Description of the attraction
Kadriorg Park is the most famous artificial park in Estonia, celebrating its 290th anniversary in 2008. At the time of its creation, it occupied about 100 hectares.
In 1719, on July 22, Peter I, together with the architect Nicolo Michetti, measured the area for the future "new palace" and a regular park. The park was divided into three gentle natural terraces, which were cleared of boulders, leveled and covered with black soil. The largest terrace in front of the palace is occupied by the lower garden. Its main axis was aimed at the palace. Upper garden. Located behind the palace, it occupied 2 levels: a flower garden, ending with a lattice wall with fountains and a pond of mirages, located behind this wall on the upper ledge.
When laying the park, ponds were dug out, the purpose of which was both to revitalize the landscape and drain the soil. The oldest of them were the pond in the courtyard of the Marininsky shelter, the upper pond between the palace and Peter's house, the Swan pond, located in the western part of the park, and the pond north of the present Kadri road.
One of the most interesting and famous places in the park is the symmetrical Swan Pond and its surroundings. Across the street from this pond, there was originally a lush Italian-French regular park; now, tall trees grow densely on this site. Initially, according to the plan, in most of the park, the natural landscape with meadows and glades was preserved, only paths and paths were laid. Only a small area of the park was made regular.
To speed up the work on the formation of the park, it was decided to plant already large trees. In 1722, 550 trees were planted by soldiers during the year. Some of the trees, this primarily concerned chestnuts, were later planned to be taken to the gardens of St. Petersburg. However, this idea, due to the death of Peter I, was soon forgotten, and the chestnuts remained in Kardiorg Park.
Near the street Weizenbergi, along which they often walked past the swan pond to the palace, there are several palace outbuildings. Some of them now house the restoration workshops of the Estonian Art Museum. Opposite the palace gates there is a guard house, behind it there is an ice cellar and a kitchen. The renovated kitchen building now houses the Johannes Mikkel Museum, which introduces the collection of this renowned art collector.
At the end of the 18th century, the appearance of the central part of the park changed, as the trees stopped cutting, they grew more and more, and the park became like a landscape one. Therefore, the picturesque view, which opened earlier from the windows of the palace to the Old Town and the bay, disappeared behind a wall of overgrown trees. The layout of the upper part of the garden has also changed: on the site of the pond of mirages, the president's rose garden has been broken.
