slothis · English

Alexandrovsky Park in St. Petersburg

2016-09-13 · Updated: 2026-08-11 · Original (Korean)

This article was translated from the original Korean post with AI assistance. Read the original Korean post →

When you go up to the St. Isaac's Cathedral observatory, you can see a large park where many people are resting. Located opposite the Monument to Nicholas I, this park is called Alexandrovsky Park. The reason St. Petersburg feels more European than Moscow is because of parks like this. While Moscow's parks felt more like forests with tall trees (except for the Kremlin), most parks in St. Petersburg are made up of lawns and flower beds, making it feel like you're in a Western European palace garden. Rushing around tourist attractions is fine, but I prefer taking an hour or two to just relax in a park like this, so I grabbed a spot and zoned out.

A magnificent cathedral with a golden dome stands behind a flowerbed full of yellow tulips.
People are resting on a green lawn, and a bronze equestrian statue is visible far to the left.
It looks like the Han River park (in Seoul), but the population density is overwhelmingly lower, making it a great place to rest.
Streetlights stand and people walk along a park promenade shaded by tall trees.
If the sun gets too hot, you can step into the shade. We had a brief shower this day, so I took shelter under these trees. It had been a while since I last "hid from the rain under a tree," so it was actually pretty fun. (Though I'd be annoyed if it happened every day.)
A single tulip with red stripes on yellow petals is clearly visible.
A cathedral with a golden dome is blurred in the background behind a single yellow and red tulip.
A huge cathedral with a prominent golden dome stands beyond a flowerbed blooming with yellow tulips.
There are no ropes cordoning off the flower beds, so a few flowers had been picked, but there are absolutely no artificially restricted areas. When I thought of Russia, I had this strong image of the heavily controlled former Soviet Union, but it was the exact opposite.

Alexandrovsky Park is home to the Bronze Horseman. Like St. Isaac's Cathedral, this equestrian statue was built to commemorate Peter the Great, and it's famous because the entire weight of the statue is supported solely by the horse's hind legs. It seems dynamically difficult to pull off, but since both the Nicholas I monument out front and the Bronze Horseman look like this, it almost makes it look easy. According to the book Easy Russia, Pushkin's poem "The Bronze Horseman" was inspired by this very statue, but I haven't read it, so I wouldn't know. I should take this opportunity to read it (I write this, knowing full well I probably won't even touch the book).

Anyway, if the Nicholas I statue pairs perfectly with the cathedral, the Bronze Horseman shines brilliantly on its own as a must-see spot. (Which also means it's a spot where East Asian tour groups park their buses to take photos. If it's too crowded, just relax on the lawn and wait a bit.)

A bronze statue of a figure riding a horse with its front legs raised on a massive rock stands under a blue sky.
A bronze statue of a figure riding a horse dynamically raising its front legs on a rock stands against a blue sky.

Expenses

Total Expenses 1038RUB

Total Travel Expenses 525,936 KRW + 40,593 RUB + $152.26