Tsvetnik flower garden in Pyatigorsk

Tsvetnik (flower garden) has always been one of the favourite places of all vacationers in Pyatigorsk. Actually, the park is in the center of the city and is within walking distance from nearly all main sights of Pyatigorsk.

At the beginning of the 19 century it was a area swamped by the waters flowing down the slope of Mashuk mount, however, on the initiative of general George Emmanuel, it was decided to create a park there. In 1828 the Brothers Bernardacci, the Italian architects, were commissioned with the task to improve the area, which resulted in the appearance of two «flower gardens».

The first flower garden was below Elizabeth`s spring, and the second flower garden was along Nikolay`s (nowadays Lermontov`s) baths. Almost at once the place became the center of resort life. In the course of time coffee houses and small pavilions appeared there.

In 1902 the Lermontov Gallery was built in the center of the Tsvetnik. Its structure is similar to that of the Pushkin Gallery in Zheleznovodsk, since both galleries were designed by the Polish architect Stefan Szyller and were simultaneously produced at the plants in Warsaw and St. Petersburg. The gallery has an audience space for 500 seats intended for concerts and theatre performances. 

The other part of the gallery is designed for exhibitions. The Lermontov Gallery is surrounded by the other sights of the Tsvetnik. They are: Yermolov`s and Lermontov`s (in the recent years closed for reconstruction) baths, and Lermontov`s spring.

The Brothers Bernardacci had Diana grotto built there in 1830. It was faced with grey Mashuk travertin. The arched entrance is supported by two antique columns. At the grotto is a memorial board with the memoirs of Catherine Bykhovets, a cousin of Lermontov: «...we danced near the grotto; the evening was charming, the sky was so clear; the trees were unusually good under the illumination... we danced till we dropped... even Lermontov, who did not like dancing, was so cheery; we returned from there on foot... That was the last picnic; a week later my good friend was killed...».

You can see the figure of begging Kisa Vorobyaninov at Gukasov coffee house. It was there that he said his famous phrase: «Messieurs, je ne mange pas six jours». As a rule, all tourists want to be shot giving money to Vorobyaninov.