Wednesday Walk in the garden of the Academy of Arts

It often happens that the first snow falls in October, but this year October was surprisingly warm. Frosts started only in November. November is one of the gloomiest months of the year. The day is shortened to a few hours. The sun does not have time to rise above the roofs of houses to illuminate the city streets well. It is rare to see the sun at all, much more often the weather is gloomy and overcast.

Clouds block the city from sunlight, but they also prevent the warm air from rising. Clouds are like a warm blanket. Cloudy days are days when the temperature is above freezing. Sunny days are days of frost and snow. On this day the weather was sunny. It snowed early in the morning, and the snow did not melt in the sunlight. The weak autumn sun could not melt the snow.

I was walking around Vasilyevsky Island and turned to the garden of the Academy of Arts. This small garden is one of the oldest city gardens. Service wings surround the garden and the walls of these service buildings protect the garden from the autumn winds. These buildings were built especially for the Academy of Arts. They house mosaic and sculpture studios, teaching buildings, and flats for professors. A small building next to the west gate houses the stables.

From an architectural point of view, the most interesting garden building is the so-called ‘New Study Building’ at the back of the garden. This building was designed in accordance with the strict ancient Greek canon, so that future artists and architects could observe the realisation of ideal proportions on a daily basis. From the point of view of an ordinary person who visits the Academic Garden for a walk, the main building in the garden is the stables. Horses and ponies serve as models for artists, and in their free time they walk in the Academic Garden.

At the end of the walk, I took a picture of the wooden gate in Academic Lane. I noticed an information board on the wall nearby. This building is going to be renovated and house a hotel. I hope that the old wooden gate will survive... but just in case I took this photo.

This is my entry for the #WednesdayWalk challenge by @tattoodjay.