The Summer Garden, St Petersburg, Russia

Another autumn card, this one arrived about a year ago from the "Autumn tag" on the postcrossing forum.



Can you believe the place here is actually called the Summer Garden?! Well, it is. A Summer Garden in autumn. :D The Summer Garden occupies an island between the Fontanka, Moika, and the Swan Canal in St Petersburg and shares its name with the adjacent Summer Palace of Peter the Great. The park, first conceived by Peter in 1704, was laid out by foreign garden planners between 1712 and 1725 in a Dutch Baroque style. Three years later, the walks were lined with a hundred allegorical marble sculptures, executed by Francesco Penso, Pietro Baratta, Marino Gropelli, Alvise Tagliapietra, and other Venetian sculptors. In the late 20th century, 90 surviving statues were moved indoors, while modern replicas took their place in the park.



Nice stamps on the card, too, both issued in 2009. The one on the left is Russia's contribution to the Europa series, last year's theme being Astronomy. The second stamp commemorates the 75th Anniversary of the Birth of U.A. Gagarin (1934-1968), first Astronaut in the World.