Catherinehof, Historical park in Saint Petersburg, Russia

Catherinehof is a landscape park on Yekateringofsky Island in Saint Petersburg's Admiralteysky District, bounded by the Yekateringofka River, the Paper Canal and the Tarakanovka River. Its wide pond reflects a round colonnaded pavilion with a shallow dome on the left bank, while two small light-coloured structures, a low blue kiosk and a row of pale green boats sit at the water's edge. Ducks swim in the foreground.

Peter I gave the island and lands along the Ekateringofka to his wife Catherine in 1711, and a wooden palace rose there as a country residence. After Peter's death the marshy estate was abandoned; Empress Anna added two wings, demolished in 1779, and Paul donated it in 1800 to Anna Gagarina. The city took it over in 1804 and made it a public amusement park. The palace burned in 1924; the park was renamed for the 30th anniversary of the Komsomol in 1948 and got its old name back in 1992.

The name comes from German Katharinenhof, "Catherine's Court", given in 1711 when Peter the Great presented the island to his wife Catherine. Peter ordered May Day celebrations here, a tradition that long predated the workers' May Day of the late 19th century. The park appears in Dostoevsky's novels and in Casanova's memoirs.

The park lies on Yekateringofsky Island, reached from Stachek Square and the Narvskaya metro station via Perekopskaya Street. Liflyandskaya Street carries trams and cars straight through the grounds, so watch for traffic when crossing. The eastern, formal half holds the Young Guard monument; the older western half borders the Yekateringofka River.

The park's name survives in the Ekateringofka River, its western boundary, which was named after the wooden palace of Catherine I after the palace was dismantled for firewood in 1926. The area beside the park was long called the "Devil's Waste" and was bought in the early 20th century by the manufacturer Shakanidi, who held séances there.