Tauride garden: familiar and unusual. Tauride Garden: Familiar and Unusual Tauride Garden interesting facts

I'm to the Tauride Garden,
Jumped over the fence
And she follows me
And bites like a wolf.

Suddenly towards my good,
My favorite crocodile.
S. Ya. Marshak.

The Tauride Garden - a park miracle in the central part of the city - arose as a garden at the palace of Prince Grigory Potemkin, who personally received the title of the Most Serene Prince of Tauride from the Motherland and Empress Catherine II for his services. Indirectly, it can be assumed that both the garden and the palace were received by the Most Serene from Her Majesty - built at his personal expense, they were bought by the treasury and then donated back along with the title.
The Tauride Garden was laid out under the guidance of the English garden master William Gould, nicknamed the "Russian Capability Brown". This nickname came from the name of his colleague and compatriot Lancelot Brown, who was famous for his ability to convince customers that their land had "great capabilities", that is, great opportunities. Contemporaries admired Gould's ability to "form ponds, from which he obtained enough materials to create a pleasing variety of uplands and slopes." Eyewitnesses to the creation of the Tauride Garden wrote: “The monotonous relief of the site was rapidly changing. Canals criss-crossed the flat country; the land, taken out of the formed ponds, was located along the banks around the picturesque hills. Ponds and canals were decorated with stone, and the hills were covered with turf. A winding network of paths criss-crossed the area.".

The river Samoroyka flowed in the garden, and in its place an intricate hydraulic system was built of two ponds connected by channels, and two cascades. The trees for the arrangement of the garden were partially ordered from England. The historical composition of the garden is built on a combination of open water and meadow spaces with small picturesque hills and groups of trees and shrubs. During the time of Potemkin and Catherine the Second, there were no buildings here, except for a small pavilion of the Admiralty for storing boats.
After the death of the Most Serene Prince, his empress turns the garden and the palace into her residence. The Tauride Garden became her favorite place for walks, about which Catherine wrote to her faithful correspondent, Baron M. Grimm, that “nothing better can be desired for autumn and spring.”

In 1861, the garden was officially opened to the public. Prior to that, it was under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, and therefore looked almost like paradise: swans swam in the ponds, peacocks walked along the lawns. Since 1861, the purpose of the garden has been gradually changing, and various structures appeared on the leased plots by various public organizations (the Society for the Physical Development of Children, the Ladies' Charitable Society, the Society for the Guardianship of People's Sobriety). So, the Society for the Guardianship of National Sobriety is building a theater, which was one of the most popular institutions in the garden. In addition, on one of the pre-revolutionary projects of the subway, the station "Tavrichesky Sad" was listed.

The Tauride Garden has had several names in its history: from 1930 to 1940 it was the park of culture and recreation named after the First Five-Year Plan, from 1958 to 1985 it was the City Children's Park, and in 1985 it was returned to historical name. According to experts in landscape and park design, the presence of various societies in the territory of the garden at the end of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century and the erection of their buildings by them caused significant damage to it as a unique monument of garden art. Significant damage was done to the garden during the years of the blockade. In 1945, according to the project of the architect D.S. Galdgor, the Tauride Garden was restored, later maintenance repairs were carried out in it from time to time, associated with the active and not always careful use of the territory. By the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg, new trees were planted, lawns and paths were updated, bridges and a dam were restored.

The Tauride Garden is an honorary "point" on the literary map. In addition to what was quoted in the epigraph to the article "Moydodyr", he is also mentioned by Gogol in his famous "Nose": “Then a rumor spread that not on Nevsky Prospekt, but in the Tauride Garden, Major Kovalev’s nose was walking, that he had already been there for a long time ...<…>One noble, respectable lady asked the caretaker of the garden in a special letter to show her children this rare phenomenon and, if possible, with an instructive and instructive explanation for young men.. The hero of Daniil Kharms Markov, tormented by insomnia, also runs here. Therefore, rushing to the Tauride Garden for a respite from the bustle of the City, carefully look around - perhaps you will meet one of them ...

The Tauride Garden is beautiful!
How I love to be in you
Though my terrible anguish
And you can't destroy it.
Only one nature
You have beauty
It's just everything in you: and water,
Both trees and flowers.
Alexander Izmailov.

Near the wonderful architectural ensemble, erected at the end of the 18th century by Russian masters under the leadership of Ivan Egorovich Starov and Fyodor Ivanovich Volkov, commissioned by Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin-Tavrichesky, the famous English landscape master William Gould founded and brought the park to a state of genuine horticultural art, which received the name Tauride Garden.

History of the Tauride Garden

Initially, the estate with a magnificent palace and park belonged to the famous favorite of Empress Catherine - Grigory Potemkin. Under the auspices of influential persons, in the presence of large financial, material, technical resources, unique objects were built here:

• Bridges by mechanic Ivan Kulibin and architect Karl Johann Spekle with spans over 10 meters.
• Gardener's house, access bridge made of stone.
• Melons, peaches, and watermelons, exotic for the northern latitudes, were grown in the constructed greenhouses.
• Near palace ensemble According to the project of its founders, two magnificent ponds were built. Water comes there with the help of a unique hydraulic system from the Ligovsky Canal. The land freed up after digging ponds is used for the construction of beautiful landscape structures, footpaths, ravines. In the middle of the pond, two mysterious islands are left for romantic meetings.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the first Russian steamship "Elizaveta" was tested on the reservoirs of the park.

Since 1824, most of the park area, with the exception of the palace ensemble with the adjacent territory, surrounded by a beautiful figured fence, has become open to mass festivities of citizens.

Since 1932, a wonderful place of recreation has become a true heritage of the people, and was renamed the "Park of Culture and Leisure named after the first Five-Year Plan". Here appeared: a club, a cinema, attractions, dance floors.

After the restoration carried out in 1985, the original name was returned to the park.

Location of objects and territory

The total area of ​​the park located in the central part of Northern Palmyra exceeds 21 hectares. A favorite place to visit for many citizens, guests of St. Petersburg is located next to the Chernyshevskaya metro station, near Tavricheskaya, Potemkinskaya, Shpalernaya streets at the address: St. Petersburg, Potemkinskaya street, 2. One of the entrances to the park is from Tavricheskaya street.

Under the leadership of the gardener Gould, a greenhouse with a winter garden was erected in the Tauride Botanical Garden, filled with exotic flowers and rare tree species. Entrance to the Exhibition Hall of the greenhouse from Shpalernaya Street.

The opening hours of the institution are daily from 11 pm to 10 pm, on Monday from 2 pm to 10 pm. The ticket price for an adult visitor is 80 rubles, for schoolchildren - 70 rubles, for pensioners, children from 4 to 7 years old - 50 rubles. Disabled persons, families with many children attend flower exhibitions free of charge. It is allowed to take photos with any devices or mobile phones. At the request of customers, you can make a beautiful photo shoot to commemorate memorable events.

Above the greenhouse are the Lemonade time cafe and the luxurious Panoramic Restaurant. It offers impressive views of the main palace objects, a pond with erected bridges, dams, well-groomed park alleys, and lawns.

Unique monuments are built on the territory of the park:

After the Patriotic War in the USSR, the direction of activity in the Tauride Garden was reoriented to the younger generation. Appeared here:

• children's cinema;
• "hills" with children's cafes;
• children's, sports grounds, treadmills;
• football field;
• camel riding;
• game library, above which there is a cozy cheerful restaurant "Igrateka";
• summer stage, comfortable places to play chess, checkers, backgammon, billiards, tennis.

The park hosts youth festivals, events dedicated to environmental protection, concerts of artists with "live" music, performances of circus artists. In winter, skating rinks operate on park ponds, and ice slides are built for children's fun.

living world

After the construction of ponds, sterlet and beluga were launched into their waters for breeding. Peacocks strutted about the lawns with their tails outstretched. Now the reservoirs are decorated with flocks of white swans, wild ducks, pigeons. More than twenty thousand varieties of park trees with traditional oak, maple, and willow groves have been planted around the pond.

An exhibition of rare tropical butterflies, birds, original palms was presented in the greenhouse. In the evening, wonderful nightingale trills are heard in different parts of the Tauride Garden.

Work schedule

The park in the central part of St. Petersburg is open to visitors from 7 am to 10 pm. Entrance is free, free. From March 20 to May 1, 2017, the Tauride Garden was scheduled to be closed for spring drying. During this period, utilities were engaged in its renewal, improvement:

• leveled, sprinkled sidewalks, pedestrian, bicycle paths;
• restored, repaired, painted gazebos, urns, benches, benches;
• updated landscape design, trimmed green spaces;
• neatly mowed lawns.

Entertainment center

At the exit from the garden there is a huge modern complex "Tavrichesky garden", opened to visitors in the spring of 2007. Representatives of any age categories, social groups, directions will find entertainment, activities to their liking here:

• On a beautiful ice arena with bright lighting, mass skating and amateur hockey matches are regularly held in winter, in spring. Visitors are offered prepared sharpened skates to choose from. You can use your personal inventory. At the request of the service ice rink maintenance and repair of skates. During the allotted hours, training sessions for young figure skaters are held. According to the schedule of the skating rink, there is a cozy cafe with a varied menu. The hall accommodates up to 100 guests at the same time.
• Comfortable gyms equipped with modern sports equipment, other tools and equipment.
• A chic restaurant with a banquet hall, unforgettable views of the Tauride Garden - good place for wedding celebrations, graduation balls, New Year's Eve, solid corporate parties.

The complex is serviced by experienced organizers of fun mass events of any direction with original scripts and musical accompaniment. The holidays spent here will forever remain in the memory of guests with wonderful impressions, fresh air, warm atmosphere, delicious hearty food.

For lovers of quiet romantic meetings, children's walks, the park in the center of St. Petersburg is a familiar place for a pleasant healthy vacation.

I'm to the Tauride Garden,
Jumped over the fence
And she follows me
And bites like a wolf.

Suddenly towards my good,
My favorite crocodile.
He is with Totosha and Kokosha
Walked along the alley

And a washcloth, like a jackdaw,
Like a jackdaw, swallowed.

All of us from childhood are familiar and (someone) dear to these words from K. Chukovsky's poem "Moydodyr". Nowadays, crocodiles certainly do not walk along the alleys, but, believe me, the Tauride Garden is quite interesting and beautiful even without them. It has its own atmosphere and style, if, for example, it is very homely for me, like a grandfather, then Tauride is strict, rather, it resembles a business countess.

I'll tell you what this park is for me, and you decide what it will be like for you.

garden history

The birth of the garden is celebrated second half of the 18th century, when it was decided to plant a garden on the land of the possessions of the famous military figure G. Potemkin near the Tauride Palace. History assures us that the territory of the current garden was bought by the prince, but bought out by Catherine II with a subsequent donation to the rightful owner. In addition, the Empress also granted the title of the Most Serene Prince of Tauride for military merits in the conquest of the Crimea, whose historical name is Taurida.

The Tauride Garden was reshaped into ponds, alleys and hills, which remain charming even today. Trees are planted along the perimeter of the garden, some of them (!) are pleasing to the eye to this day, their function is to isolate the garden from the bustle of the city. Bridges, benches, a greenhouse and greenhouses, various buildings were also soon added. Among the inhabitants of the park were swans and peacocks. The territory of the Tauride, as a result, was closed to visitors: private property, as they say. It is not surprising that foreign guests were brought to see such beauty.

An interesting fact: in 1815, the first steamship in the country, the Elizabeth, was tested here. A steamship is, of course, loudly said: there was a boat and a corresponding unit installed on it.

However, in 1861 the garden reopened to visitors. To my regret, this is not good: the park area quickly falls into decay from numerous visitors. The flood in 1924 and the blockade of the city in the Second World War also had their not the best effect. Post-war restoration and work carried out in the late 90s - early 2000s significantly changed the garden for the better. In addition to the restoration of the park, monuments to S. Yesenin, V. Lenin were added, a bust of Tchaikovsky was erected and a monument was erected to the children who died during the blockade - a monument to the young heroes of the defense of the city of Leningrad.

It seems interesting to me that over the past century the Tauride Garden managed to visit Park of Culture and Leisure named after the First Five Year Plan And City children's park, and still remain under the name by which he was born.

Entertainment inside and outside the park

First of all, the park pleases with its amazing lawns, where in the warm season you can not only play badminton or other outdoor games, hold photo shoots, but also calmly read a book and / or sunbathe, take a walk along the shady alleys. In the summer, sometimes you can’t find free space! In non-sunny time, it’s just nice to take a walk here - the cultural atmosphere is conducive.

By the way, if you are with children, they will surely like it. playgrounds, and you - shops nearby :).

Concerts

During the summer, the park hosts free classical music concerts(as in other city parks), places for those wishing to enjoy an incredibly intoxicating combination historical place and there is always live music.

Excursions

Concerning Tauride Palace, That excursion inside it you will surely like it. Please note: Pre-registration by phone is required for the sightseeing tour! If you're lucky, you'll get to organ music concert, from time to time such concerts are held in one of the halls. Also in the palace there is a museum of the history of parliamentarism in Russia, various exhibitions are held.

Since at one time (over the past century) several buildings of various communities were built on the territory of the garden, the total area of ​​green spaces has decreased, and, nevertheless, these historical buildings also belong to the Tauride and are of some interest. I'll tell you further.

Greenhouse

Greenhouse, also belonging to the palace and park ensemble of the garden, is located at the intersection of Potemkinskaya and Shpalernaya streets. The original greenhouse and orchard, which were originally laid out, were moved to the Botanical Garden due to irreparable losses from various activities and events in the park during the 20th century. The remaining greenhouse has also been restored and now pleases visitors. Here are held excursions, master classes for children, music concerts, interesting lectures and creative meetings, private events. Opening hours: from 11.00 to 22.00 (on Mondays from 14.00). The entrance ticket costs 70 rubles, for students, pensioners the cost is even lower, for children under 4 years old, as well as participants in the war, for large families the entrance is free, do not forget the certifying document. Also on the territory of the greenhouse there are time cafe anti-cafe format (payment for the stay, but treats are free), which is open in the evening (from 17.00 to 22.00 on weekends from 16.00).

Cafes and restaurants

The small building of the Gorka cafe is located a couple of minutes walk from the entrance to the park from the side of Potemkinskaya street on the left on a hillock. For lovers of barbecue and wine, in my opinion, a good option. The level of service is average, in the warm season several tables are put up on the veranda, it becomes stuffy inside.

The Leningrad Center, which served as a cinema for about half a century, now serves as a creative space and works for the benefit of suffering bread and circuses. In other words, a restaurant and bars, an art gallery and theater stages are open inside. The building is located on Potemkinskaya street on the left side of the entrance to the garden. You will surely recognize the building, it has not changed "since then" :).

Restaurant Georgievsky Treatise (Georgian and European cuisine) is located near the Leningrad center. In my opinion, it’s good, but, as they say, it obliges: there is a spirit of pathos and “adulthood” inside. However, the Soviet person should be comfortable there.

How to get there

The Tauride Garden is open to visitors from 7 am to 10 pm, remember this when walking during the white nights.

It is easy to get to the garden: from Chernyshevskaya metro station, turn right and walk along Furshtatskaya street (as a guide, an alley is paved in the center of the street) for 10 minutes, keeping to the right side, and exit just to the gates of the park.

What else is nearby

The area around Tauride is very beautiful: beautiful architecture and the spirit of bygone centuries tirelessly captivate. Walk, for example, to the recently restored Smolny Cathedral: take a walk inside and in the courtyard in front of it. Go to the Water Museum, which is located on Shpalernaya Street just behind the Tauride Palace - by no means a boring visit awaits you!

Near the exit of the Chernyshevskaya metro station is the famous Buck's house, take a walk along the most interesting Kirochnaya street! Start, for example, with the museum of A. V. Suvorov (corner of Kirochnaya and Tavricheskaya).

And here is a piece of Tavricheskaya Street, from which there is also an entrance to the park.

Tauride Park today

For me, Tauride is primarily associated with a walk through the hills and lovely alleys. I like to listen to the birds singing in the park (they say that the nightingales have been living here for many years), and not just the cries of seagulls and the cooing of pigeons near the water. In summer, everything around is incredibly green and soft, it is always quiet and joyful children's voices are heard. Alluring architecture is alluring with history: it is enough to walk around the garden once. The outside has its own history, which is also attractive. However, for some reason I don’t have enough for a long time, I want to go further without sitting too long. And then no less interesting: Potemkinskaya, Furshtatskaya, Kirochnaya streets and so on. What are your impressions?

Address: St. Petersburg, st. Potemkinskaya, 2-4; st. Kirochnaya, d. 50; st. Tavricheskaya, 8

How to get from the metro: from the metro station Chernyshevskaya on foot along Furshtatskaya street (the first intersection if you turn to the right from the metro exit) in the direction of increasing the numbering of houses to the intersection with Potemkinskaya street. Across the road is one of the entrances to the park. Another entrance to the park is located on the other side, on Tavricheskaya Street.

Opening hours: 7:00 - 22:00

In the center of St. Petersburg there is a wonderful picturesque place - Tauride Gardens. Many learned about him in their very early childhood from "Moydodyr":

"I'm going to the Tauride Garden,
Jumped over the fence
And she follows me
And bites like a wolf.
Suddenly towards my good,
My favorite crocodile.
He is with Totosha and Kokosha
Walked along the alley
And a washcloth, like a jackdaw,
Like a jackdaw, swallowed."

The Tauride Garden arose as a garden under Tauride Palace, built in 1783-1789. This ensemble has become one of the monuments of Russia's victory in the wars of the late 18th century. G.A., a participant in the victorious wars, became its owner. Potemkin. It was built at his own expense, redeemed by the treasury and returned by Catherine II as an imperial gift, along with the title of Most Serene Prince of Tauride.

The initial planning and laying out of the Tauride Garden was carried out by the English gardener William Gould. On the site of the Samoroyka River in the southern part of the Tauride Garden, two ponds were dug, connected by channels. The ponds were filled with water from the Ligovsky Canal, and sterlet was released into the reservoirs. From the soil excavated during the construction of ponds, view slides were poured.

In 1794, according to the project of F.I. Volkov in the Tauride Garden, the House of the garden master, other outbuildings, a fence and a stone access bridge were built. The architect also erected a greenhouse and greenhouses, garden bridges and benches. Watermelons, melons, peaches, apricots and pineapples were grown in the greenhouse and greenhouses. On the bank of the Big Pond, Volkov built a gazebo called "Admiralty". Boats for water trips were stored in this gazebo.

Immediately after the creation of the Tauride Garden was closed to the public. Since it was under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, it was kept in excellent condition. Swans swam in the ponds of the Tauride Garden, peacocks roamed the lawns. Foreign guests arriving in St. Petersburg were often taken here for a walk. The Persian prince Khosrov-Mirza in 1829 donated a sea seal to the garden, which was released into the Big Pond.

In 1861, the garden was opened "for public festivities." In the gazebo "Admiralty" merchants Solovyov and Makarov organized a restaurant. In winter, in the Tauride Garden, Petersburgers went skating and icy mountains.

In the post-revolutionary famine, the garden is mentioned in the notes of Zinaida Gippius: “A pound of tea costs 1200 rubles. We haven't been drinking it for a long time. We dry slices of carrots or beets - that is. And we brew. Nothing. It would be nice to have leaves, but some dirty trees in the Tauride Garden, and God knows them, maybe unsuitable.

Since 1932, the Tauride Garden has become known as the Park of Culture and Leisure named after the First Five-Year Plan. Amusements, stages, a cinema, a club were built in the park. The alleys were named: Udarnikov, Youth... Despite the renaming, the park was still called the Tauride Garden among Leningraders.

In winter, everything is the same as many years ago, flooded big ice rink. Here is what he writes about it Arkady Minchkovsky: “In the Tauride Garden there was a skating rink popular in the city. On the ice field against the wooden stands of the stadium, couples and single runners glided on skates: adults, youth, children. Garlands of bright light bulbs shone in the darkness. Shining dots of white stars reflected them in the mirror surface of the ice. A brass band was playing, the muffled beats of a drum could be heard far away. The ride went in one direction. From a distance, the stadium with the lights of the skaters looked like a giant whirlpool, picking up and twisting everything that came across in its path.

But from the memoirs of Arkady Mironovich about the life of the garden in the summer: “Together in the evenings we went to the paid part of the Tauride Garden. From the last rows of the summer theater, they looked at Utyosov when he performed there with his popular Teajazz. Then they wandered into the circus tent, which every summer pitched its tent on the other side of the same paid Tavriga. They even climbed to the second floor of the garden restaurant, where they drank sweet coffee with milk and cakes.”

Before the war, he began working in the chess section of the garden Mikhail Botvinnik, and in the club "raged" on the piano Dmitry Shostakovich.

During the Great Patriotic War, the garden turned into a workshop: they repaired cars plying along the Road of Life. The palace and the garden were constantly under attack. In 1941, a Nazi Heinkel bomber crashed into the garden. He was rammed by the Soviet pilot A. Sevostyanov. During the four years of the war, 43 high-explosive bombs and many artillery shells were dropped into the garden. One of the shells was discovered in 1971 during the construction of a new game library building.

In 1946, a decision was made to reconstruct the garden; its layout was brought as close as possible to the historical one. In the first post-war winter, a skating rink was set up on the garden ponds, then a boat station began to operate, then a wooden stage and a summer pavilion for board games were built. The park was popular among Leningraders, but most often it was visited by children. In the 1950s and 1960s, kids from nearby kindergartens were brought there for a walk.

In 1956 the garden was renamed City children's park. In the early 1960s, children were taken by camels for several months. In the 70s, summer one-day pioneer camps were located in the park, in which the children of the townspeople rested. For the pioneers, a concrete "ship" with anti-aircraft guns was installed. For some time there was an IL-14 aircraft, where they even showed films to children. There was a dairy cafe on Gorka.

In 1985, the garden was handed over to the City Green Space Management Trust for restoration work. Historical name was returned to him - the Tauride Garden. However, there was no money for the necessary work. The ponds continued to fill with garbage and the lawns to be trampled. By the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg, bridges and a dam were restored here, new trees were planted. Lawns and paths have been updated.

Today it is quite comfortable here for children, joggers, and fantasizing citizens. different years- the amazing energy of the park encourages activity. However, for recreation Tauride garden also has everything you need. There is a lot of space here. There is a playground and a corner for athletes. Along the alleys, you can form a running track of any complexity, which many people use. There is a cafe on site.
But in search of silence, you will have to go away from the main alleys.

A lot has been done for the anniversary of the city, but now everything is slowly returning to its previous state. The whole pond bloomed and became shallow, the stone coastline was destroyed. All citizens are concerned the fate of flower greenhouses, around which a lot of disputes broke out between the defenders of the historical heritage of the city and some representatives of domestic business.
Young people, having learned about the plight of the oldest in the city of the Tauride Garden, decided to draw the attention of the townspeople to this issue. The famous game library is open again. Upstairs is pleasant, and on the ground floor it is planned to open a children's play and educational center. The garden hosts festivals dedicated to protecting the environment and promoting a healthy lifestyle.

“Nevertheless, this garden is one of the most respectable in St. Petersburg. This is the only place in the city center where nightingales have not yet disappeared.
The dense history of this “semi-tropical, semi-tauric” garden, as Nabokov wrote, can be represented in the form of a huge popular popular panorama: Prince Potemkin-Tavrichesky buys up all the wax available in St. Petersburg for garden illumination; Kulibin puts on the pond a model of an arched bridge across the Neva in 1/10 of its natural size; Pavel the First gives the Tauride Palace under the hussar stables; Alexander the First transports here the famous Petrine Venus, which has since been called Tauride.
Walking through the garden: the nose of Major Kovalev, the chess player Luzhin and Blok with the actress Delmas.
Here a terrorist shoots at Admiral Dubasov, the famous St. Petersburg criminal couple Semyonov and Bezak tests a deadly cast-iron weight on a garden bench, and the revolutionary sailor Zheleznyak disperses the Constituent Assembly. Not far away, “like a jackdaw”, the unsqueamish Chukovsky crocodile swallows an aggressive washcloth and the Nazi Henkel bomber, shot down by the brave pilot Sevastyanov, is lying on the banks of the Round Pond.
Walking today in the freshly restored Tauride Garden, no, no, and you will remember Pylyaev’s “Old Petersburg”, which provides a charming eyewitness account of Pavlovian times: “The Roman Garden still attracts everyone to walk in it. On the pavilions and temples, the walls and doors are covered with foul-mouthed verses and prose.
O. Florenskaya.

Tauride Gardens

The last third of the XVIII century in St. Petersburg is characterized by the appearance of numerous country estates of the highest state dignitaries and courtiers. One of them arose in the Foundry part in 1783-1789. Here, on the vast territory of the left bank of the Neva, simultaneously with the construction of the Tauride Palace, donated by Empress Catherine II to Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin in gratitude for joining the Tauride Territory to Russia, a backyard landscape garden is being laid out according to the project of architect Ivan Yegorovich Starov and garden master William Gould. It was a vast territory with greenhouses, artificial ponds, hills and park pavilions. The scale of its construction can be judged by the number of trees planted in just one year: there were 23,000 of them. Many of them were specially brought from abroad. The garden is called Tauride after the palace.

Tauride garden and palace. Before 1797

In the middle of the 19th century, the once private Tauride Garden became public. In winter, on the ice of its picturesque ponds, one of which was popularly called "Swan Lake", daily ice skating was organized. In folklore, they were called Tauride skating. However, official name garden has become a key to the creation of other folklore microtoponyms. Among Petersburgers, the entire area of ​​the Tauride Palace, surrounded by a garden, had its numerous nicknames: "Tavria", "Tavrik", "Tabor", "Tavriga", "Tavrida".

Tauride Palace. 1970s

In the 1930s, the Tauride Garden was turned into a park of culture and recreation, or Pkio, as they liked to say in the language of abbreviations at that time. It remained to assign him the appropriate proletarian name. A convenient opportunity also presented itself. Since 1928, the development of the national economy of the Soviet Union has been carried out on the basis of five-year plans sent down from above. In the people, these plans are called five-year plans. Until 1990, there were twelve such five-year plans. But the meaning of the first was special. It is clear that very soon this economic term became official and acquired a pronounced ideological character. Collective farms and steamboats, palaces of culture and factories were named after five-year plans. This name was also given to the Tauride garden. It became the Park of Culture and Leisure named after the First Five-Year Plan.

It is clear that not without a monument to Lenin. It was made by the sculptor V. B. Pinchuk. In 1957, the monument was erected near the main entrance to the garden. The time has come when attempts were made in Soviet art to rethink the image of Lenin, to give his appearance purely human qualities, opposing them to the official features of a stern statesman and political figure. What came of it can be judged by the joke, the hero of which was the monument to Lenin in the Tauride Garden: “Dad, who is this little one?” - asked the father's son at the entrance to the garden. “Who ... who ... - the young dad was confused. - Ilyich in a coat, that's who.

After Stalin's death, the Kremlin's ideological pressure somewhat weakened. This had a beneficial effect not only on samples of monumental sculpture of that time, but also on urban toponymy. The pathetic names of urban objects began to be changed to more human ones. This is what happened to our garden. In 1954, it was renamed the City Children's Park. In 1962, with funds raised by students of Leningrad schools, a monument to the "Young Heroes of the Defense of the City of Lenin" was erected in the park.