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Timiryazevsky Park is located in the north of Moscow, not far from the Petrovsko-Razumovskoe Estate. The park was owned by the influential Counts Razumovsky from the 18th to the early 19th century, and the wonderful palace built there by N.L. Benois has been preserved to this day.
In the 19th century the palace was home to the Petrovskaya Agricultural and Forest Academy, around which the park expanded. Today it is still home to an academy: the Timiryazev Agricultural Academy, the largest of its type in Russia. The building itself is a magnificent example of Classical architecture, with Corinthian columns crowned by opulent vases, delicate little balconies with open-work trellising, and unusual windows that reflect the light and seem to burn.
Of the park's surviving ornaments there are vases with bas-reliefs, and four allegorical sculptures depicting the seasons. The sculptures were cast in Nizhny Tagil in 1760, and weigh two tons each! Also in the park is a lake created by Count K.G. Razumovsky, which is now home to flora from around the world. The park covers a total of 500 hectares and, while neither the buildings nor the park are in any fit state of repair, it is still a pleasantly wild place for a ramble on a summer's day.
Getting there: 10 minutes by tram from Timiryazevskaya Metro Station, or 15 minutes' walk from Petrovsko-Razumovskaya Metro Station and the railroad station of the same name (trains leave from Leningrad Station).
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