The main attraction of Sergievka Park that we wanted to see was a stone head that had grown into the ground near the path not far from the palace.
The mysterious Golov boulder, with a spring gushing at its very base, lies in the western ravine of Sergievka Park. In various documentary and artistic sources the head is called “Elder”, “Old Man”, “Adam’s Head”, “Rusich”, “Head of Samson”, “Warrior” and a very rare name - the sculpture of Svyatogor.
The massive granite face is carved from a single stone. The facial features are laconic, the eyes are expressive and overshadowed by deep sadness. A hole is visible in the bridge of the nose, in which a metal helmet was probably once attached. No one saw it, or at least there is no mention of it. If there was a helmet, this detail is now lost.
No one knows exactly the history of this head. But such a wide variety of names suggests that many legends are associated with the head.
Legend one:
The real one, she official version, the head was created from a boulder around 1800 at the behest of Emperor Paul I. The author of the project was the quite famous architect Franz Petrovich Brower at that time. The name of the stonemason remains unknown.
Legend two:
The head has been standing since ancient Russian times. But in such ancient times, numerous Finno-Ugric tribes lived here, and there was no “smell” of Russia here. Unless random Novgorod detachments wandered in, having lost their way to Koporye and Karela.
Legend three:
According to another legend, a statue of a huge stone giant is buried in the depths of the earth. No one ever bothered to check this version.
Legend four:
Legend says that when the spring flowing from under the head dries up, it will fall underground. And then a great grief will happen - the city of Petrov will disappear from the face of the earth along with people and houses.
Legend five:
This is the head of Emperor Peter I himself. The monument was commissioned by Sergei Petrovich Rumyantsev, a descendant of Alexander Ivanovich Rumyantsev, who was an associate and ally of the sovereign. But allegedly the customer did not like the monument, and he ordered it to be buried.
Legend six:
Also associated with Peter I. The head of Peter was made by order of Emperor Paul I, who decided in this way to perpetuate the memory of his ancestor.
Legend seven:
It says that a daughter (some say a son) was born into the family of a master stonecutter from the Peterhof Cutting Factory. Tsar Peter I became the child's godfather. In memory of this event, the grateful master immortalized the emperor’s features in stone.
Legend eight:
There is a version that the head is part of a monument to some Swedish king. Carved during the reign of the Swedes on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, for some reason it was not taken out by the owner. The Swedes dragged her to the sea onto a ship, but they did not drag her and abandoned her. So she remained in a deep ravine.
Legend nine:
Researchers of Pushkin’s heritage claim that in July 1818, Alexander Sergeevich, together with his friend Nikolai Raevsky Jr., visited the Sergievsky estate and visited a shady ravine near the “sleeping” head. Perhaps it was this block of stone that became the prototype of the living head, so vividly drawn by Pushkin in the poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila,” completed two years after visiting Sergievka.
Legend tenth:
The head was made in the mid-19th century by admirers of Pushkin’s talent as an illustration for the poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila.” The head itself was much lower, and a stream flowed from its mouth like a small waterfall.
Interest in sculpture was revived in the 1930s. Then the Spartak magazine published a photograph of young pioneers sitting on a granite monument. During these years, a tradition of group photographs with a stone head in the background appeared. A superstition arose among the creative intelligentsia: if you stroke a stone sculpture and drink water from a spring, inspiration and good luck will always accompany you.
Peterhof.Sergievsky Park
In Sergievsky Park - palace and park ensemble, located in Peterhof, west of the Leuchtenberg Palace, in a ravine, near the Kristelka River, there is a miracle head, carved into the ground, carved from a huge boulder, called “Old Man” or “Adam’s Head”.
Official version. The head appeared, according to historical records, in 1800, under the then owner, Sergei Rumyantsev (a descendant of Peter I’s associate, Alexander Rumyantsev). The monument was designed by the architect F. Brower, who worked at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries in St. Petersburg.
It feels like the body of this head (sculpture) is hidden somewhere underground. It is possible that it is already in a damaged, broken state, but it is still there.
It is difficult to explain the juxtaposition of traces of stone erosion and the simultaneous clear lines of the master's stone work. Or there was something else on the head (a knight’s helmet, for example). The hole in the nasal septum indicates this option. Or maybe someone checked to see if it was hollow?
Amateurs are not allowed to dig here. This can only be done by “accredited” institutions, archaeologists. But as you can see, they are in no hurry to get here.
Perhaps the knight's large metal helmet was attached to a hole on the bridge of his nose.
We all see the hole.
But no one saw the grand slam, or at least there is no mention of it.
In July 1818, young Alexander Pushkin and his friend N. Raevsky Jr. visited a shady ravine near the “sleeping” head.
In the poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila,” completed two years later, a plot appears, perhaps inspired by impressions of what he saw in Sergievka.
True, according to some oral versions, it turns out that this is the head of some Swedish king, which the Swedes dragged to the sea on a ship, but did not drag it and threw it away.
There is also a legend that says that the head was carved by an employee of the Peterhof lapidary factory in memory of Peter I, godfather of the daughter (some say son) of this master.
The head is also called “Old Man” or “Adam’s Head”, or “Rusich” and a very rare name is the sculpture of Svyatogor, also called “Samson’s Head”.
Such a rare variety of names in itself suggests that many legends are woven into the history of these places.
Sergievka Park is located in the vicinity of St. Petersburg, on the border between the village of Martyshkino and Old Peterhof. The park is known as former estate Leuchtenberg and is considered a unique monument of culture and history of the 19th century.
If you go down one of the park paths along the stream flowing into the ravine, you will see an incredible sight - a huge stone head half-grown into the ground.
This is one of the most mysterious sculptures in the vicinity of St. Petersburg. Where it came from and who placed it there is a mystery. They call her “Old Man”, “Head of Adam”, “Rusich”.
The exact date of creation of the stone head and its author are unknown. Until now, its origin causes a lot of controversy among historians. It is interesting that this monument is not mentioned in any of the historical documents; there are no pre-revolutionary photographs or drawings of this head.
One of the rare mentions of the monument in the 19th century is a fragment in Lewis Carroll’s “Diary of a Travel to Russia in 1867”: “Here we admired the smooth veil of a waterfall cascading down wide stone steps; here - a long alley running under an arch of climbing plants down stairs and slopes; there - with a huge stone, hewn in the shape of a giant head with a face and eyes, mysterious, like those of a meek sphinx, so that it seemed as if some Titan was trying to free himself from the burden of the earth that had fallen on his shoulders ... "
Probably, the sculpture is a design of a water source that flows into a stream here.
The official version says that the head was carved from a boulder in 1800 by order of Emperor Paul I and according to the design of the architect F. Brouwer. She depicted a Russian knight, and a bronze helmet was attached to her, from which the mounting hole on the bridge of the head is still preserved. According to legend, it was after seeing this head during a visit to Sergievka in 1818 that Pushkin created his immortal image of a headless giant.
There is a point of view that this is the head of Peter I, allegedly made by a master from the Peterhof Cutting Factory as a sign of gratitude for the fact that the Tsar agreed to become the godfather of his daughter.
There are other legends that explain the appearance of this monument. According to one of them, the head was sculpted by the Swedes. It was the image of one of the Scandinavian kings. The Swedes dragged their heads to the sea, but did not finish their journey and threw the stone where it lies to this day.
All these versions are not documented and are rather of folk origin.
Elena Krumbo, especially for the “World of Secrets” website
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I will always have a special relationship with Peterhof, its ensembles of palaces and parks due to pleasant childhood memories of regular trips there. I like to return to this place, examine painfully familiar estates and estates, walk along barely trodden paths between centuries-old oak trees and look for something new over and over again. One of these hidden, unobvious corners is my favorite park “Sergievka”.
Sergievsky Park, or the park of the Leuchtenberg estate, is a non-tourist Peterhof, best known for its palace with many fountains. If you look at it, “Sergievka” is located in Old Peterhof, that is, further from St. Petersburg than Petrodvorets. And the main feature of Old Peterhof is the mass of gardens, which the whole world seems to have forgotten, leaving the most beautiful buildings with amazing designs to be torn apart by time and nature. But perhaps it is this authenticity that makes Sergievka a special space.
A little history
Initially, there was no park as such. There was an ordinary forest in which A. I. Rumyantsev, a politician and figure from the times of the Great, bought the land. If he built some kind of estate for himself here (and, most likely, he did), then now there is no trace of it left. The park was named “Sergievka” after the grandson of the first owner of this land, Sergei Rumyantsev. Later, the estate was sold to Kirill Naryshkin, a figure at the emperor’s court, but shortly after his death the territory was bought by Tsar Nicholas I for his daughter and her husband, the Duke of Leuchtenberg. By order of this married couple, architect Andrei Stackenschneider designed and built a country palace, buildings for servants, a church and gardens on the territory of “Sergievka”.
After the revolution, in the 20s of the last century, “Sergievka” was given the status of a natural monument, and the estate with all the adjacent buildings was transferred to the disposal of Leningrad University. The park is still their property, as evidenced by the sign at the turn to the palace.
“Sergievka” was very badly damaged during the war, and almost all the buildings on the territory have not been fully restored. You will notice this instantly as soon as you enter the park.
How to get there from St. Petersburg
You can get to this wonderful place by train or bus from the southwest of St. Petersburg or by your own car.
By bus
The most affordable and comfortable trip is offered by bus No. 200. For 60 rubles, it will take you from the Avtovo metro station directly to Sergievka in 60–80 minutes, depending on the presence of traffic jams when leaving the city.
There are also other buses that travel from the city towards Sergievka, but none of them stop near metro stations, and in some cases you will also have to change trains. At Avtovo you will find buses and minibuses on the opposite side from the station exit, where you can reach via a pedestrian underground passage.
By minibus
In addition to public ones, there are also commercial buses - minibuses. You can also get from Avtovo by minibuses with the following numbers: 401, 401A, K300. You will have to pay about 80–85 rubles. From the Prospekt Veteranov metro station, minibus No. K343 runs in less time to Sergievka. You will pay 70 rubles for the journey.
In any case, your final point will be the Biological Institute stop, which is located right next to Sergievka. All of these buses and minibuses go through Strelna, Petrodvorets and Old Peterhof, so if any of these places are your starting point, you can hop on a transport from any stop on the Peterhof Highway.
By train
My favorite thing to do is travel to Peterhof by train: there is always somewhere to sit, there are train stations near almost every attraction, it is relatively inexpensive and does not require transfers. “Sergievka” is located next to the University station (in the same place where some faculties of St. Petersburg State University and its dormitory are located) 50 minutes by train from the city.
To get on this train, you will need to arrive at the Baltiysky Station (Baltiyskaya metro station), or you can take the train at the metro station " Leninsky Prospekt", but there it will take a little longer to get to railway station. Travel by train will cost you 72 rubles, and you can see the actual schedule at the link. Train tickets can only be purchased at the station ticket office.
The park is located almost immediately behind the station, but it will take you about 30 minutes if you walk leisurely to reach the main attractions. You can enter the park from the station, despite the fact that the entrance to the park is not indicated on the map.
By car
When planning a trip to Sergievka, so as not to spend too much time on the road, you should remember some nuances. Closer to 16 o'clock, a lot of cars rush out of the city towards Oranienbaum and, accordingly, our park: people are driving home from work from the city. From about 4 pm to 7 pm on weekdays, some of the main southwestern avenues of St. Petersburg (Stachek and Peterhofsky) simply stand still. Namely, you will have to travel along them for a certain part of the journey. If suddenly (!) you stay in Peterhof for the night, then remember that on weekday mornings (and on Sunday evenings in the summer) these same sections of the road are busy in the direction of St. Petersburg.
Getting out of the city center, you will spend no more than an hour on the road, of course, if you do not forget about the advice that I gave you above. An alternative option is to drive about a quarter of the way along the WHSD (Western Expressway Diameter), that is, on a toll road. It will cost you about 200 rubles. But this way you won’t be able to see from the window Petrodvorets, nor the Cathedral and St. Paul, nor the charming Peterhof houses... In general, you be the judge, but if something happens, you can always leave the WHSD in Strelna and thus capture all the beauties of the region.
Parking
You won’t have any problems with this point even on weekends: there’s plenty of space nearby to leave your car, and you won’t have to pay anything. Firstly, right across the road from the turn to Sergievka there is a small field where you can park. Secondly, there is an option to stop right on the path that turns into the park (the road stretches for about 150 meters right up to the barrier).
Main attractions of the park
Despite the fact that the park is very small (especially when compared with the most famous one), there is something to see in it, even if almost all the buildings are in rather poor condition.
Do not forget that the main asset of the park is nature, and while walking here, you can spend several hours enjoying the surrounding beauty.
Leuchtenberg Manor
This is the first building that greets you when entering the park. It is clearly visible from the bus stop, which overlooks main facade palace Thus, we can imagine that from its windows the noble people had a magnificent view of the Gulf of Finland.
The estate has different buildings, also inaccessible for inspection from the inside: a kitchen, a bedroom (for servants) and others, scattered here and there throughout the park. But, of course, they don’t look nearly as interesting and attractive as the palace. Unfortunately, only two facades have been restored: the main one and the one visible at the entrance to the park. But, as I already said, this condition of the walls, peeling paint and dilapidated columns give the whole ensemble a unique charm.
Head
Even though this park was originally built around the estate and was named after it for a long time, the main attraction is not the estate and not the walks along the narrow forest paths. Business card“Sergievki” is a huge stone head that looks out from the ground at visitors passing by. There are many legends around it, but no one knows for sure how and why it was carved here.
According to the main version, it was built in the image of the Great One in gratitude for the blessing of the sculptor’s family. I prefer the story that was told to me in childhood: they say, it was about this head that he wrote in “Ruslan and Lyudmila.”
Now most of the head is buried underground, but some historians and researchers believe that the sculpture was not completed because the face was not completed. Be that as it may, this head is one of the main mysteries of Peterhof. In order to find this Adam's Head (you can also call it the Elder or Rusich), you need to go around the palace, go down the stairs behind it and cross the stream. There you will see her.
Beach on Lake Zelenka
I can only guess why this lake is named that way. However, the guesses are quite obvious - they will immediately come to your mind as soon as you see this place in person. Firstly, the water here is green due to the shallow depth and the plants that can be seen at the bottom. Secondly, the lake is surrounded by trees, the branches of which in the summer are strewn with emerald foliage, reflected on the surface of the water.
Swimming here is a dubious pleasure, especially for squeamish girls, but in the summer, some especially desperate tourists can enjoy splashing in this reservoir. Honestly, I can say from my own experience: you can definitely swim here, which cannot be said about the Gulf of Finland, a 7-minute walk from the park. Unfortunately, in this area it looks more like a huge puddle than part of the sea.
Ruins of a church
If, after entering the park, you go straight for about 250 meters past the service buildings, you will come across the ruins of the four walls of an ancient church, which was simply left in such a pitiful state after the war. At first, historians assumed that it was a Catholic church, but since the region was still far from Western Christianity, this version was shallow. Soon they found confirmation that the church was Orthodox: on one of the slabs, which I, to be honest, could not find myself (maybe it had been removed a long time ago), words were written in Church Slavonic.
What makes these ruins special is that you can climb into them and take photos in the doorway, the carvings along the edges of which remain intact.
Own dacha
Formally, the palace and the surrounding area are not part of Sergievka, but due to their close location, visits to the two ensembles are usually combined. The main attraction of the Own Dacha is the palace, the construction of which was completed by the beginning of the reign of Princess Elizabeth Petrovna. Later, after a hundred years of neglect, it was presented to Tsarevich Alexander Nikolaevich by his father. During the Soviet era there was a museum here. Now, unfortunately, you can’t get close to the estate due to recently started restoration work (which the building has been in need of for several decades), but even from behind the fence it is clear that this place is one of the architectural masterpieces of St. Petersburg and its environs. Mighty Atlanteans support the carved façade, and the attic on the third floor rests on tall columns.
There is also a sad story behind the rapid decline of the park - this area was subject to severe shelling during the Great Patriotic War. And if the Lower Park of Peterhof was soon built up, then, as you see, to cultural heritage The restorers of Old Peterhof have only recently arrived.
In addition to the palace, in the park of the Tsarevich's dacha, exquisite gardens were planted, beautiful winding paths were laid out and surrounded by boulders, there was also a small Church of the Holy Trinity especially for the Tsar's son, which was also in a pitiful state for a long time. Now the restoration of the church is almost complete, services are held there and holidays are held.
Near “Sergievka” there are many interesting places that the average tourist does not know about and where they will not be taken sightseeing buses. Also in the surrounding area there are no less attractions, about which everyone is writing. I want to tell you about two locations: one, almost unknown in the world of travelers, and the second, very popular palace ensemble.
Dacha Benois (1.5 kilometers from Sergievka)
This is a whole complex of buildings made in the style of Russian architecture with elements of northern Art Nouveau (Art Nouveau). And, sadly, it is now in disrepair (worse than in Sergievka). From the papers and signs near the houses one can understand that they belong to the ensemble of the Own Dacha, but are located at a great distance from it. The remains of the village of Bobylskaya, declared a cultural heritage of Peterhof, are now just standing and being destroyed before our eyes. There were many more houses in this area, but some of them collapsed due to fires, and some were destroyed during the war. These estates were named so because they were designed by the architect Leonty Benois for various influential families of his century.
The dachas are located right on the coast of the Gulf of Finland, the easiest way to find them is at the address: Primorskaya street, building 8, building 2. If you get to Sergievka, you won’t have any trouble walking here: believe me, these buildings only complement the sad and mystical atmosphere Old Peterhof.
If you wander around, you can find the ruins of some other buildings. You can climb into one of the buildings through a broken doorway, but be very careful: half of the house has already collapsed, so everything is at your own risk. Of course, there are many similar places all over Russia, but who knows how long these particular houses will remain standing? Currently, active work is underway to plan the reconstruction of the dachas and the gardens surrounding them...
Oranienbaum (7 kilometers from Sergievka)
Oranienbaum is a real royal residence on the territory of the Lomonosov village, and the scale here is visible in everything. Peter III once lived here, even before he became the ruler of the Russian Empire. After Catherine II ascended the throne, Oranienbaum was declared the district estate of the royal family.
I call this place an “estate” with difficulty, since it is a real ensemble of parks (Upper and Lower, as it was customary to divide them in those days) with many sculptures, palaces, and buildings in the Rococo style. This is the Great Menshikov Palace, the Chinese Palace (the most interesting place throughout the park, in my opinion), there are many pavilions, buildings for servants, cavalrymen and many, many different other buildings, which either the guides or nearby signs with a detailed description will be able to tell you about. Oranienbaum, in its amazing luxury, somehow reminds me of the palaces of Vienna, and it just makes my head spin when I see these incredible estates, neatly trimmed and perfectly designed gardens.
Surprisingly palace complex practically did not need restoration after the war, since a special line of defense of Leningrad was located on its territory.
Finally
"Sergievka", like all places in Old Peterhof, will not impress you with maddening beauty, like Petrodvorets, often compared to Versailles. The main attraction here, in my opinion, is, first of all, nature. On the one hand, unremarkable birch and oak groves, hills, barely noticeable streams. On the other hand, this is what is so lacking in Northern Capital when you spend hours studying stone sculptures in the center or living in a Khrushchev building on the outskirts. Come here to escape from routine, think about the eternal and fleeting, or just to take a walk, breathing fresh air.
This park surprises with how harmoniously it combines the creations of nature with the works of human hands, which are slowly but surely absorbed by time. Old Peterhof is an unjustifiably forgotten place, but perhaps it is precisely this lostness between the present and the past that makes it so special.
Welcome to Sergievka Park, which is located in the vicinity of St. Petersburg, on the border between the village of Martyshkino and Old Peterhof. The park is known (but not to many) as the former estate of the Leuchtenberg family and is considered a unique monument of culture and history of the 19th (I write in words: “nineteenth”; I’ll explain why later) century.
Initially there were several “seaside places” of Peter the Great. Their owners: Tsarevich Alexei, Peter the Second (before coronation), Counts A.I. Rumyantsev, P.A. Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky, V.L. Dolgorukov.
In 1820, all these small estates were collected into one estate by Kirill Naryshkin, who created a park with many buildings here.
In 1839, the estate was purchased from Naryshkin as a wedding gift for the daughter of Emperor Nicholas I, Maria, who was marrying Duke Maximilian of Leuchtenberg. After which considerable funds were invested here in order to create a paradise for the royal daughter. P. Erler, who created Peterhof, took part in the planning of the park.
That's the story in a nutshell.
And now what I want to tell you about: if we go down one of the park paths along the stream flowing into the ravine, an incredible sight will open before us - a huge, stone, half-grown into the ground... HEAD!
Where did it come from, who brought it there, and when - great secret, covered in darkness. She is called “Old Man”, “Adam’s Head”, “Samson’s Head”, “Rusich”. There are hypotheses:
That it was created in 1800 at the behest of Paul the First by the architect Brower.
That she once had a helmet, as evidenced by the hole on the bridge of her nose made for attaching a protective plate and a certain “unfinished state” of the skull.
That this is the head of Peter the Great, carved by the master of the Peterhof Cutting Factory in gratitude for the fact that the Tsar-Emperor himself baptized the daughter of this master (What, however, exaggerated gratitude! And why only the head?).
Pushkin saw this work of art when he was very young, in 1818, which is why he was later inspired to describe the image of the talking head of the hero from “Ruslan and Lyudmila.”
Photo to visually determine the size of the artifact
Let's summarize:
The park was planned and developed after 1839.
The head clearly existed before this moment, it is located so much below the level of the passing path that the age of its appearance here is obvious.
It DOES NOT match the style of any of the sculptures there.
And, in general, where does this pagan gigantism a la Olmec-from-South-America in Russia come from, next to the Orthodox “home” church?
The estate is in a deplorable state, there are no excursions there - is there nothing to tell?
The Duke, the husband of Maria Nikolaevna, was an intelligent man and in love with various types of art. He also wrote several works on electroplating, and in 1854 he opened his own “St. Petersburg Electroplating and Artistic Bronze Institution,” where he successfully produced statues and bas-reliefs, and even made some of the decoration of St. Isaac’s Cathedral.
He could tinker with his electroplating to create such an absolutely stunning head. But the problem is that this thing was growing peacefully into the ground BEFORE the appearance of the glorious Duke Maximilian.
The question is - WHO CREATED IT? No answer….
Finally, a few photos from the “Antediluvian St. Petersburg” series. Magnificent bridges and mansions in the so-called “antique” style, ideal masonry from stone (granite) blocks (smooth or with chamfered edges), columns, statues, porticos...
