The small town of Pavlovsk is located near Tsarskoye Selo, 30 kilometers south. Near St. Petersburg there are several magnificent tsar palaces, for example, in Peterhof and Tsarskoye Selo. Pavlovsk Palace is also a tsar palace but it looks modest against their background. However, hardly anything can be compared with the beauty of Pavlovsk Park.
The parks in the palaces of Peterhof and Tsarskoye Selo are also beautiful, but they are regular parks created by skilled gardeners. Pavlovsk Park is not a regular park, but a landscape park. In Pavlovsk, you can feel in full the picturesque character of the nature of Central Russia complemented by all kinds of pavilions, bridges, arbors and sculptures.
Among the main attractions of Pavlovsk Park, you can name the valley of the Slavyanka River where several beautiful pavilions were built. Pink Pavilion is on the shore of a pond near Old Silvia district. A very beautiful linden alley stretches from Pavlovsk Palace to Old Silvia district.
The entrance of Pavlovsk Park is just opposite the railway station of Pavlovsk, which is also the end station of all minibuses. A bright musical page of Russian history is related with this railway station. When the first Russian railway line from St. Petersburg to Pavlovsk was built in 1837, it was necessary to create the passenger traffic to test the capacity of the line in the northern climate.
At Pavlovsk railway station (this is the first railway station in Russia) there was opened a concert hall where musical performances of Straus, Chaliapin, Liszt, Shuman and some other famous composers of that time were given. For example, Straus gave his performances there for ten seasons on end. Pavlovsk became the favorite resting place of Petersburg`s intellectuals. Unfortunately, the original building of the railway station was destroyed during the war. Today building of Pavlovsk railway station is absolutely different.
Mariental Park and the Bastion of the Emperor Paul are also one of the sights of Pavlovsk. They are located in the immediate vicinity of Pavlovsk Park. The local history museum of Pavlovsk is also there where you can get acquainted with the history of the town.
