Description of the attraction
The place where the Yusupov Garden is now located was located between Fontanka and Sadovaya. The area of this site was 9 hectares. Peter I granted it to Prince G. D. Yusupov. After some time, a French garden with flower beds, canals and ponds was laid out on this site. Through the park there was an alley that led to the Fontanka. The project of the house, a one-story wooden mansion on a stone foundation, built here in 1730, was designed and realized by Domenico Trezzini, an Italian architect and engineer.
In the 90s. In the 18th century, Giacomo Quarenghi was engaged in the reconstruction of the estate, commissioned by N. B. Yusupov. The house was enlarged many times, it housed a collection of paintings from Western Europe, which belonged to the owners of the house. The park has also undergone significant changes. A pond was dug, in which small islands were poured. Gazebos and artificial small mounds appeared. The park has turned from a French into an English one. Marble sculptures and flower beds became its decoration. Goldfish floated in the ponds, adorned with golden rings.
In 1810, the owners of the mansion divorced, and the estate had to be sold to the treasury. From the treasury, it was transferred to the Administration of Railways of Russia, and the Institute of the Corps of Railroad Engineers was located there. The entire estate, including the park itself, was taken over by the Institute. The number of ponds was reduced, the park had to be reduced, but the number of buildings increased - educational buildings were built. A beautiful cast-iron trellis was built along Sadovaya, and greenhouses and fountains appeared in the park. In the northwestern part of the park there were Eulers' greenhouses, famous for the best flowers in the whole of St. Petersburg.
On April 17, 1863, by order of Alexander II, part of the Yusupov Park was opened for public visits. The park was divided into two parts, north and south. In the southern part there were ponds with islets, which were connected by chain bridges. There were lanterns and benches on the islands. In 1864, fountains were erected in the park. After some time, the garden was completely open to visitors.
People who lived near the garden loved to come to it. It was something like a modern amusement park, balloons were sold and launched into the sky, a boat station and even a shooting range were built. Usually the garden was closed with the onset of winter, but in 1865 there were changes due to the fact that it was rented by the Yacht Club. With the onset of winter, skating rinks were arranged in it, ice slides, fortresses, towns were built. On winter holidays, fireworks, festivities, and mass skating were organized.
Our figure skating began in the Yusupov Garden. In 1877, fans of ice skating began to gather in the Garden, and in 1878 the first competitions were held. The first championships of the world, Russia and the USSR were held here. In 1887, at the Garden, his own figure skating school was founded, in which N. A. Panin-Kolomenkin, the first Russian athlete to earn the title of Olympic champion. The school continued its work even after the revolution. The first ice hockey team in Russia was also created here, which was named "Yusupov Garden".
In Soviet times, the park got a different name. It was called “Children's Park of the Oktyabrsky District of the City of Leningrad”. In this park, as in many others, a monument to Lenin was erected. It happened in 1955. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the park was given its original name. He again became Yusupovsky, and the monument to Vladimir Ilyich was dismantled. Currently, the garden is in excellent condition and does not cease to be popular among St. Petersburgers and guests of the city.
