Pavilions, follies and stone bridges worth seeking out

The great house of the ensemble, the Alexandrinovsky (Neskuchny) Palace, built by Demidov in 1756 and remodeled in grand Empire style by architect Evgraph Tyurin, now houses the Russian Academy of Sciences; its service wing shelters the Fersman Mineralogical Museum, whose collection of more than 150,000 specimens traces back to the Kunstkamera of 1726. Approached from the river side, the terraced palace complex reads almost like an antique acropolis on the hill.↗↗

Scattered through the groves are the garden's charming surviving follies. The mid-18th-century Hunting Pavilion is the only building left from the Trubetskoy estate and has, since 1990, been the filming home of the cerebral TV quiz show "What? Where? When?"—so regulars may glimpse contestants arriving to play. Nearby sit the white-stone Rotunda erected in 1951 for Moscow's 800th anniversary, the artificial Grotto pavilion from the early 19th century, and Count Orlov's Summer Tea House of 1796 on the edge of a hill, long tied to a legend—unsupported by the dates, but fun—of secret meetings between Catherine the Great and her favourite Grigory Orlov.↗↗↗

Over Yekaterininsky Pond stands the domed Bath House, a late-18th-century classicist pavilion of Tuscan columns once believed to have supplied marble baths filled with spring water for the imperial family; after fires and decades of neglect it has been the subject of a careful restoration. A cast-iron fountain by Pietro Vitali, made in 1835 and showing four youths balancing a great water basin on their shoulders, was moved here from Lubyanka Square in 1934. These pavilions, grottoes and little bridges are exactly what give the garden its old-world, estate-park atmosphere.↗↗

Wandering, watching and playing

For most visitors the pleasure is simply to walk the shady alleys, crossing little stone bridges over the ponds and following the terraced slopes that still echo Demidov's 18th-century layout. The Green Theatre, seating some 20,000 and opened in 1932 on the site of the old botanical garden, has long been the park's concert and cinema stage—premiere home of the 1936 musical film "Circus"—and remains a lively spot for summer events.↗

On the river side, the Pushkinskaya Embankment and the graceful Andreyevsky (Pushkin) pedestrian bridge, built in 1999 using pieces of an old 1905 railway bridge, link the garden to Frunzenskaya Embankment and offer a pleasant waterside stroll and a boat pier. Closer to the lawns, the garden has a children's adventure course, a chess club, tennis courts, and a ping-pong terrace whose tables—among the oldest in Moscow—once hosted city championships. It's a park equally good for a slow, history-minded wander and for active, everyday recreation.↗↗

Good to know before you go

The garden is open around the clock and is reached from the Park Kultury or Oktyabrskaya metro stations, with the main address at Krymsky Val 9. It is large—nearly 60 hectares—so allow a couple of unhurried hours to follow the alleys from the river embankment up past the palace, ponds and pavilions. Dogs are allowed and there are playgrounds and public restrooms; the entrance and parking are wheelchair-accessible. In fair weather the Green Theatre's program and the embankment boat trips make a natural extension of a visit, and the quieter weekday mornings are best if you want the estate-park atmosphere to yourself.↗↗