Viewing stone

http://www.nogardia.ru/articles/show/24/

Next to the water pumping station, right on the shore of the bay, lies an unusual boulder. Steps are carved into it both from the shore side and from the bay side, and on the western edge, four deep holes are hollowed out. Nearby lies a flat granite slab, in which four recesses are also hollowed out. Posts supporting a canopy over the grandstand fit into these.

Judging by lithographs stored in the Hermitage by an unknown artist from the mid-19th century, this was the "Viewing Stone"; the slab served as the seat of a bench from which one could admire the Gulf of Finland. Unfortunately, this original structure has no protective status.

Despite its ruined appearance, the area has not lost its picturesque charm (moreover, the ruined look adds a certain romanticism). Pleasant natural views, "enhanced" by park builders, have been fairly well preserved. The glade is still planted with apple trees (although not the original generation—apple trees rarely live more than half a century). Therefore, this place still attracts walking enthusiasts.

Sources:

https://www.citywalls.ru/house21484.html

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History of the Ropsha Estate

Krasnoselskoye Highway, 1, Ropsha, Leningrad Region, Russia, 188515

Imperial Parks: Sergievka, Sobstvennaya Dacha, and Ropsha

For example, what do we know about Ropsha? Many have at best heard that it is a settlement in the Leningrad region and that it once belonged to the Romanov dynasty. But few know that there was a remarkable palace and park ensemble there, created through the work of outstanding architects, sculptors, and landscape masters.

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Hemorrhoidal colic of Peter III

Krasnoselskoye Highway, 1, Ropsha, Leningrad Region, Russia, 188515

Imperial Parks of Oranienbaum and Surroundings

Imperial Parks: Sergievka, Sobstvennaya Dacha, and Ropsha

For now, she, Catherine II Alekseevna, felt relieved. Let one legitimate Russian emperor, Ivan VI Antonovich, still be alive and languishing in the casemate of the Shlisselburg Fortress. But she had gotten rid of her main rival, the also legitimate emperor Peter III Fedorovich.

Imperial Parks: Sergievka, Sobstvennaya Dacha, and Ropsha

Sergievka — palace and park ensemble

Natural Monument "Park 'Sergievka'," Oranienbaum Highway, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 198411

Sergievka is a palace and park ensemble located in Peterhof (Petrodvortsovy District of Saint Petersburg) on the site of the former Leuchtenberg estate. The palace and park ensemble is a cultural heritage site, an architectural monument of the 19th century of federal significance, and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments." The park is a natural monument of regional significance.

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Head of a Knight (Sculpture at the Spring or Adam's Head)

Boulder "Adam's Head," Oranienbaum Highway, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 198504

Imperial Parks: Sergievka, Sobstvennaya Dacha, and Ropsha

Head (or Sculpture at the Spring) — a sculpture by an unknown artist, carved into a giant granite boulder and located on the territory of the former Leuchtenberg estate in Peterhof. It is an object of cultural heritage of federal significance.

Palace (Estate) of the Leuchtenberg Family

Leuchtenberg Palace, Oranienbaum Highway, 2, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 198504

Russia: UNESCO Sites or Sites Protected by UNESCO

Imperial Parks: Sergievka, Sobstvennaya Dacha, and Ropsha

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The Leuchtenberg Palace is an estate located on the crest of a coastal bluff in the northeastern part of the "Sergievka" park on the western outskirts of Peterhof. The building was constructed by architect Andrey Ivanovich Stakenschneider for Maria Nikolaevna, daughter of Nicholas I, and her husband Maximilian, Duke of Leuchtenberg.

Imperial Parks: Sergievka, Sobstvennaya Dacha, and Ropsha

Elizabeth Petrovna’s Own Dacha

Sobstvenny Ave, 84, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 198504

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Imperial Parks: Sergievka, Sobstvennaya Dacha, and Ropsha

The Church of the Holy Trinity at His Imperial Majesty's Private Dacha

Petergof, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 198504

The Church of the Holy Trinity is an Orthodox church in Peterhof near Saint Petersburg, built between 1858 and 1860 on His Imperial Majesty's Own Dacha. It is affiliated with the Church of St. Seraphim of Sarov of the Saint Petersburg Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Church of Saint Catherine or "The Chapel"

Oranienbaum Highway, Building 2, Block 4, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 198504

Imperial Parks: Sergievka, Sobstvennaya Dacha, and Ropsha

In Sergievka Park behind the Leuchtenberg Palace, on the other side of the long palace meadow, among the bushes, one can notice the ruins of a small cubic red-brick building. It seems to be the remains of some kind of wing or a gatehouse. Hardly anyone today would guess in these ruins the skeleton of the Orthodox estate church of Saint Catherine. Meanwhile, it is exactly that. Closing the perspective of the palace meadow, it compositionally echoed the cubic volume of the main part of the palace.

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VRXW+M6 Petrodvortsovy District, Saint Petersburg, Russia

Russia: Industrial Heritage

Imperial Parks: Sergievka, Sobstvennaya Dacha, and Ropsha

Near the shore of the bay, between the palace meadow and the mouth of the Kristatelka River, in its steep bend, there is a picturesque clearing where, among apple trees, stands a red brick ruin with a long chimney protruding upwards. This is all that remains of the palace water pumping station after the destruction of the Great Patriotic War. Although the Sergievka park was outside the occupied territory, within the Oranienbaum bridgehead, the ensemble was heavily damaged by shells.