Private Garden (Gatchina)

The Private Garden in Gatchina, located by the palace walls on a high embankment, was created in 1794–1795 exclusively for the walks and meals of the imperial family. In the center of the garden, on a circular platform where the radial alleys converge, stands a sculpture of the goddess of flowers, Flora, by the Italian Fabio Medico, and the sculptures that survived the Great Patriotic War buried in the ground returned to their places in 1944. From the stone terrace, accessible from the Emperor's Tower Cabinet, one can see a view of the granite staircase, where two sphinxes made of local limestone stand, and on the garden balcony, since the 1830s, there has been a marble copy of an ancient head of Hera, which returned there after restoration in September 2020. Since the mid-19th century, the pets of the royal family have been buried on the territory of about half a hectare with a regular layout.