guide

Plant nurseries Stores of goods for summer cottages Landscape design studios

For the readers of our magazine, of particular interest is the garden, for the creation of which Nikolai I awarded the garden master Peter Ivanovich Erler a diamond ring. The island garden is being recreated with the greatest possible historical accuracy on the basis of research carried out by senior researcher of the Peterhof State Museum-Reserve Irina Olegovna Pashchinskaya and her colleagues.

Design drawings, business documents, plans, photographs, postcards, engravings of the late 19th - early 20th centuries, archaeological excavations made it possible to recreate the layout of the parterres, which was completed in 1844 by the garden master P. I. Erler under the direction of the architect A. I. Stackenschneider with the active participation of the emperor.

The flower garden on the island was created in the era of "flower bed madness", and it was very different from the flower gardens of the Cottage Palace, the Farmer's Palace, and other Peterhof ensembles, where flowers grew in a wide variety on freely spaced flower beds.

The character of the island garden was determined by the architectural appearance of the pavilion, the need to emphasize its antique style. It has geometric precision and symmetry. The empress's tastes and preferences also influenced the formation of the garden. Alexandra Fyodorovna was very fond of flowers, bought them during foreign travels, took care of her favorites.

For her passion for flowers and especially for the white rose, Alexandra Feodorovna was called the name of this flower - the White Rose. She loved simple and quivering cornflowers, sweet peas, bindweed. These lovely flowers are also present in the modern historic garden. Garden master Natalya Mikhailovna Neveleva says that while working on floral decorations, she and her colleagues are guided by the tastes of the former mistress of the island, trying to please her.

The garden on the island consists of four parts: the southern and inner gardens, Alexandra Feodorovna's own garden and the landscape part surrounding the pavilion and flower beds. The regular flower parterres are clearly laid out like Roman gardens. The parterre pattern, as a rule, was formed by planting low-growing flowers in narrow ridges with high groups against the background of a mowed lawn. The different heights of the flower groups softened the clarity of the parterre layout. From above, the private garden looks like a huge colorful carpet spread out on the lawn.

Museum workers working on the reconstruction of the Tsaritsin's garden know for certain what grew on the island under the historical owners. They were told about this by the accounts and registers of plants compiled by gardeners. One of them lists plants for three "performances" in the inner garden. This means that the floral decoration changed during the summer. At first there were azaleas, rhododendrons, hydrangeas, tea and remontant roses. Then - only hybrid roses, centifolia, tea, remontant, noisette. In the third period, the garden was decorated with Japanese lilies, late remontant roses, asters, gladioli.

All performances were attended by annuals. The register lists over 40 types of flowers. PI Erler bought seeds and seedlings of nasturtium, sweet pea, verbena, mignonette, levkoy, asters, scabiosa, phlox Drummond, daisies, lilies, dahlias, hydrangeas, fuchsias, petunias, pansies, and other flowers. The abundance of species and varieties, as well as the clear layout of the parterres, consisting of the same modules, suggests that plants were planted in each that did not repeat in other parts of the regular garden.

Notice board

Kittens for sale Puppies for sale Horses for sale

It is unlikely that museum workers will be able to reproduce the full historical set of flowers that adorned the island in the middle of the nineteenth century - some species and varieties have been lost. But great successes happen on the way to finding them. In the State Archives, they found the account of the Frankfurt garden master Sismayer with a list of varieties of roses bought from him by the Empress in 1852. In Germany, it was possible to find gardeners who preserve the old collection.

Some of the roses were purchased by the Peterhof State Museum-Reserve, and 60 bushes were donated by the great-great-granddaughter of Alexander Pushkin and the great-granddaughter of Alexander II, Mrs. Clotilde von Rintelen and other German friends. They planted roses with their own hands on the island last summer (in the photo, Mrs. Clotilde is planting roses). Of those mentioned in Sismayer's account, remontant, noisette, borbon roses of the varieties Reine Victoria, Rose du Roi (bred in 1815), Baron Prevost, Lamarque, Aime Vibert, Souvenir de la Malmaison were planted on the island. These rarities are strikingly different from modern rose varieties. In general, they had a good winter.

You can see beautiful messengers from the distant past in your own garden. The rosary frames it around the perimeter on the border with the landscape part. Historical roses dilute modern standard roses, creating vertical points that set the rhythm of the flower garden. The landscape architect A. A. Afendikova suggested arranging the roses this way.

"The work on the reconstruction of flower decoration, selection of old varieties or their analogues continues," says Irina Pashchinskaya. "It is possible that materials will be found that will complement our idea of flowers on Tsaritsyno Island."

Plants displayed in pots, stone and marble vases, tubs, and climbing plants were the invariable attributes of the Tsarina's garden. The heat-loving ivy Hedera helix was heated in winter with the help of ovens, arranged below the soil level, and glazed shields were assembled above the pergola. Lily of the valley trees, olives, bananas, and other heat-loving exotic species were kept in tubs.

Currently, tub plants prevail in the Inner Garden. An orange tree is strewn with bright fruits. Standard fuchsia looks magnificent among the marble at the fountains. The effect of antiquity is created by ivy, girlish grapes are gaining strength …

Master Natalya Neveleva says that the revived gardens on Tsaritsyno Island are awaiting renewal, finds, surprises.