The Private Garden of Nicholas II

	Gardening Problems (1)
	The Autumnal Colours of the Garden (2)
	Remnants of the Past (3)
	A Breach in the Railings of the Private Garden (4)
	The Garden Railings (5)
	Dismantling the Railings (6)

3D tour of Nicholas II’s Private Garden

In 1896, work began on a horse-drawn tram line that would run between the Admiralty and the Winter Palace. In response to this, a garden was laid out in front of the western façade of the imperial residence with the intention that the greenery would reduce the disturbance from the new public transport. The creation of the garden was an expensive business because it required a plot measuring 13,000 square metres to be raised by an entire metre. A fountain was set up in the centre of the garden, and it was planted with maples, elms, ash and Dutch lime (linden) trees. The railings that were installed around the garden in 1901 were designed by Robert (Roman) Melzer and won a Grand Prix at the World’s Fair in Paris the previous year. They stood on a substantial pink sandstone plinth that was taller than a man. Sections of the railings were embellished with Nicholas II’s monogram and double-headed eagles.

The virtual tour tells about the history of the garden, the compositional features of its layout and the choice of plants. A separate page is devoted to the famous railings and their subsequent fate. The tour is supplemented by texts about certain aspects of the history and architecture of the Winter Palace.

The materials for the virtual tour were prepared by staff members from the Hermitage’s Department of the History and Restoration of Architectural Monuments: Liudmila Akmen (head of the department), Maria Dubrovskaya, Svetlana Yanchenko, Tatiana Prazdnikova, Victor Turalin and Sergei Matsenkov.

The 3D modelling of the garden landscapes and its extensive flora, as well as the western façade of the Winter Palace, the garden railings and gates was carried out by Piotr Skoblikov of the Hermitage’s Computing Sector.

The project curators are Maria Dubrovskaya (Department of the History and Restoration of Architectural Monuments), Antonina Balina (Hermitage’s Computing Sector).

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