Yelagin Island

The Yelagin Park is a protected natural complex located in the north part of Saint Petersburg, in the district of Primorskaya (Приморская). The park is open in all seasons from 6 am to 11 pm; is the perfect place for a walk, cultural activities, roller skating, bicycle riding sunbathing on the lake shore, dancing and sitting on outdoor cafes, but there is also a lot to do in winter like going to the exhibitions in the museums inside it.

So a little bit of history from it, it used to be called Bear’s due to a legend that describes how the soldiers came across the territory following a bear during the Petrovskiy regiment (Петровский); as per the actual name, it was given from one of the island owners very famous for his manners and hospitality. Then the island owned to the Romanov family before the revolution in 1917, they ordered the palace’s and park’s reconstruction to the same architect who designed the winter palace’s gardens, Carlo di Giovanni Rossi.

Here you can visit the Yelagin Palace also known as the Palace of the doors, the stable building where you can find several exhibition halls, the kitchen building and the greenhouse building better known as the Museum of art glass.

Among the regular activities organized, every Wednesday they play different music styles, from tango to jazz, in the Oval Hall of Yelagin palace. I would like to add, that during the winter they put two skating rinks, what makes it a good place to spend the weekend in cold times in Russia.

If you want to visit it, you need to take the purple line to Krestovskii Ostrov (Крестовский остров) or Staraya derevnya (Старая деревня), when you go out of the underground building, go all the way ahead until you find the bridge to enter it. The entrance fee on weekdays is for free but on weekends is 50 rubles and 20 rubles for students.