Ancient ruins and abandoned parks are a true find for mystics and romantics, as they awaken imagination and fantasy. However, there is a danger that they may disappear, merging with nature. But the ruins of Babolovsky Palace and the park of the same name are not at risk; they were recently transferred to the St. Petersburg museum-reserve "Tsarskoye Selo" in the city of Pushkin. Restoration work has just begun, and for now, the picturesque ruins are surrounded by nearly untouched forest.

Babolovsky Park in St. Petersburg, located in the city of Pushkin between the road to Aleksandrovka and Krasnoselsky Highway, covers about 270 hectares. It is the largest, yet most remote and underrated green area of the old city, which Osip Mandelstam referred to as a city of "barracks, parks, and palaces." For a long time, the park remained in the shadow of the famous Catherine and Alexander Parks, but thanks to enthusiastic reviews from tourists who visited the ruined Babolovsky Palace with its giant Tsar Bath, it is becoming increasingly well-known. The park also drew attention due to a scandal involving an attempt to sell part of it for cottages, which caused outrage among the residents of Pushkin.

The name of the park, like many local geographical points, has Finnish roots; there was a village called Babolovo (Pabola) here. In the 18th century, its inhabitants were mobilized to build the Catherine Palace, but it was not easy to get out of the surrounding spruce swamp forest. In 1743, Captain Zverev, searching for water sources for the ponds of the imperial residence, cut a path through the forest, named Babolovsky Prospekt, and beyond the park, Podkaprizovaya Alley.

In 1780, the emperors with grand plans for transforming Tsarskoye Selo reached this wild area. Catherine II, while walking along the picturesque Taich waterfall on the Kuzminka River, noticed a spot perfectly suited for a bathhouse and immediately began construction. The Kuzminka River was dammed to create Babolovsky Pond, on the shore of which a bathhouse and entertainment complex were built. Catherine gifted it to her former favorite, Prince Grigory Potemkin.

The central place of the wooden house was occupied by a huge tiled bath with a wooden gallery above and a staircase. There was a water heater and fireplaces lined with Dutch tiles. A year and a half later, by the empress's order, everything was rebuilt in stone with a new bath decorated with Italian marble. The bathhouse turned out to be so magnificent that it began to be called a palace.

Babolovsky Palace was built by architect Neelov in the fashionable Gothic style from red brick with pointed windows and an octagonal tower. The bathhouse consisted of two parts: the bath and service rooms. On the other side of the river was a wing for servants and stables. To the north, the palace was surrounded by the Great Pond with a picturesque grotto, and to the south, the Mirror Pond.

This palace was built for Potemkin, but by that time, Catherine had another favorite, although she always valued Potemkin. Even after the romance with the empress ended, the prince held immense power; thanks to him, Crimea was annexed, and he was the author of the "Greek Project" aimed at destroying Turkey and reviving Byzantium.

The Tauride prince rarely visited these places. The palace was deep in the park, too far from the main part of the residence, and by the end of the century, it had fallen into disrepair. But in 1823, Catherine's grandson Alexander I, a lover of cold bathing, noticed this secluded spot and ordered the palace to be reconstructed, building the largest bath in the world.

Architect Stasov took on the building, and stonemason Samson Sukhanov carved the Tsar Bath from a single piece of red granite over ten years, which held 8,000 buckets of water. Above it, Stasov erected a sturdy stone dome that saved it from bombs during the war and destruction. But the vessel was not launched in time, as Alexander I died.

His successor, Nicholas I, indifferent to water amusements, improved Babolovsky Park, turning it into a place of secluded rest for the family. The swamps were drained, oaks, birches, maples, and linden trees were planted. A road was laid around the park, and paths for walks and carriages were cut through.

Catherine II ordered an English landscape garden to be laid out near the palace. Nicholas I laid many paths. The garden art of the 19th century involved creating open spaces from meadows, alleys, shrubs, and trees framed by ponds, canals, rivers, and waterfalls. All this looked natural and indistinguishable from nature. Pavilions and statues became a thing of the past.

Trees were planted with consideration for crown color depending on the season. For example, oak, maple, elm, ash, rowan, and blackthorn made up the "red" forest. The alley with silver willows became striking in autumn. But the trees were planted relatively recently, at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, when the imperial period in the park's history was coming to an end.

This was a private park for the imperial family. Its territory was also used for practical purposes. Peasants mowed grass to feed livestock. Cows from the imperial farm grazed in the meadows. Hay was stored near the gates, and there was a calf barn near the palace.

By order of Alexander III, a riding path was laid in the park. Pictures of peasant life left the crowned persons with the best impressions. Among Russian landscapes, a rural idyll prevailed. The creators of the park transformed the swampy forest into a beautiful landscape park. Under the communists, the process turned in the opposite direction.

In the early 1930s, there was an attempt to establish a zoo in the park. They wanted to make an aquarium in the bath and a terrarium in the palace. A palm greenhouse was planned for the monkeys.

During the Soviet era, a flight school was located here, which caused the park to suffer losses during the war. The Germans shelled the area. Only the basin survived from the palace, saved by a stone arch. The building burned down and remained in ruins. To prevent it from collapsing, it was covered with a temporary roof, scaffolding, and fenced off. Almost nothing remained of the cast-iron staircase to the bath.

The park suffered greatly: it was riddled with craters, the dam-bridge on the Kuzminka River, the Taich water conduit, grottoes, and service buildings were destroyed. The Great Pond lost its water.

In 2014, the palace and part of the park were transferred to the museum-reserve "Tsarskoye Selo." Work began to treat its "inhabitants." The ancient trees entered a period of maturity, but due to lack of care, they were in catastrophic condition.

Currently, work is underway in the Willow Alley and the English garden, which consists of well-kept landscape paths. As a result of cultural logging, meadows overgrown with grasses have formed in the park.

The park was the starting point for the Vittolovsky water conduit, which supplied water to the ponds of Tsarskoye Selo. It was established during the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna. Engineer Zverev surveyed rivers to deliver water to the residence. Ultimately, springs near the village of Vittolovo were used. Construction was completed by 1749. The canal crossed the park to the Stolbovskaya road and then went into Alexander Park. Little of it survived.

The needs of the residence for water increased, and the Vittolovsky springs could not satisfy them. Therefore, at the end of the 18th century, the Taich water conduit was dug. Until 1905, it was the only source of drinking water in Tsarskoye Selo. It was constructed by engineers E. Carbonier and F. Bauer. Catherine II personally inspected the water conduit.

It ran through canals, pipes, and a mine gallery dug under the hill at a depth of 16 meters. On the slope of the hill above the water conduit, a grotto made of stones with a commemorative plaque and a statue of a monk was built. The grotto became known as the Monk.

The sources of the water conduit were springs near the village of Taich and groundwater. It is now destroyed.

In the 2000s, the park became the center of a scandal. The St. Petersburg Committee for the Management of City Property sold part of it for 1.3 million rubles to a company that also acquired a piece of the Tauride Garden. The plot changed owners and ended up in the hands of a Swedish company planning to build a cottage village. The Pushkin public, with the support of specialists, defended the historical site: the Arbitration Court rejected the company's complaint against the committee that prohibited transferring the park to it.

Now it is a favorite place for walks among the residents of Pushkin. The air is wonderful with a coniferous aroma, as besides deciduous trees, larch, fir, and pine grow in the park area. Tourists are also beginning to explore it.