Park sights in St Petersburg
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A
Botanical Gardens
Once the second-biggest botanical gardens in the world, behind London’s Kew Gardens, the botanical gardens contains giant dilapidated greenhouses on a 22-hectare site and, although very much faded since its glory days, it’s still a pleasant place to stroll. A highlight is the ‘tsaritsa nochi’ (Selenicereus pteranthus), a flowering cactus that blossoms only one night a year, usually in mid-June, when the gardens stay open all night for visitors to gawk at the marvel.
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B
Mars Field
Once the scene of 19th-century military parades, the grassy Mars Field lies immediately east of the Summer Garden (south of Troitsky most). Formerly known as the Tsarina’s Meadow (Tsaritsyn lug), it’s a popular spot for strollers. At its centre, an eternal flame burns for the victims of the 1917 revolution and the ensuing civil war. Don’t take a short cut across the grass – you may be walking on the graves of the victims or of later communist luminaries also buried here.
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C
Alexandrovsky Park
As you make your way from the metro you will pass through or close to this bustling park. Don't come here looking for peace and quiet: it is too close to traffic and perpetually thronged with people. If you have kids in tow, however, there are a couple of entertainment options worth considering: the Planetarium and the St Petersburg Zoo.
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D
Tauride Gardens
The Tauride Gardens is a great place for a stroll, and there are some rusty rides for the kiddies. The view across the lake towards the Tauride Palace, built between 1783 and 1789 for Catherine the Great’s lover Potemkin, is a fine sight.
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E
Summer Garden
Perhaps St Petersburg’s loveliest park, the Summer Garden is between the Mars Field and the Fontanka River. You can enter at either the north or south end.
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