Chinese Garden

Miniature in size (only 685 square meters), devoid of dazzling brilliance and grandiose buildings, the Chinese Garden in Peterhof undoubtedly deserves a small separate story. Its elegant landscape design – secluded, protected from sea winds – breathes Eastern wisdom and tranquility. Geographically, the Chinese Garden is integrated into the Lower Park and is located next to the Monplaisir Palace. In the mid-19th century, the local bathhouse required major reconstruction. As a result, the small area between the bathhouse and the bay acquired an unpresentable appearance. That was when the idea arose to create an original garden here.

The garden project was developed by architect Gan, and it was carefully brought to life by the famous gardener Baltazar and fountain master Stockmar. Their remarkable fairy-tale creation has been alive for more than one and a half centuries. Arranged in a landscape style, the tiny space is truly a paradise corner – winding paths, mysterious, densely overgrown banks of a charming pond, the murmur of clear streams, and the splash of fountains – a tired visitor will find peace and rest here from the exhausting glare and luxury. All the garden’s details harmoniously fit into the intended “Chinese” motif: natural, uneven outlines of lawns, arched bridges, and, of course, a pagoda.

The most expressive detail is located in the very center of the Chinese Garden – a small artificial grotto made of tufa. In the center of the garden, a hill is piled up – a kind of small grotto decorated with a tufa arch. A stream flows out of the grotto, filling two marble basins, and merges into a shallow lake with a tufa island from which a high jet of water bursts forth. The hill is decorated with a marble group “Cupid and Psyche.” One of the flower beds is adorned with a second fountain with a round pool and a marble vase. The garden layout with the “Shell” fountain is executed in the character of landscape park design. The works on their creation were supervised by garden master Baltazar and fountain master Stockmar.

After the revolution, the garden was neglected, the fountains were broken, and during the war, the Germans set up a defensive pillbox there. The layout and decorative elements of the Chinese Garden were destroyed. The drawings preserved in the archives helped to fully restore its original appearance, and today it is an essential stop on the tourist route through Peterhof – a distinctive and secluded island.

A small garden decorated with fountains adjoins the eastern wing of the Monplaisir ensemble. It appeared on the site of a former coastal lawn in 1865–1866 near the new stone Bathhouse. The garden was laid out in the “Chinese style”: with winding paths, shrubs, flower beds, and arched bridges thrown over streams, and was named the Chinese Garden.

In 1956, the fountain and garden were restored according to the surviving drawings of the project author – architect Gan. During the garden restoration, for the decorative design of the water jet in the round pool, a vase made of Tivdi marble was used, created according to a drawing by Voronikhin for the Hermitage cascade.

 Source:

https://sadik.ru/blog/kitayskiy-sadik-petergofe