Birds of Summer Garden

Peter I chose an inhabited manor on Usaditsa Island for his summer residence, and work on the garden began in 1704. The estate had belonged to the Swedish Major Erich Berndt von Konow. The ground was too wet even for trees: canals were dug to drain it, the soil was strengthened, and imported earth was added over several years. This work made the formal layout possible; the canals and ponds served both to drain the land and to ornament the garden. Dutch gardener Jan Roosen directed the planting from 1712 to 1726, and French architect Jean-Baptiste Le Blond, who arrived in 1716, developed the ensemble in the style of French formal gardens. In 1718 a steam-powered water-lifting machine replaced the horse-powered mechanism for the fountains. Water was drawn from Bezymyanny Yerik, the watercourse that thereafter became known as the Fontanka. From 25 May 1752, the garden opened to the public on Sundays and public holidays.

In 1721, chamber-junker Friedrich Wilhelm Bergholz described a large aviary: some birds wandered freely, while others were kept in cages, and a tall building on the eastern side housed beautiful and rare pigeons. The 2009–2011 restoration recreated the Bird Court bosquet and the Pigeon House pavilion. Mallards, common gulls and rock pigeons have been recorded nearby.