Imagine, if you will, the Winter Palace not just as a symbol of imperial power. Think of it also as a place where empresses sought solace. We are standing in the Gardens of the Winter Palace. These gardens are a testament to the personal touches added to a very public space.
The Gardens of the Winter Palace may be little known. The palace was designed to project power not relaxation. Yet, within its walls, two empresses left their green mark.
Originally, the Winter Palace had no gardens. It was bordered by the Neva River and Palace Square. Space was limited. The last two empresses of Russia transformed paved areas into gardens.
Tsaritsa Maria Feodorovna, wife of Alexander III, created the first garden in 1885. This garden was in the principal courtyard. Before 1885, this courtyard was all pavement. She designed it in a formal rectangular shape. This mirrored the shape of the courtyard. The lawned garden featured trees and shrubs. A cobbled carriage drive surrounded it. It connected the arched entrance on Palace Square to the palace doors.
The second garden appeared in 1896. Tsaritsa Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Nicholas II, commissioned it. She lived briefly at the palace. Alexandra disliked the public staring at her private apartments. She wanted a secure place for her children to play. So, she created a garden on the parade ground beneath her windows.
Landscape architect Georg Kuphaldt designed Alexandra’s garden. He was the director of the Riga city gardens and parks. A high wall topped with railings surrounded the garden.
After the 1917 revolution, parts of the garden were destroyed. In 1920, the high wall was demolished. The gates were fully removed in the 1930s. Parts of the sandstone walls were relocated. They became the walls of the new 9th of January Gardens. In 2022, the railings were restored. Restoration of the imperial monograms and eagles is planned for the future.
Robert-Friedrich Meltzer designed the cast iron railing. It once fenced the garden. It even won the Grand Prix in 1900 at the Exposition Universelle in Paris.
Today, the Winter Palace garden is an unfenced square. It preserves historic trees and a renovated fountain. The fountain was renovated in 2007-08.
These gardens offer a quiet contrast to the palace’s grand scale. They remind us that even in the heart of imperial power, there was a desire for peace and privacy. The Gardens of the Winter Palace whisper stories of empresses. They shaped their own green retreats within a symbol of power.