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Walking routes in Saint Petersburg

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      Mount Parnassus and the Neo-Gothic of Shuvalov Park

      ⏱ 1 h 10 min🚶 900 m🍽 0📍 5 stops
      🐢 A little — under 3 km

      The hills and cascade of ponds of the Counts Shuvalov, the view from the man-made Parnassus over Pargolovo Lake, Bosse's palace, Mesmacher's yellow dacha and a Neo-Gothic church on the hill.

      🏛 History and architecture🌳 Parks and nature🏘 Off the centre⏱ An hour or so
      🗺 Open in Yandex Maps
      1. 1
        🌳 Shuvalov Park
        посёлок Парголово, вход с Выборгского шоссе
        An 18th–19th-century park of the Counts Shuvalov: hills, a cascade of ponds, neo-Gothic and dachas — one of the most atmospheric in the north.
        To reach the entrance, take a bus from Parnas or Ozerki metro to the Shuvalovsky Park stop on Vyborgskoe Highway.
        📖 More about the placeCollapse
        Shuvalov Park
        © Vitold Muratov (Витольд Муратов). · CC BY-SA 3.0
        Shuvalov Park
        © Ye not · CC BY-SA 4.0
        Shuvalov Park
        © Александровы АГ · CC BY-SA 4.0
        • The park covers 142 hectares, 136 of which are a protected monument where new construction is banned.
        • After the Great Northern War Peter the Great gave these lands to his daughter Elizabeth.
        • The Shuvalovs owned the estate from 1746 to 1903 — from Pyotr Ivanovich Shuvalov to Prince Vorontsov-Shuvalov.
        • In the 1820s, at the will of Countess V. P. Shuvalova, Pyotr Erler redesigned the park — that layout survives.
        • The Big Palace, the Vorontsov-Dashkov dacha in the neoclassical style, was built by Stepan Krichinsky in 1912–1915.
        • There are 12 ponds in the park.
      2. 🚶 on foot
      3. 2
        🌅 Parnas Hill
        Шуваловский парк
        An artificial hill made by serfs from the soil dug out of the "Cap" and "Napoleon's Shirt" ponds; the summit has a view of the lake.
        Climb Parnassus — a view of the First Pargolovo Lake.
        📖 More about the placeCollapse
        Parnas Hill
        © Александровы АГ · CC BY-SA 4.0
        • The hill apparently got its name in the second half of the 18th century, in the fashion for antiquity: Parnassus is the mountain of Apollo and the Muses.
        • It used to look out on the Gulf of Finland; today, in clear weather, you can see the dome of St Isaac's Cathedral.
        • During the war a communications command post of the Leningrad Front was dug inside the hill.
        • In October 1991 two children were buried here, and part of Parnas was dug away during the rescue.
      4. 🚶 on foot
      5. 3
        🏛 Shuvalov Small Palace
        Шуваловский парк, 1Ж
        A palace of the 1850s by the architect G. Bosse — one of the few surviving manor houses of the park.
        Bosse's palace — from outside.
        📖 More about the placeCollapse
        Shuvalov Small Palace
        © Александровы АГ · CC BY-SA 4.0
        Shuvalov Small Palace
        © Александровы АГ · CC BY-SA 4.0
        • The same Harald Bosse renovated the interiors of the neighbouring Church of Sts Peter and Paul in 1850–1851.
        • Next door stands the Big Palace, Krichinsky's neoclassical Vorontsov-Dashkov dacha (1912–1915).
        • From 1948 the park and its buildings belonged to the Vologdin Institute of High-Frequency Currents.
      6. 🚶 on foot
      7. 4
        🏛 Mesmacher Dacha
        Шуваловский парк, 13
        The wooden "Yellow Dacha" of Georg Mesmacher, built in 1902 to a design by his brother, the architect Maximilian Mesmacher — a rare example of dacha architecture.
        The wooden “yellow dacha” behind the palace; the building is in poor condition (emergency repair work has been under way there since 2023), look from outside.
        📖 More about the placeCollapse
        Mesmacher Dacha
        © Александровы АГ · CC BY-SA 4.0
        Mesmacher Dacha
        © LolaTulip · CC BY-SA 4.0
        Mesmacher Dacha
        © Tartanparty · CC BY-SA 4.0
        • The dacha was built for the lawyer Georg Mesmacher to a design by his brother Maximilian.
        • The north-east turret bears the owner's monogram "GM" and the year of construction, 1902.
        • It is Maximilian Mesmacher's only wooden building to survive unchanged.
        • In spring 2018 part of the roof and facade of the dilapidated house collapsed.
        • In 2020 the make-up artist Rada Russkikh bought the dacha at auction for 5.63 million rubles; emergency works began in June 2023.
      8. 🚶 on foot
      9. 5
        🏛 Church of Sts Peter and Paul and the Polier Crypt
        Шуваловский парк, 41
        A neo-Gothic church by A. Bryullov from the 1830s–40s on a hill above the pond, with the crypt of Count Adolphe Polier beside it.
        The church on the hill and the Polier crypt nearby.
        📖 More about the placeCollapse
        Church of Sts Peter and Paul and the Polier Crypt
        © Александровы АГ · CC BY-SA 4.0
        Church of Sts Peter and Paul and the Polier Crypt
        © Valodor · CC BY-SA 4.0
        • The church was laid down in summer 1831 but took 10 years to build for lack of money; it was consecrated on 27 June 1846.
        • The Consistory allowed the church on condition that the crypt of the non-Orthodox count stand outside the church fence.
        • The most unusual feature is the openwork metal tent spire — medieval Gothic had nothing like it.
        • On 30 June 1872 Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Nadezhda Purgold were married here.
        • In 1935 the church was closed and turned into a physiotherapy room for a sanatorium; the spire and top of the bell tower were sent for scrap.
        • In 1991 the church was returned to believers, and restoration gave it back its original look.

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      Data: © OpenStreetMap · DB-IP · weather — Open-Meteo
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