When Empress Catherine entered Tsaritsyno Park, she would not do with a simple complex of rooms and cascading marble stairways. She imagined 400 hectares of gleaming ponds, arched bridges with chiseled galleries and hidden alcoves. This dream was sketched by the architect Vasily Bazhenov and the foundations were laid as works began. No sooner had that happened that Empress Catherine terminated the construction out of an unexplainable dissatisfaction. Bazhenov’s student Matvey Kazakov took over the mantle and it is from his design that this complex of late 16th to 18th Century Russian Realism sprung up over the rolling natural topography of the land.

It holds the proud title of being the only architectural ensemble from that time period on such a grand scale. Thick turrets and iron frames which mimic hanging grapes mark the Figured (Grape) Gate, an unseen border between the Tsarina’s living area and the park. Dancing jets of water come to life in a graceful movement in the largest animated fountain of Moscow, the Middle Pond. No matter where you wander the royal architecture stands out in its splendor from the greenery framing it. Perhaps the enchantment is strongest in winter when everything is covered in a fairy dust white giving it an air of surrealism. Right out of the pages of a Russian fantasy, Tsaritsyno will whisk you off into a fairytale.