Emmanuel park, located on the slopes of Mikhailovskaya mountain, is one of the oldest parks in Pyatigorsk. Very popular sights of the city are located there: Aeolian harp pavilion, Academic gallery and Lermontov grotto.
Emmanuel park was created about the same time as Tsvetnik park in 1830, on the initiative of general George Emmanuel. Both parks were designed by the Italian architects, the brothers Bernardacci.
It would be better to visit the park after Mashuk mountain. One can approach it from the lower cableway station by way of Gagarin avenue. Also, one can ascend to it from the old town by way of Lermontov street. If one choose to go along Lermontov street, Emmanuel park will begin at a rotunda just beyond Elsa`s dacha (nowadays it is half-ruined).
From Mikhailovskaya mountain one can have a rather picturesque view of the old quarters of Pyatigorsk at the foot of the mountain. In the eastern part of the mountain, at its highest point, the Aeolian harp pavilion was constructed by the brothers Bernardacci in 1831. Originally, there were two harps in the pavilion, which produced some kind of music in the wind. In 2008 there was installed the special equipment capable of producing music even without any wind.
Going down from the Aeolian harp pavilion to the Academic gallery one should have a look at the Lermontov grotto. It is at the base of the pavilion and is approached by a small path. It was there that the meeting of Pechorin and princess Vera took place in the Lermontov`s novel «A Hero of Our Time».
The Academic gallery connects the mountains Mikhailovskaya and Goryachaya (Hot). Formerly, it was called Elizabeth`s by the name of Elizabeth spring. In the 19 century, until the construction of the Lermontov gallery at Tsvetnik park, the Academic gallery was the center of resort life and then it lost its importance.
