Like the fabulous buildings at Oranienbaum, the park around them is in need of a great deal of tender, loving cate to restore it to its former glories. While some parts of the varied parkland can still give a fair impression of the carefully planned landscaping carried out in the reign of Catherine the Great, others are so overgrown as to have become just wilderness.
The Upper Park, to the south-west of the Grand Menshikov Palace, is the most beautiful section of the estate, with varied woodland interlaced with canals, bridges and ponds. Laid out in the reign of Catherine the Great by Joseph Bush, the rolling parkland contains the Chinese Palace and Antonio Rinaldi's equally fascinating Sliding Hill, a three-storey, blue-and-white baroque pavilion that was once the starting point for a 500m "rollercoaster" using sledges or wheeled carts. Other buildings in the Upper Park include the Stone Hall, used in Catherine's reign for masquerades, the late 19th century Pergola, and the simple neoclassical Cavaliers' Room, which now houses a cafe. The Upper Park also boasts a deer enclosure with tame and very friedly inmates.
The Lower Park around the Grand Menshikov Palace was laid out in the early 18th century, when formal gardens were still the fashion, and hence there is little to see for now among the unkempt flower beds and silty ponds.
Opening hours: May to September, daily from 11am to 5pm. Closed on Tuesdays and the last Monday of each month. Closed October to April.
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