The center of the eastern part of the Lower Park of Peterhof has become a luxurious "golden cage" for a hundred real songbirds. The royal figures of the Petrine era knew how to live lavishly themselves and spoil their favorites. This is how the aviaries appeared—non-palatial buildings created in the image of the Versailles ones. A visitor who comes here might wonder: for whom is this splendor, not knowing that an innumerable bird family has "registered" here for permanent residence. Both common, well-known birds and exotic chirpers are kept in special cages.

In the Petrine era, birds in copper cages filled the "musical pause": guests' ears were delighted by the nightingale's trills, the beautiful whistle of the bullfinch "mocker," the thrush's song, and the chaffinch's chirping. To this day, the Lower Park preserves the only wooden structures of their kind from the time of Peter the Great. They boast their original decor: the facade of the western pavilion is clad, and the dome and wall panels are painted. After architects Leblon and Braunstein laid out the Menagerie Garden in the eastern part of the park in 1719, it was decided to build two more aviaries for songbirds.

Two exquisite wooden pavilion-aviaries, built according to the design of the Italian architect Nicolo Michetti, became the home for the feathered residents from 1721. The renowned art historian Igor Grabar also expressed a significant opinion about the uniqueness of such structures. He asserted that nothing like this exists anywhere else in Russia or Europe.

Indeed, the Peterhof aviaries are not just wooden houses for birds but true works of art. Judge for yourself how lucky the songbirds are with their "hotel": the pavilion facades are faced with soot, tuff, and seashells; the roofs curve smoothly like domes, topped, according to Michetti’s design, with cozy turret-lanterns. The entire silhouette of the house is harmonious, expressive, and very cozy. The two pavilions from the Petrine era have absolutely identical structures—twelve-sided gazebos with a dome in the center.

Inside is beauty worthy of royal chambers: the walls are framed with originals by Russian painters of the early 18th century, and large windows with small-pane frames provide light and air to the houses. They seem endless because they start from the plinth and end high under the cornice. Such extensive glazing brings transparency and lightness to the structure. Thanks to these wide openings, the birds are abundantly supplied with light. The song-winged residents spent the entire summer here in special gilded copper cages suspended from the ceiling. Simple birds could not even imagine that they would have to stay amid such otherworldly beauty: the aviary domes are decorated with images of the hunter Actaeon and the goddess Diana, garlands of flowers and leaves. After such a marvel, you won’t stop singing!

Such birdhouses have served as decorative elements of garden and park design in Russia since the time of Peter I. Quite often, they were called by the beautiful word "menagerie." As a rule, aviaries were built in the form of a gazebo or a larger pavilion since, besides birds, small animals were also kept there.

The Peterhof aviaries have been restored multiple times: initially, the domes were covered with sailcloth, and 30 years after construction, it was decided to embellish them with iron taken during the repair of the Grand Palace. Another two decades later, the Eastern aviary gained a pleasant neighbor—the Bathhouse of the Menagerie Garden. Exactly 100 years after the work by architect Nicolo Michetti, the painter Kelberg repainted the Eastern aviary, while the Western one remained unchanged. Only some ornaments on the wall sections were updated, and the cornice was decorated to resemble "marble."

The Great Patriotic War affected the entire territory of Peterhof, including severe damage to the pavilion. In the post-war period, the Western aviary was restored. The chirping of native siskins, tits, chaffinches, buntings, and foreigners—amadinas, ricebirds, white-headed munias, canaries—is heard today in the Western Aviary. The Eastern Aviary is rich in loud parrots from warm lands: jacques, cockatoos, macaws, amazons, rosellas, and cockatiels. Near this aviary, a pond has been restored, where Canadian geese, swans, red-crested pochards, shelducks, mandarin ducks, and other waterfowl splash about.

Just as the aviaries once served as the pearl of Peterhof, their visit now brings genuine pleasure: in the pavilions, you can always listen to the fabulous voices of birds, take a break from the hustle and bustle of the metropolis, and enjoy nature.

Sources:

https://peterburg.center/maps/petergof-nizhniy-park-volery.html