Hanging gardens of the Small Hermitage, Elevated garden at Small Hermitage museum complex, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

The Hanging Garden of the Small Hermitage occupies the space between the Northern and Southern pavilions of the Small Hermitage in Saint Petersburg, above the former stables and manège. It is enclosed on all four sides by the high walls of the galleries linking the pavilions. Its beds follow a geometric plan of circles, ovals and squares, with trees set in triangles.

Construction began in 1764 under Yury Felten, after Catherine II approved the garden project on 5 May 1763 during her coronation festivities in Moscow. The south side was built first, with a pavilion added for Count Grigory Orlov; Vallin de La Mothe completed the north pavilion and the two linking galleries by 1769. Vassili Stassov rebuilt the garden between 1840 and 1843, and Andrei Stackenschneider added a winter garden in the 1850s.

The garden's name comes from its position above the former stables and manège, not from any suspension structure. In 1766 two marble allegories, Sculpture and Painting, were bought for it; the 2009 copies now stand in their place. The 1840s replanting by Stasov and gardener T. Grey used azaleas, brooms and apple trees so the court saw a first flowering here and a second at the summer residences.

The garden lies on the second floor, above the former stables and manège, between the galleries linking the Small Hermitage's north and south pavilions. It is reached through the museum complex. The high walls of the side galleries block the wind, and the north-south orientation gives sun most of the day.

The garden's warm microclimate comes from more than the Neva: air ducts in the brick vaults beneath the parterre supplied extra heat, so growth began earlier and leaves fell later than in other Saint Petersburg gardens. In 2009 the two 1766 marble allegories, Sculpture and Painting, were recreated as polymer-concrete casts.