A city estate is a special type of urban development, which has almost disappeared by now. Emperors distributed land to their cronies for the construction of city estates in the XVIII century. Other nobles moved to the new capital and bought land to build mansions. Three hundred years ago, there was plenty of free land, and there was no problem with buying or donating a plot of land to build a house and garden. Already in the XIX century land became very expensive, and in place of mansions and gardens appeared apartment blocks. But several estates have survived to this day.
The manor of the nobleman and poet Gavriil Derzhavin is one of the most interesting objects of this kind, because this manor is well preserved to this day. The building of the manor changed its owners several times, but, fortunately, it was not subjected to serious alterations. The manor house and the adjacent garden were restored at the beginning of the 21st century and now houses a museum. The interiors of the rooms have been restored from surviving drawings and drawings. I would highly recommend visiting this manor together with a guided tour. It is difficult to notice all the details, all the signs of the time, carefully restored by the museum staff, on your own, without the guide's explanations.
Derzhavin's mansion was built on the bank of the Fontanka River in the late 18th century. The territory behind the building was turned into an estate landscape garden with ponds, bridges, pavilions. The best time to see this garden is in summer, but a walk through the garden is also very pleasant in winter. The garden is small in size and you can see the usual apartment blocks behind the garden fence. In summer, the leaves of the trees cover the view outside the fence and the garden becomes an island of peace and quiet in the centre of the bustling metropolis.
The weather this winter often surprises us, and the previous days surprised us with the paradoxical weather conditions. Despite the anticyclone and very high atmospheric pressure, the weather was more often cloudy than sunny. When many days in a row the weather is cloudy, it negatively affects your mood, you start to feel sad without additional reasons. But on this day, the blue sky was peeking through the gaps in the clouds, and I was glad to be able to go for a walk.
I turned off the Fontanka river embankment to stroll along the alleys of the city garden of Derzhavin's estate. The front entrance to the estate is located on the side of the Fontanka River. There is a front yard, it is separated from the embankment by a beautiful lattice. In front of the entrance to the mansion there is a monument to Derzhavin. Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin, Russian poet and statesman, was a legendary personality. The language has changed a lot since then, and it is difficult to read Derzhavin's poems now. In them there are many obsolete words and archaic constructions. Nevertheless, his work occupies a worthy place in the history of Russian culture.
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| Smartphone | Google Pixel 3a |
| Location | Saint Petersburg, Russia |
This is my entry for the #WednesdayWalk challenge by @tattoodjay.