Beautiful Sunday in the Anichkov Palace Garden

This small garden is one of my favourites in the central part of the city. When I say "small", it is flattery and exaggeration on my part. It would be more accurate to use the word "miniature". It's just a little piece of nature, a backyard garden. While this one looks a bit more austere and stately than most such gardens, it is no different in its purpose. It's just a small garden for relaxation, a place where you can go in the morning with a cup of coffee in hand (if you're the lucky person who was given Anichkov Palace by the Empress).

However, even though you don't own the palace, there's nothing to stop you from having a coffee in this garden. The building belongs to the city, and now the Palace of Children's and Youth Creativity works in this building. And to have a coffee, all you need to do is buy a coffee to go at one of the coffee shops nearby. Then you will have to turn down an inconspicuous alley, go through a gate and you are there! You are gorgeous, you are drinking coffee and admiring the autumn colours.

Anichkov Palace, a majestic building in the Classicism style, was built in the middle of the XVIII century, at the same time the garden appeared. It is a quiet and cosy place, remote from the bustle of the city, an island for quiet rest.

The origin of the name of the palace is unusual, and not many people know about it. Almost everyone thinks that there was some count or prince named Anichkov who ordered to build the palace... Nothing like that. Anichkov is the surname of commander Anichkov, who supervised the construction of the bridge over the Fontanka River. The bridge and a plot of land nearby were named after him, and the new palace received this name as if by inheritance.

From the side of the square the garden is surrounded by a wall, and the territory is separated from Nevsky Prospekt by a beautiful openwork lattice. Two pavilions built by the famous architect Carl Rossi complete the architectural landscape. Originally these pavilions housed a collection of cold weapons belonging to the owners of the palace, but I do not know what is in them now. They are probably used for some kind of household purposes.

I caught a moment when the garden workers were preparing the flowerbeds for winter, they were pruning flowers and shrubs. In October most of the plants have already shed their flowers and leaves, but in this quiet garden you can still admire the late autumn colours. The wall surrounding the garden protects the flowerbeds from wind and weather. Around the semi-circular wall of the Service Building, the bright green of rhododendrons is pleasing to the eye - in spring, when they bloom, this place looks fabulous.

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Smartphone	Google Pixel 3a
Location	Saint Petersburg, Russia