Commonly referred to as the Catherine Gardens, after the enormous Catherine the Great statue at its centre, Pl Ostrovskogo is the scene of many a chess, backgammon and sometimes even mah-jong game. The square was designed by Carlo Rossi in the 1820s and 1830s. At the empress’s heels are some of her renowned statesmen, including her lovers Orlov, Potemkin and Suvorov.