Palm Orangery of the Tauride Garden (Flowers exhibition hall)

A palm house against the Tauride Palace was already envisaged when the palace was built under Catherine II, according to the Russian Wikipedia article on the hall, but it was not carried out in its first form. In the western part of the garden a group of glasshouses grew fruit, vegetables and warmth-loving plants. The operator's website says a 'therapeutic orangery' was built there in 1888-1889 by the architect Samokhvalov and the engineer Smirnov, in the spirit of the Palm House at Kew. Its fate: dismantled between 1928 and 1930 according to one city guide, moved to the botanical garden according to the operator and another guide.

In its place was installed the palm house from Tsarskoye Selo (Detskoye Selo, now Pushkin), built in 1900 to a design by Alexander Bach according to the operator and the daily Fontanka. Russian Wikipedia dates its arrival to 1936, other sources to 1935. One guide places in 1977 the reconstruction that produced the Flowers exhibition hall; another speaks of the 1970s. In 2005 a property scheme in the garden proposed turning the glasshouse into an internet café, and it closed for reconstruction in 2005-2006; in November 2009 the governor stated that it would be neither demolished nor repurposed. Privatised in 2003, the building was put up for sale in 2016, according to Fontanka.

One tourist guide mentions a glass dome above a winter garden where the climate stays summery all year; the venue's website mentions a marble fountain. The original design is Alexander Bach's for Tsarskoye Selo, whereas the 1888-1889 orangery that preceded it, described as inspired by Kew, was a large glazed hall. The glasshouse has its own café, according to a guide.

As for dimensions, an estate agent quoted by Fontanka in 2016 spoke of 780 m², extendable to 900 with an extra storey. The building is an object of regional cultural heritage of Saint Petersburg (no. 781510325480005); according to Delovoy Peterburg, it is its volumes and plan that are under the protection of the KGIOP heritage committee.

The operator's website presents a tropical garden 'in the centre of Petersburg' where visitors meet carnivorous plants, giant lianas, tropical birds and insects, as well as a marble fountain; it advertises eighty countries and five continents. It also advertises about a hundred species. The operator also mentions tall palms, monsteras and ficus.

The venue offers guided visits with an agronomist, photo sessions, a florarium, a flower shop and a café. Concerts of classical music, popular songs and jazz are held several times a week, according to a guide.

The orangery stands in the western part of the Tauride Garden; the official address is Potemkinskaya Street 2G, and some events announce an entrance from Shpalernaya Street 43. Chernyshevskaya metro station is about thirteen minutes' walk away according to Kuda-spb. Opening hours and prices differ between the operator's website, which points to a VKontakte page, and the directories, so they are best checked before visiting.

The visit combines naturally with a stroll in the garden and with the nearby Tauride Palace. In the evening, concerts and candle-lit events turn the glasshouse into a performance hall.