Recreational
opportunities in historical park Peterhof.
Development
of recreational opportunities in Peterhof park comparing with past and present.
Modern
Peterhof – is the result of landscape art development during many centuries
(Pic.1). The history of the park begins in 1705, when tsar Peter I chose a
small manor to stay there during his frequent voyages. Since then the territory
began ennobling, providing more opportunities for time spending.
Picture 1. The park
Peterhof. (Author’s photo)
The Peterhof of
Peter I was not meant for celebrations and festivals. Only after Peter I death
Peterhof became a favorite place of the court festivities, astonishing
contemporaries by its pomp (Ulchenko, 2010). In
August 1725 by Catherine I the first historically known illumination was
organized (Ulchenko, 2010). Since the second half of XIX century were organized
annual "public" celebrations with illuminations, fireworks and
lottery in the park. Often a considerable entrance fee was levied (Raskin,
1984).
Peterhof started
from the eastern part. The palace Monplaisir is one of the first buildings in
Peterhof (Jasinski, 2009). In the planning of Lower Park each palace had its
own cascade (Fig. 1). In the eastern ensemble it was "Chess
Mountain." In the west, "Gold Mountain" corresponds to Marley Palace and cascade "Lion" - Hermitage
Pavilion. The entire Lower Park is made by the principle of symmetry. The
cascade "Chess Mountain" is symmetrical to "Gold Mountain"
on the other side of the channel. Monplaisir Palace is a symmetrical pavilion
Hermitage. This principle of planning created a balanced use of elements and
simplified the park perception by visitors.
Figure 1. The main elements of
Peterhof park planning ( Author’s scheme)
One of the most striking
features of the regular palace and park ensemble in Peterhof is a synthesis of
different kinds of art, architecture, sculpture, water decoration and landscape
art (Gurevich, 1979). Today in Peterhof all the parks, 15 museums (Grand
Palace, Monplaisir, Marli, Hermitage etc.), 4 cascades, 173 fountains are
opened for excursions ( Pic.2). Peterhof attracts not only as a place of
concentration of historic and artistic attractions, it is popular as a place
for rest and traditional theatrical festivals, which are held in Lower Park. The park is multifunctional. A lot is
done to attract visitors, starting with grand historical performances and
ending with carriages for excursions in Lower Park and selling souvenirs. Today
the park fills festival-entertaining, memorial, exhibitional, historical-
cultural functions.
Picture2. The Fountain Alley.
14 bowl shaped fountain basins make up the alley, going from Grand -Cascade all
the way down to the Gulf of Finland (Author’s picture)
Methodology and data
collection
The given work is a result of
several stages. The first phase includes the development of the initial idea,
the collection of primary data and literature, a plan to visit places of study,
the preparation of the writing part. At first to get general information about
the place, the literature from the sites Peterhof were used. Also some guide
books and small articles about parks and recreation were studied. In the second
stage the questionnaires were written, the routes in the park planned and park
was visited. Finally, compiled questionnaires, made discussions with visitors
and park employees, researched and analyzed Peterhof, made photos and films,
drew maps of the most popular places among park visitors. Days to visit the
park were chosen as a weekend and weekdays with the aim to get a more complete
picture of the number of visitors and also about the events held in different
weekday. Peterhof visits were on 25.06, 28.06, 1.07, 6.07. 2012. For the
conservation map park was divided into squares for visiting and study (Fig.2). The
route in Peterhof started from Upper Garden, from the middle part with
fountains (а). In Lower Park the route continued from the terrace in front of
Great Palace (d) up to the walks (e) (f) along the canal. The first day of the
study took place in direction from the western to the eastern ensemble of the
park. On the second day of drawing a concentration map the route started from
the eastern part to west. So, the western and eastern ensembles can be divided
into a coastal part (h) and (l), a part crossed by Marly alley (i) and (m), the
central part (j) (n) and the southern part (k) (o).
Figure 2. Park squares for
visiting. (Author’s scheme)
RESULTS
Motives of visiting Peterhof
park
A frequency analysis of
people’s motives to visit parks shows that in Peterhof “to look at beautiful
landscapes” is the motive most frequently mentioned by the visitors, accounting
for 66% of the answerers (Fig.3). Quite popular are also motives of
sightseeing/ visiting the museums and to see/enjoy gardens and plants. These
motives were mentioned by 58% of respondents. Motive “rest” is also popular
between respondent (58%), however it seems that “rest” figures as additional
motive to previously mentioned motives. According to these data, it can be
seen, that visitors perceive a given park mostly as a museum, where they can
not only relax, but get some knowledge, emotions etc. The main aim of rest here
includes in visitors’ transfer to another historical atmosphere, completely
different of their routine, so the visitors forget about their everyday
worries. Obviously, the most important role here is historical surrounding,
which influences spiritual recreation.
Figure 3.
Motives of visiting Peterhof park
A smaller role
has the motive “to spend time in nature/ get out from city”, it was chosen only
by 36% of respondents. It is explained by the close location of St-Petersburg,
which is well-greened and where an opportunity to contact with nature is also
provided. Respondents mentioned that 13% of them visit parks every day, 38%
every week, 26% once a month and only 23% visit parks very rare. So parks of St-
Petersburg are easily achievable alternatives of Peterhof and can also offer
some similar functions like Peterhof. On the same principle the motives “to
de-stress after work, to meditate, to eat in the café and etc” were chosen by a
minor amount of respondents. 4% answerers chose the motive “for excersice”,
although Peterhof does not provide a lot of possibilities for sport (only fishing and long walks in the park). People have
mentioned visiting motives like: celebrating birthdays, work and showing the park
to relatives and friends.
Motives were also analyzed
according to different age groups and gender. As age groups (from 16-20 and 21-
30) had many similar results and a group over 70 had less respondents to
compare with their answers, it was decided to form from five age groups only
three.
Figure 4. Different age groups
motives of visiting Peterhof park
Data shows that the first (age
16-30) and second (age 31-50) groups visit Peterhof mostly for educational
purposes (sightseeing, to look at landscapes), while the other motives and
activities—relax, de-stress after work, be alone and visit different events
—seem to be preferred by adults and elderly visitors (Fig.4).
Figure 5. Different gender
groups motives of visiting Peterhof park
According
to gender graph no significant differences were found with regards to the
motives of the visit ( only women more often prefer to be on their own in the
park, or visit it with friends compared with men) (Fig 5).
The most freguently visited
places in Peterhof park and its analysis
Figure 6. The concentration
map in park Peterhof. Weekend, July of 1. (
Author’s scheme)
Figure 7. The concentration map in park
Peterhof. Weekday, July of 6. (
Author’s scheme)
Figure 8 shows the average number of visitors in two
days (on Friday and Sunday) during a brief study of each plot. Different parts
of the park are visited unequally. It can be seen that visitors prefer the
places, which includes not only the elements of nature, but also constructions
like palaces, fountains etc (Fig. 8).
Figure 8. The main places of
concentration among Peterhof park visitors.
( Author’s scheme)
The biggest number of visitors
was observed in front of Palace in the Lower Park. Popular are also the middle
part of the park and the squares in front Chess and Gold Mountains, while side
areas are visited less or not visited at all.
Park visiting varies
significally during different days of a week (Fig. 9). This tendency between
weekdays and weekends was observed also during another days, while different
studies, not only concentration map, but also questionnaires have been done. On
weekends people visit the park considerably more than on weekdays. This
difference can be especially seen in front of the palace, the place which is
obligatorily visited by visitors. During a week the western part is visited
less and main alleys are used rarer. On weekdays people visit rarer and the
main number of visitors is concentrated in the middle part of the park paying
less attention to other parts in the park.
Figure 9. The difference of
park visiting between weekdays and weekends. ( Author’s scheme)
These
observations give general overview about the most popular concentration places
among visitors. To study the given issue more wider,a few questions about place
preferences, also some additional questions connected with the choice were
answered in questionnaires. 30% of respondents were the residents of
Sankt-Peterburg, 47% from a different city and 23% from other country. All
respondents from SPb, 64% from other city and 25% of visitors from other
country have visited Peterhof before. In general 66% of respondents had
previous experience with the park visits, there the visiting process was not
spontaneous. So 28% respondents got informaion from guidebooks, 23%- from the
history, 21% from other people, 17% from Internet and 38% live in SPb or nearby
and had heard something about Peterhof. The data described above specifies that
visitors are mostly familiar with the park had already visited it, or got information
from different sources. So people have some idea about the park, its places and
opportunities for leisure.
Figure 10. The favourite places
in Peterhof among respondents
Figure 11. Places where
respondents prefer to spend more time
The answers about favourite
places were quite similar with the results obtained from observation (Fig.10).
The most popular place is Grand cascade and located near constructions like the
fountain “Samson”, Fountain Alley etc. Less chosen, but still very popular are the
palaces like “Golden and Chess Mountain” cascades. Quite often mentioned are
also several fountains. The location of favourite places are shown in Fig. 8.
Grand cascade was chosen also as a place, where people spend more time (Fig.11).
Accordingly people not just walk through, but stay there for a while for
contemplation landscapes, views etc and
that is why this place is always so busy. As another option the seaside was
chosen, so people walking in the whole park prefer to do a small pause on the
seaside and unlike cascade area the caost provide more space to rest. In
general people named similar places, just the number varied. That indicates
interest and certain preferences of visitors in the park. According to all
information,the places in the park can be divided into very popular places,
popular places and often visited places, which are showed in Table 3.
*
pictures are taken from author collection and (www.peterhofmuseum.ru)
Emotional dimension of
visitors’ experience of Peterhof park
The analysis of questionnaires
showed, that the more often mentioned feeling during the park visiting is
“satisfaction”, chosen by 62% of respondents (Fig.12). That result indicates
that visitors have met their expectations. People who visited the place for the
first time obviously had heard something about the park and they were confirmed
during the visit. Another way people, who had been there before, discovered
something new in the park and were also satisfied. The accompanying positive
feelings are being happy, relaxed and carefree, chosen by a large number of
respondents.
Figure 12. Positive emotions
experienced in Peterhof
Figure 13. Negative emotions
experienced in Peterhof
Describing negative experience in Peterhof, it can be said
that people could feel themselves quite secured, only a few had mentioned a
fear to get lost or meet threatening people (Fig.13). People rather feel tired
because of long finding distances and a lot of people in the park.
Perception of park
conditions in Peterhof
The answers collected in
Peterhof show that people quite well accept existing conditions of the park.
Despite of the distance, in which Peterhof is located from SPb, 47% of visitors
find that it is easy and do not take a lot of time to reach the park, 38% think
that it takes some effort, but is still possible to reach it in reasonable time.
Only 15% think that it is difficult and takes a lot of time (most of the
answerers were from another country). For 62% of respondents easy access to the
park is important, because it will effect their visit possibilities, herewith
consider Peterhof as having such access. It seems 29 km from SPb for many
people is not a big distance to visit the park for recreation. For 37% even
difficult accessibility was not a barrier to visit the park. In the opinion of
58% answerers there is no need to change anything and they like the park as it
is. Some repondents (11%) would like to see more sitting places (rest zones),
4% to see more sign maps to orientate better. It was also were mentioned lack
of litter boxes and toilets. In some places plants maintanace and security was
not enough. People do not like high ticket prices for visiting Lower Park. But
in general, despite of small drawbacks people had a good opinion about the
park, its organisation and maintenance and possibilities for free time
spending.
Perception of historical
base of Peterhof park
All previous studies indicate
that visitors had interest in the park mostly because of the historical base.
To the question”Does historical park Peterhof offer more, the same or fewer
recreational qualities?” answers are divided in the following way: 66% more,
19% the same and 15% less. Less possibilites are connected with some
restrictions existing on the territory of the park like people cannot walk on
the grass, touch the sculpures and ride a bicycle.
Baroque style mostly causes
admiration by visitors, so 83% find this style beautiful, 43% love the
historical atmosphere. 19% think that it is different from what they were used
to. Also another option (formal, overpowering, feel restrictions there) were
chosen by a small group of respondents (Fig.14).
Figure 14. Visitors’ perception
of the baroque style in Peterhof
Conclusion
Nowadays the value of parks as
recreational zones and refuges from city life are significally increasing. To
get more recreational benefits, visitors expect to see not only nice nature
from a park, but additional aspects, like historical base in park Peterhof. For getting a great recreational
potential, this park often faces with
the situation when constantly growing needs of visitors lead to the search of a
compromise between a conservation park, as a museum creating restrictions for
recreation and the needs of visitors breaking the integrity of historical
atmosphere.
Results obtained from the questionnaire of
Peterhof showed that from 58%- 66% of respondents came for sightseeing
(visiting museums, see landscapes and gardens etc) and only 36% came to spend
time in nature. Today in Peterhof the informative factor is high among all age
groups. Offered recreational motives for
visiting the parks on examples of Peterhof and Kadriorg can change during
times. Peterhof, as a strictly protected object, being also the heritage of
UNESCO, will definitely safe its main motive of visiting, because of visitors’
desire sightseeing it.
The aim of given work was to
study the process and main directions of recreation development in historical
Peterhof. During the research park was studied not only as historical object,
but as important place in his region for recreation. Obtained information can
help park organizers to pay more attention to the visitors expectations and
needs, also to find the most efficient use of resources to create wider
recreational environment. However if the older generation participates in
different motives, the diapason of younger generation is more narrow, including
only interest in sightseeing, museums, landscapes and gardens and rest in the
park.
