Private Garden of the Winter Palace, Private garden beside Winter Palace, Saint Petersburg, Russia
The Private Garden of the Winter Palace is a rectangular green space with trees and shrubs, connected to the palace entrance by a cobbled drive. A high wall topped with railings encloses the entire area and separates it from the surrounding public spaces.
The garden took shape from the 1880s onward, when the imperial rulers transformed a paved courtyard into a private green space. A landscape designer from the Baltic region later expanded a section specifically for the younger members of the family.
The garden served as a personal retreat for the imperial family, shaped by their preferences for both beauty and privacy. The plantings and pathways reflect how the royal residents moved through and used this enclosed world.
The garden is enclosed by high walls, so the pathways are narrow and the space feels intimate. Visitors should expect the vegetation to look different depending on the season, and some areas may not always be fully accessible.
The garden did not develop all at once, but grew in stages with different sections designed at different times. This staggered development created an unexpected blend of formal layouts and less structured areas within the same enclosed space.
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