Old Sylvia in Pavlovsk Park is a relatively small area of the park with a regular layout. In the records from 1795-1807, the area is called Sylvia, but after the appearance of a new section – a park located behind it and initially called the "New part of Sylvia" – these areas began to be called Old and New Sylvia. Sylvia comes from the French word "sylve" meaning forest. In Chantilly, the residence of the Prince de Condé in France, one of the parts of the park is also named Sylvia. The poet Vio (1590-1636), exiled from Paris for a pasquinade, found refuge in Chantilly thanks to Marie Félicie de Ursin. Full of gratitude, he dedicated to her the ode "La maison de Silvie," in which he praised the beauty of this part of the park, especially loved by his benefactress and named the Sylvia Park.

Old Sylvia is the part of the park intended for walks. The grove is intersected by twelve alleys that radiate like rays from a circular plaza. This also gave rise to another name for Sylvia – "The Twelve Paths." Each alley leads to some attraction or statue.

The very first building in the Old Sylvia park, even before the founding of Pavlovsk, was a wooden hunting lodge called "Krik," located on a high bank of the Slavyanka River, in the forested part of the park. The author of this early building is unknown. K.K. Gruzinsky mentions that a house for a watchman was built next to it, while Weiss, studying the plans of Old Sylvia, simply calls it a wooden structure next to Krik.

Originally, Krik belonged to Empress Catherine II. The French literature teacher Lafarmier, in a letter to Küchelbecker, calls Krik the "empress's little house," which in 1782 meant "Catherine II's little house." Under the empress, the lodge served as a resting place and shelter from bad weather during hunts, including for the future Emperor Paul I. Later, when the character of the Old Sylvia area began to change, Krik became a pastoral park pavilion used for rest during walks.

According to archival documents dated 1792, architect Brenna lived in the Krik lodge: "Estimate for making a new garden behind the cold bath and the house where Mr. Brenna lives."

As for the name of this lodge – Krik – there is a legend that it was given because of a cry that Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich once heard here during a hunt. In fact, the name "Krik" was apparently borrowed from Germany, where hunting pavilions were called this, including one at the Duke of Württemberg, the father of Maria Feodorovna. After the revolution, all the furnishings were placed in the museum storerooms, and the lodge remained as a historical and artistic monument. In Soviet times, it was used for temporary exhibitions and as a service room for palace and park staff. Architectural surveys were conducted in 1938-1940. During the enemy occupation, the lodge was dismantled by the Nazis, who used its logs for a bunker. It was not restored.

Among the coniferous forest is the central plaza of Old Sylvia and twelve straight alleys branching out in different directions. This is also related to the other name of the area – The Twelve Paths. In its layout, Old Sylvia resembles a Large Star. Here, too, freely growing trees are enclosed within the frames of a regular plan. Yet the artistic appearance of this part of the park is quite different.

We are in the center of Old Sylvia. Green walls of trees with a light strip of clipped shrubs form a circular "hall." In the center, on a high pedestal, stands the statue of Apollo Belvedere. His figure, with a broad gesture of a raised hand, is visible from any path. Around the circle of the plaza are twelve more bronze sculptures. All of them are copies of ancient originals.

Bronze harmonizes subtly with the muted colors of northern nature. Bronze blends perfectly with the dark green of the "living walls." The figures seem to radiate warmth and enliven the sometimes gloomy landscape. And in winter, when the statues are dressed in snow, it seems as if they warm even these white garments with their heat.

All the statues of Old Sylvia were made in the 1780s based on wax models by Professor F. Gordeev, a sculptor of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. The sculptures were cast and chased by masters Mozhalov, Yekimov, and Gasteklu.

Not far from here, on the right bank of the river, there is another romantic structure – the Cascade Ruin. The alley of Old Sylvia, connecting all twelve paths, leads to a steep slope. Two winding staircases with steps grown into the ground descend to a small platform. To the right of it is a quiet pond, to the left below roars and foams the restless cascade. How unusual its fence is! Thin birch trunks, replacing railings, connect darkened stone pedestals. On them, seemingly damaged by time, are vases and lion figures made of gray porous stone covered with dark green moss. And below, among the stones washed by the cascade’s streams, are fragments of ancient statues and columns... "Everything here involuntarily draws us to reflection," wrote Zhukovsky about this corner of the park. He often stood by this half-ruined fence and listened to the sound of the falling water.

Sources:

https://www.spb-guide.ru/page_20053.htm

Khanukaeva S. Sculpture of Old Sylvia in Pavlovsk Park.

http://museums.artyx.ru/books/item/f00/s00/z0000018/st001.shtml