Lazaretny Garden
In a quiet little street opposite the “HIV” hospital on Sadovaya and Semyonovskaya junction, currently sits the Ophthalmology Hospital where students of KSMU have ophthalmology cycle. Today, nothing is rather interesting there. Just another old brick building, with a little breeze of wind and swaying branches of the surrounding trees. But in 1799 on Lazaretnaya street (now Semenovskaya street), there was so much life there, you would be shocked when you finish reading this article.
The Infirmary garden (“Лазаретный Сад”) was next to the building of the hospital. The name of the garden itself was quite far from its function. A wooden fence was installed on the garden plot adjacent to Lazaretnaya street, where trees from the centuries-old forest were still preserved.
Twenty-year-old Fyodor Semyonov, the future famous self-taught astronomer, left the following lines in his “Mesyatseslov” on June 5, 1814: “On the same day, a prayer of thanks was sent to the Almighty God our Lord Jesus Christ for the victory over the French and for the conquest of all Europe in general,and then the whole day was about celebration. After that, in the evening there was a party in the Infirmary garden, which lasted almost all night.”
This garden was lit up all by fire, in which there were up to 3000 bowls along all the paths, and a transparent picture was visible, on which was written:
1) the all-seeing eye; 2) the lightning came from him and struck the former power-loving French Emperor Napoleon; 3) the monogram of Alexander I and the inscription above it; so with glory and honor I crown him and all the people of the city of Kursk... This night the whole city was illuminated.”
The infirmary garden was only a few hundred meters wide. Its front was occupied by small rows of houses, and on the back was a high slope into the valley of the Kur river, which made it extremely picturesque.
In contrast to its modern day silence, in the early 1830s, the garden organized crowded public festivals. At this time, the Governor of Kursk was Pavel Nikolayevich Demidov, a famous figure from the family of Russian landowners, made sure the garden was in excellent condition. There were gazebos, grottoes, and labyrinths! Difficult to imagine if you were to stroll there now and try to recreate its existence in your mind.
The entrance to the Infirmary garden was opened by a large classical semi-rotunda. On summer evenings, military bands played in the garden, and crowds of citizens filled the paths, strolling in the shade. There were festivities in the garden, and Demidov ordered that everyone, including the lower classes of the population, to be allowed into the garden FREE OF CHARGE!
Yes indeed in the previous centuries, parks were not free, it comes with a small fee for the sake of maintenance. There were brilliant fireworks and illuminations that delighted everyone. In the rotunda of the Infirmary garden, there were dances of the higher society. There were illuminated banners, with figures and paintings taken from ancient mythology: gods, goddesses, heroes, lions, fantastic animals. Almost sounds like a perfect garden, nothing compared to current day parks that exist in Kursk. For many years, the public Infirmary garden has become a favorite and permanent place of recreation for the locals.
In 1866, the Infirmary garden, was passed to the governmental bodies. By this time, the semi-rotunda were dilapidated, and the garden benches needed repairs. The government decided to partially place vegetable gardens here for growing vegetables for patients of charitable institutions and provided the rest of the territory for citizens to walk.
In 1875, the garden was leased for three years by merchants and the public club, who undertook to build a musicians room, a kitchen, a billiard room, a wooden summer theater for 570 seats, and a new fence. Later, a reading room, two fountains were opened, and a restaurant with good cuisine was opened. Every evening, an orchestral group gave a concert of 16 musical pieces. In 1903, 51 celebrations were held here.
On holidays, the festivities were always accompanied by music from an Amateur harmonica player and a balalaika orchestra. Balloons were launched and fireworks were set off. Here you could admire the skills of magicians and jugglers, listen to the choir, see “moving pictures”.
In 1905, on the territory of the garden, adjacent to the corner of Sadovaya and Semyonovskaya streets, the government began to build a three-story surgical barracks (current day ophthalmology building). The building was made of red brick and had a good finish, but with the construction of the surgical barracks, the Infirmary garden completely collapsed!
In 1914, at the very beginning of the First world war, a 120-bed hospital was established. After the October revolution, the building was used as a military barracks. In 1918, it was returned to the current day hospital.
REFERENCE:
old-kursk.ru/book/stepanov/ptv3-11.html
