Beautiful Sunday in Alexandria Park

Greetings, friends! A few days ago we took a walk in Peterhof's Alexandria Park, and today I propose to choose this park for a walk again. Last time the route of the walk was along the eastern part of the park, where the guests and service staff lived. Today we will start our walk near the west gate. I propose to take the route from the church of Alexander Nevsky, walk along the clear spring park alleys to the palace "Cottage", where the imperial family lived, cross the deep ravine on the Ruin Bridge, and then go down to the shore of the bay. Along the edge of the bay you can return to the western border of the park and finish the walk where it started - near the Alexander Nevsky Church.

The Alexander Nevsky Church (sometimes called "Gothic Chapel") was built in the 1830s. The architectural style of this building is pseudo-Gothic. Many people believe that a church in the Gothic style is necessarily a Catholic church, but in this case such a conclusion would be too hasty. The Church of Alexander Nevsky is an Orthodox church. Not far from the church there is another architectural object in pseudo-Gothic style - the so-called Gothic Well. I approached it in the second half of my walk, after having toured the palace.

Alexandria Park looks transparent in spring. A few years ago, the park underwent a large-scale reconstruction of the park alleys and green spaces. Before this reconstruction, the park had a rather dense undergrowth, the intertwined branches of low trees and shrubs created an insurmountable obstacle to the view even in winter. In the summer, the park was like a forest. I didn't immediately get used to the new look of the park, I thought for a long time that it wasn't cosy enough. But with time I noticed that walking in the park became much more pleasant, from different points there are now beautiful views.

The Imperial Palace in Alexandria Park has the name "Cottage". It is a small graceful building built in the 1820s. The original name of this palace was "Country Lodge". It was built specifically for quiet summer holidays with the family. The palace building was built at the top of the coastal slope and the windows and terrace of the palace offer a beautiful sea view.

The Ruined bridge of roughly hewn stone is located on the road from the imperial palace to the Church of Alexander Nevsky, which was the home church of the imperial couple. It was built at the same time as the other buildings - in the 1830s. But the name of this bridge preserved the memory of the old times. The first palace in the area that later became Alexandria Park was built a hundred years earlier, in the 1720s. It belonged to Yakov Bryus, one of the closest associates of Emperor Peter the Great. Alexander Menshikov bought a plot of land from Yakov Bruce along with the palace and began to rebuild the building. He was going to name the new palace "Mon courage". But soon Menshikov fell into disgrace and was sent into exile. The unfinished building began to collapse, and in the XIX century there were ruins in its place. These ruins were located not far from the palace cottage, the foundation of the building survived and was discovered during archaeological surveys in 1978.

At the end of the walk, I take one of the park alleys down to the shore of the bay. It is a windless day, and walking along the path along the shore of the bay is very pleasant. Some park visitors have done the same as me and are walking along the beach instead of exploring the palace and park pavilions.

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Smartphone	Google Pixel 3a
Location	Peterhof, Saint Petersburg, Russia