Walking around Odessa, it is impossible not to notice how energetic this city is, life here is booming, everywhere there is an atmosphere of cheerfulness, fun and humor. However, even here you can find places removed from the noisy city rhythm, quiet and cozy due to its silence. One such place is the garden or square of the Palais-Royal.
Pale Royale Garden is a secret attraction of the city, as it is hidden from view by the buildings surrounding it. To visit it is to touch the other, romantic, pensive, quiet side of Odessa. But, as every corner of the city is beautiful, and here you can admire beautiful old sculptures.
Originally the French name Palais-Royal was given to the shopping complex surrounding the garden, built on three sides in 1842-1843 by the architect G.I. Toricelli. On the fourth side the old Theater adjoined the garden. In this complex all kinds of goods were sold, and in the garden were held concerts of tourers, folk festivals, orchestras performed, in numerous cafes rested many famous people. At the end of the XIX century this unique architectural ensemble for unknown reasons was completely destroyed, and in place of one-storey complexes were erected buildings for different purposes, but the cozy garden that appeared in the middle of the XIX century remained, and to this day it gives peace and tranquility to all who come here to relax from the bustle of the city.
Ludwig Leclaire, a Parisian horticulturist invited by E. Vorontsova, was engaged in the garden’s arrangement at the very beginning, and now one can see the century-old plane trees planted by him. The trees were planted here according to an unusual plan — in the form of St. Andrew’s Cross: the alleys are laid out diagonally.
In addition to landscaping, it was decided to decorate the garden with sculptures. One of them was installed in 1847 together with the fountain that decorated the center of the garden — it is a figure of a girl sitting under an umbrella on a stone, made of bronze by sculptor N. Stepanov. The second sculpture, striking with its beauty and sensuality, is installed not far from the fountain on the lawn — it is the figure of Cupid and Psyche frozen in tender embrace by an unknown sculptor. This magnificent sculpture is a copy of one of the most famous sculptures in the world, created in the II century BC in Ancient Greece. An unknown author dedicated lines to this treasure of Odessa: «The raw silence of the Palais-Royal. From the theater classrooms — the splash of the piano. Psyche stands with the amorous Cupid, and the sky looks gloomily through the trees…».
The Palais-Royal Garden and the sculptures standing in it are lesser known, but no less beautiful sights of Odessa that are worth seeing. Nevertheless, due to the fact that this place is hidden from view, not everyone who comes on vacation in Odessa visits it.
You can get into the ancient Odessa square Palais-Royal from four entrances. Two of them — from the side of Catherine Street, preserved since the time of Torricelli, these are two high and narrow ancient arches. Two more entrances to the garden can be found on the side of Tchaikovsky Lane and Langeronovskaya Street — near the Opera and Ballet Theater.
Any of these entrances presents a picture of wonder and mystery. As if from the noisy city, which is in perpetual motion, a person who finds himself here is transported to another place, even to another century — almost everything in this ancient garden has remained the same, which gives a wonderful opportunity to see one of the corners of Odessa as it was more than a hundred years ago.