Apart from the famous landmarks that are a definite “must-see”, St. Petersburg has lots of places that you’d wanna check out. Still, the Tauride Palace Orangery doesn’t really fall into this category. In fact, the only reason for me coming there was that I was meeting a friend in a nearby park, and it got too cold to stay out. What’s more, the place itself was not what you’d expect after visiting its website; personally, I didn’t get to feel the “summer inside” as the webpage promised. What I got was something completely different.
The first impression that you get from the Tauride Palace Orangery is that it’s really small. Seriously, it won’t take you as much as ten minutes to walk through it, the cafe and gift shop included. Also, the orangery is not a museum, so you won’t be getting any tours of the place: you just walk, trying to get yourself interested with all these plants you see, and most probably fail at it. Soon enough, you might start wondering about what you’re doing in there, get bored, and head for the exit – and that would mean that you were doing it wrong.
True enough, the Tauride Palace Orangery doesn’t offer much entertainment. Save for the occasional lectures and concerts, there’s not much to do there. Still, entertainment is not what you should be looking for: what’s really great about this place is its one-of-a-kind atmosphere, some fleeting feeling that can easily go unnoticed. Forget whatever you expected of it, and try simply being there: sit down under some feijoa tree, breathe in the place’s damp air, and experience a most curious sensation.
Be it the century-old framing of the roof, the incandescent lighting, or the hose pipes that run among the greenery, once you notice the full picture, everything seems so out of place that it really startles you. It’s somewhat similar to the feeling you get from French 70’s dramas: a surreal calm that makes you look at everything from a different angle, as if you’ve become as alien to your life as tropical plants are to the Russian North. You might not believe it, but such a change of perspective really helps you focus, and is an awesome way to set your mind straight.
If the Orangery itself is great for doing some self-reflection, the local cafe seems like a great meet-up place. It’s really small, calm, and quite inexpensive; if you are looking for a place to have a meaningful conversation or work on something that you couldn’t complete in a long time, you should definitely consider coming here. By the way, be sure to check the cafe’s terrace, as it really gives you the best view of the place.
To sum up, the Tauride Palace Orangery isn’t exactly one of St. Petersburg’s “hidden gems”, or a venue I would recommend to everyone. Still, it has its unique appeal as one of St. Petersburg’s stranger places, so going there might just make your day – or even help come up with some new ideas!
