The Garden is located on the hills above the Dnieper, between the Khreshchatyi and Mariinskyi Parks, and was laid out back in 1743 by the architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli by order of the Empress Elizabeth. It is the oldest cultivated garden in the capital, and its former names are: Tsar Park, City Park, Pershotravnevyi (First-of-May) Park.
The City Garden was part of the Mariinskyi Palace complex and was considered the best in the Russian Empire in the 18th century. Valley of Roses is located here. In 1863, the Chateau-de-Fleur theatre was opened in the Garden, and in 1912, an agricultural exhibition was arranged, but unfortunately, neither has survived to date). In 1902–1912, the Garden was divided by laying Peter’s Alley, over which a metal Park Bridge was built in 1910.
A large part of its area is occupied by the Dynamo sports complex. Among other interesting places are the Bridge of Lovers, designed by Yevhen Paton, the Mushlia summer scene, a fountain, the monuments to Lesia Ukrainka, Mykhailo Glinka and Maria Zankovetska.