Description of the attraction
The palace and park ensemble "Sergievka", or the Leuchtenberg estate, is a cultural and historical monument of the 19th century, a natural monument, as well as a monument of the natural and cultural heritage of the peoples of the world.
At the beginning of the 18th century, this territory was owned by Alexander Ivanovich Rumyantsev, an associate of Peter the Great. By inheritance, the estate passed to his son - Peter Alexandrovich Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky, field marshal. The estate was named "Sergievka" after the name of the field marshal's son, Sergei Petrovich Rumyantsev.
In 1822 the estate was sold to Naryshkin. It was they who created an amazing park with numerous buildings here. Soon the estate was acquired by Nicholas I for his daughter, Maria Nikolaevna and her husband, the Duke of Leuchtenberg.
In 1839-1842, the architect A. I. The Stakenschneider, who built the Mariinsky Palace for the Leuchtenberg spouses in St. Petersburg, erected their country palace in Sergievka. The building is made in the style of classicism and is located on the top of the coastal ledge in the north-east of the Sergievka park. The same architect built the Hoffmeister and Kitchen buildings and the marble-covered Chapel (1845-1846) in the estate.
The design of the park was continued in the middle of the 19th century, the plant collection of the park was replenished, sculptures and benches were cut out of large granite boulders. After the revolutionary events, on the basis of the decree of the Council of People's Commissars, the park was declared a natural monument and taken under state protection. The Sergievka estate was transferred to the Leningrad University (Faculty of Biology and Soil Science). The Biological Research Institute of Leningrad University is located in the palace itself and in the buildings on the territory of the park.
During the war, the Leuchtenberg estate found itself on the front line of the Oranienbaum bridgehead. The buildings and the park itself were badly damaged by the hostilities. In the post-war years, the efforts of the Leningrad University were carried out to improve the palace park, and in 1965 the facades of the palace were restored according to the project carried out by the architect V. I. Seideman.
At the end of the 60s, restoration work was carried out in the park according to the project of the architect K. D. Agapova.
The park starts on the south side next to the University railway platform and goes north up to the shores of the Gulf of Finland. Park "Sergievka" from the north-east borders on the palace and park ensemble "Own dacha". The park has a series of ponds with twenty dam bridges and bridges. The Christatelka River flows from the ponds towards the Gulf of Finland in deep ravines with dams. Before flowing into the Gulf of Finland in the north of the Oranienbaum highway, the streams join into a single stream.
The park of the Sergievka estate is organized on the site of a natural forest. In the park, biologists have registered 185 species of birds, 250 species of vascular plants, 35 species of mammals. The area of the park is 120 hectares.
The park is inhabited by such rare bird species as the three-toed woodpecker, the white-backed woodpecker, the great bittern, the lesser swan, the whooper swan, the common cricket, and the little tern. Mammals include Brandt's bat, two-colored leather, housekeeper vole, baby mouse, red nocturnal bat, pond bat.
On the territory of the park, it is forbidden to pick flowers, berries, mushrooms, swim in water bodies, make fires, move around the park not along paths, carry out construction work, as well as traffic and horse riding.
