Yelagin Island: Rossi's palace, the Butter Meadow, squirrels and the skating rink — a day in the park and what is inside the palace

Yelagin is the only island in the city that is entirely a park. No cars are allowed, squirrels run along the alleys, people read on the Butter Meadow, and in the middle stands Carlo Rossi's palace — the architect's first major work in St Petersburg. This is the Kirov Central Park, and a day here plans itself: the palace in the morning, a walk to the western point and the gulf, back along the northern shore.

Rossi's palace with its semi-rotunda on the Middle Nevka. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Rossi's palace

Rossi built the Yelagin Palace in 1818–1822 for Empress Maria Feodorovna, mother of Alexander I. According to the park, it was his first palace-and-park ensemble in the city: the palace with its semi-rotunda, the Kitchen and Stable buildings, pavilions and a park laid out by gardener Joseph Bush. The palace was restored after the war and again in the 2020s, and the state rooms are open: an enfilade with painted ceilings, mouldings and Empire furniture — the Oval Hall, the Blue and Crimson drawing rooms, the Bedchamber. Allow an hour; tickets at the palace.

The Oval Hall at the centre of the enfilade. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Glass museum and exhibitions

The former Orangery holds the Museum of Art Glass — the collection of the Leningrad Art Glass Factory, handed to the park when the factory closed. The Stable building and pavilions host temporary shows; see the website for dates.

The glass museum in the Orangery. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The park: meadow, ponds, point

West of the palace is the Butter Meadow, a big lawn for lying about in summer and for Maslenitsa festivities in late winter. Beyond it a chain of ponds with bridges and the Flag Pavilion, then the western point: a granite terrace with lions above the Nevka and a view of the gulf and the Lakhta Center — the best sunset on the Petrograd Side. The squirrels are an attraction in themselves: there are many, they are tame, and children bring nuts.

The Butter Meadow, the island's central lawn. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The western point facing the gulf. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

In winter

In winter there is a skating rink and ski hire, and at Maslenitsa the city's main festivities with the burning of the effigy on the meadow. The palace is open all year.

Skating and skiing in winter. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Getting there

No cars: walk or cycle. From the south, Krestovsky Ostrov metro and ten minutes to the 1st Yelagin Bridge; from the north, Staraya Derevnya metro via the 3rd Yelagin Bridge. The perimeter is about five kilometres; with the palace and the point allow four hours. With a pushchair, or at the end of a long day, a transfer via RideClu can meet you at the bridges on Krestovsky or Primorsky Prospekt — cars cannot enter the island itself.

The 1st Yelagin Bridge, the main entrance from Krestovsky. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Where to stay

Staraya Derevnya and the Petrograd Side are the nearest districts with apartments; from Staraya Derevnya the island is five minutes on foot and the centre twenty by metro. Book on Tutkakdoma — a quiet, convenient area for families.

The Flag Pavilion on the Nevka. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Not for you if you want noise and rides — those are on neighbouring Krestovsky. Yelagin is the calmest spot on the Nevkas, where Rossi's park survives as a park.

Checked on 22 October 2026 against the park's website.

Cover photo: Фото: Александр Байдуков, CC BY-SA 4.0, Викисклад