Krasnoarmeyskiy Ave, 2, Gatchina, Leningrad Region, Russia, 188307
The Linden Garden is an independent section of the Gatchina Palace Park and is located in its southern part. This small formal garden is masterfully integrated into an unevenly wide, extremely inconvenient peripheral area of the park in terms of regularity. Covering less than one hectare, the garden stretches in a narrow strip along Krasnoarmeysky Avenue from Connetable Square to the Arsenal block of the Gatchina Palace.
The Linden Garden is separated from the adjacent Upper and Lower Dutch Gardens by a semi-overgrown moat, which is a continuation of the fortification system arranged in front of the palace square. In essence, the Linden Garden is a garden located on the fortress glacis (from the French glasis – an earthen rampart before a fortification). The basis of the concise regular composition of the Linden Garden consists of three shaped platforms of precise geometric form, aligned in a row: a large central one and two smaller ones arranged at opposite ends of the park section. From the outer platforms, three alleys lead to the center of the garden. The middle alleys go to the central platform. The outer ones are diverging radial alleys directed toward the path that encircles the Linden Garden along its perimeter.
The Linden Garden was planned and planted with vegetation between 1794 and 1798 according to designs by Vincenzo Brenna. It received its name during the initial planting phase carried out in 1798. At that time, only lindens were planted in the garden: alley trees along the paths; espalier trees trimmed and arranged in rows with shrubs; and standard trees standing separately on the lawns.
The crowns of the trees in the Linden Garden, as in other formal gardens and parks, were traditionally trimmed into shapes of regular geometric solids: spheres, cubes, cones. This old custom is still hinted at by the gnarled trunks of the centuries-old trees. By the end of the 19th century, the Linden Garden lost its regularity: the garden became heavily overgrown with lilacs and other shrubs, and the paths disappeared under turf.
After the end of World War II, the Linden Garden was restored according to the preserved old layouts.
Sources:
https://spb-pearl.ru/Gatchina/Ansambl-Gatchinskogo-Dvorca/Dvorcovyi-Park/Lipovyi-Sad/
