56 



HISTORY OF GARDENING. 



Pakt I. 



Cronstadt and the fleet. The bath is likewise worthy of observation, situated in the midst of a thlcfcgt 

 "We enter a large oval space, enclosed by a wooden wall, without a covering at top, but open to the sky, 

 and shaded by the surrounding trees. In this wall are chambers and recesses furnished with all that con- 

 venience or luxury can require to that end. In the centre of this area is a large basin, surrounded by a 

 gallery, and provided with steps, rafts, and gondolas : the water is conducted hither by pipes, which fill the 

 basin only to a certain height." — These gardens still exist, and the water-works are kept in tolerable re- 

 pair. There is adjoining a small specimen of English gardening, laid out by Header, once gardener at 

 Alnwick castle in Northumberland, and who is author of The Planter's Guide. 



255. At Fetrowka, near Moscow, is the principal private ancient garden in Russia. 

 The hedges and alleys are chiefly formed of spruce fir, which are shorn, and seem to 

 flourish under the shears. It contains also a labyrinth, and a turf amphitheatre, on which 

 the proprietor, Comte Razumowski, had operas performed by his domestic slaves. 



Sophiowski, in Podolia, is a magnificent residence of the Countess Potocki, laid out by a Polish archi- 

 tect, Metzel, in the manner of Switzer. It has a magnificent terrace or promenade, and extensive ave- 

 nues, conservatories, and gardens. 



256. The first attempt at the modern style of gardening in Russia was made by Catherine, 

 about 1778, at Zarskoje-selo, at that time enlarged and re-laid out. llie gardener 

 employed was Busch, a German, and father of their present superintendant. The gor- 

 geous magnificence of this residence is well known. " A natural birch forest, on ground 

 somewhat varied, forms the ground-work of the park and gardens. The gate by 

 which they are approached, is an immense arch of artificial rock-work, over which is 

 a lofty Chinese watch-tower. The first group of objects is a Chinese to'wn, through 

 whicli the approach leads to the palace ; a building, which, with its enclosed entrance, 

 court, offices, baths, conservatories, church, theatre, and other appendages, it would seem 

 like exaggeration to describe. The rest of the garden-scenery consists of walks, numer- 

 ous garden-buildings, columns, statues, &c. with bridges of marble and wood, a large 

 lake, and extensive kitchen-gardens and hot-houses." The following more detailed 

 description is from the pen of Storch already mentioned. 



257. Zarskoje-selo, the famous summer-residence otCatherine the Second, is situated in an open plea- 

 sant region, diversified by little hills, meads, and woodlands. The space of the whoVe domain contains 

 four hundred and twenty thousand square fathoms. This princely seat owes its origin to Catherine the 

 First, and its enlargement and embellishment to Elizabeth ; but it is indebted for its completion in ele- 

 gance and taste, and the greater part of its present magnificence, to the creative reign of Catherine the 

 Second. We are now in a small wood within sight of the palace. On the left we have the park wall, and 

 before us the entrance on the Petersburg side. It consists of two portals, composed of blocks of sand- 

 stone, in the form of rocky fragments, over one of which is a Chinese watch-house. By this passage we 

 enter the foregrounds of the palace, having the gardens to the right, and a Chinese village to the left, 

 through which the way leads over a Chinese bridge to the park. Before us lies the road to the little 

 neighbouring town Sophia, which goes through a colossal gate of cast-iron. The court of the palace forms 

 an amphitheatre of buildings opposite the grand parade, closed on each side by an iron palisade. 



The gardens are laid out in the English manner : among their curiosities that admit of a description, the 

 following objects may principally be recorded. A small temple containing a collection of antique and modern 

 statues ; a solitude for dinner-parties like that in the hermitage ; a magnificent bath ; a coach-hill, similar to 

 that at Oranienbaum ; picturesque ruins ; a small town to commemorate the taking of Taurida, &c. Two 

 artificial lakes are connected by a running stream, crossed by an arched bridge, covered at the top by a 

 roof resting on two rows of marble columns, on the model of the bridge at Stowe. On one of the islands on 

 these lakes stands a Turkish mosque, on another a spacious hall for musical entertainments. In a thick 

 shrubbery we come upon a pyramid in the Egyptian form, in the vicinity whereof are two obelisks. 



This inajestic sanctuary of ar< and nature, continues Storch, is at the same time a magnificent temple of 

 merit. Formed of the rocky foundations of the earth, here the monuments of great achievements tower 

 towards the skies, fearless of the destructive vicissitudes of time. A marble obelisk reminds us of the 

 victory near Kagul, and of the victor Romanzoff Zudunaisky. To the Dey of Tschesmi, and the hero 

 Orlof Tschesmenskoy, a marble column on a pedestal of granite is devoted. A grand triumphal arch 

 proclaims the patriotic ardor of Prince Orlof, with which he faced rebellion and the plague in the 

 capital, and quelled them both. The victory in the Morea and the name of Feador Orlof are handed 

 down to posterity by a rostral column. — Plain and gigantic as the sentiments of the heroes whose memories 

 are perpetuated in these masses of rocks, they stand surrounded by the charms of Nature, who softens 

 her majesty through the veil of artless graces. 



258. Paulowsky presents the best specimen of the English style, in the neighbourhood 

 of the Russian capital, or indeed in the empire. It was begun during the reign of 

 Catherine, in 1780, from a design said to have been furnished by the celebrated Brown, 

 from a description sent him by Gould, an Englishman, the gardener of Potemkin, and 

 finished afterwards during the reign of Paul. This place possesses considerable variety 

 of surface, and a varied clothing of wood, the Scotch jjine and aspen being natural to these 

 grounds, as well as the birch. Near the palace, there is a profusion of exotics of every 

 description, including a numerous collection of standard roses, which, with some of the 

 American shrubs, require to be protected with straw and mats during winter. The 

 Chevalier Storch has given a very interesting description of these gardens, in his Brief e 

 iiher Paulo^osky, &c. 1802. 



259. The gardens of Potemkin, a man whose mind, as the Prince de Ligne has ob- 

 served, contained mines of gold and steppes, and one of the most extravagant encouragers 

 of our art that modern times can boast, were of various kinds, and situated in different 

 parts of the empire. The most extensive gardens of this prince were in the Ukraine; 

 but the most celebrated were those belonging to the palace of Taurida, now an imperial 

 residence in St. Petersburg. The grounds are level, with several winding and straight 



