Summer Garden & Summer Palace
Летний сад / Летний дворец Петра I
The oldest garden in the city, laid out by Peter the Great himself, with marble statues lining its avenues and his modest two-storey Summer Palace within.
The Summer Garden was laid out by Peter the Great himself in 1704 and is St Petersburg's oldest garden, lying between the Neva, Fontanka and Moika rivers. Eighteenth-century Italian marble statues line its orderly avenues (most are copies, the originals being housed in St Michael's Castle), alongside fountains and sculptures illustrating Krylov's fables. The Summer Palace of Peter the Great, in the northern corner of the garden, is one of the city's earliest stone palaces. It has just 14 rooms with simple furnishings and is a branch of the State Russian Museum, open May to October. Entry to the garden is free, and the cast-iron railings along the Neva are a masterpiece in their own right. The garden is usually closed for renovation in April.
Opening hours
May–Sep 10:00–22:00; Oct–Mar 10:00–20:00; closed in April; closed Tuesdays
Nearby sights
- St. Michael's Castle
- State Russian Museum
- Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood
- Cruiser Aurora
- Fabergé Museum
- Singer House (Dom Knigi)
- Kazan Cathedral
- Saint Petersburg Mosque