Alexandrovsky Park in Tsarskoe Selo

The vast Alexandrovsky Park (Alexander Park) is on the side of the main entrance to the Catherine Palace. It is significantly larger than the Catherine Park, but the part of the park, which is most interesting visiting, is located near the Alexander Palace.  The rest of its territory is a wild forest, which was a royal hunting ground in the 19th century.

In 1792 the architect D. Quarenghi began construction of the large Alexander Palace, which is less than a kilometer from the Catherine Palace. Empress Catherine had this palace built for her grandson Alexander. And the Alexander Park was formed just around the palace.

On the side of the Catherine Palace, you can enter the Alexander Park over the Chinese Bridge. The park area known as the New Garden is beyond the bridge. The park has the shape of a square and is limited by a canal. The above square is subdivided into another 4 squares, the so-called ‘kurtinas’ (clumps of trees), each of which has its feature.

There is a picturesque pond ‘Ozerki’ in one of these kurtinas. The second kurtina has Mount Parnassus, the third kurtina – the Chinese Theatre, and the fourth kurtina – a pavilion with a mushroom-shaped roof. The kurtinas are separated by alleys, and the canal is spanned by numerous small bridges.  There are a lot of structures, bridges, sculptures and even large buildings united by the theme of China in the park.

The vast territory of the park outside the New Garden is called the Landscape Park. Actually, it is a wild forest with an area of more than 180 hectares. However, there are also interesting places to visit there. First of all, this is the Arsenal Pavilion, which now houses an interesting exhibition of medieval knight weapons. If you go from the Arsenal Pavilion towards the Farm Road, you can visit an interesting museum of the World War I, as well as the White Tower.