Samson Sukhanov participated in the reconstruction of the Hanging Garden and the Ramp, which were part of the ensemble of classical architecture by Charles Cameron in the Catherine Park of Tsarskoye Selo. In contemporary descriptions, the Hanging Garden was poetically called the "Airy Garden," "Upper Garden," or "Hanging Garden." It was built in the 1780s–1790s. Apple trees, lilac, jasmine, and rose bushes were planted here, and flower beds of fragrant flowers were laid out. The foundation of the Hanging Garden was an artificial terrace on cross vaults supported by massive brick pillars – pylons. Located at the level of the second floor, it connected Cameron's gallery, the Agate Rooms of the Cold Baths, and the bel étage of the Zubov wing of the palace, where Catherine II's private chambers were located.

In 1792–1794, at the request of Catherine II, the "Descent from the Upper Garden" was built in the Catherine Park, later called the Ramp ("Pantdus"), which in French means "gentle, sloping slope." The Empress could descend into the garden in a wheeled chair along it. During the construction of the Ramp, the Hanging Garden was expanded to the line of the facades of the palace wing and gallery by adding additional pylons and vaults. The Ramp appeared as gradually descending stepped terraces toward the alley, pierced by arched spans and covered with earth on top. Like the terrace and the basement floor of Cameron's gallery, it had deliberately rough finishing made of Pudost stone, which resembled the cavernous structure and weathered surface of stone in the ruins of ancient temples. The columns separating the terraces on the sides of the descent were crowned with bronze statues of muses and ancient goddesses, descending on one side and ascending on the other, which is why the Ramp was called the "Stairway of the Gods." The keystones of the arches were also decorated with mascarons of heroes from antiquity.

By 1810, slabs began to fall off the pylons supporting the arcades. An inspection determined that the structure "required urgent repair." At the same time, a decision was made to relocate the Ramp due to the construction of a terrace in the park designed by Luigi Rusca and the arrangement nearby of a wide straight alley crossing the entire park from the Catherine Palace to the Orlov Gates. Originally, the Ramp started from the middle (third) vault of the Hanging Garden and was directed toward a narrow side alley at a sharp angle to the gallery and palace wing. To align the Ramp with the improved Ramp Alley, it was decided to "break the descent <…> and move it in the same form <…> to another place so that it corresponds to the straight line of the alley."

The work was entrusted to architect Rusca. In February 1811, a tender was held for the "reconstruction in Tsarskoye Selo of the upper garden located between the large palace colonnade and the cold bath." At the final bidding on February 16, the contract was awarded to Sukhanov for the amount of 16,875 rubles. During the spring and summer of 1811, his team dismantled the facing of Pudost stone from all vaults and pillars of the terrace, removed the soil from the garden, redid the terrace finishing and raised the soil back, and dismantled and relocated the Ramp. Everything "was done as before," only the connection point of the Ramp with the Hanging Garden was moved closer to the Zubov wing – to the second vault from it on the terrace.

As a result of the relocation, the Ramp, which smoothly connected the Hanging Garden and the Ramp Alley, became a natural continuation of the latter and organically blended into the park landscape. In this form, this unusual monument of classical architecture, resembling the romantic ruins of an ancient Roman bridge – an aqueduct, has been preserved to this day.

Sources:

https://к-я.рф/Portfolio/119/

https://tzar.ru/index.php/objects/ekaterininskypark/cameron/hanginggarden