Field of Mars (Saint Petersburg)

The Field of Mars or Marsovo Polye (Russian: Ма́рсово по́ле) is a large park named after Mars, the Roman god of war, situated in the center of Saint-Petersburg, with an area of about 9 hectares. Bordering the Field of Mars to the north are the Marble (Mramorny) Palace, Suvorova Square and Betskoi’s and Saltykov’s houses. To the west are the Barracks of the Pavlovsky Regiment. The Moyka River forms the boundary to the south.

The history of Field of Mars goes back to the first years of Saint Petersburg. At that time it was called the Great Meadow. Later it was the setting for celebrations to mark Russia's victory in the Great Northern War and the field was renamed the Amusement Field (Poteshnoe Pole). In the 1740s the Amusement Field was turned for a short while into a walking park with paths, lawn and flowers. Its next name – Tsarina’s Meadow – appears after the royal family commissioned Rastrelli to build the Summer Palace for Empress Elizabeth. But towards the end of the 18th century Tsarina’s Meadow became a military drill ground where they erected monuments commemorating the victories of the Russian Army and where parades and military exercises took place regularly.

In 1799 the Rumyantsev obelisk was placed in the centre of the Field and in 1801 a monument to Alexander Suvorov by Mikhail Kozlovsky was placed on the south side. The great military leader was depicted as Mars (Roman god of war). In 1805 the Tsarina’s Meadow was officially renamed the Field of Mars. The Rumyantsev obelisk was removed to Vasilyevsky Island in 1818, while at the suggestion of Carlo Rossi the monument to Suvorov was resited on Suvorov Square alongside the Field of Mars. After the February Revolution in 1917 the Field of Mars finally lost its significance as a military drill ground and became a memorial area, used to bury the revolution's honoured dead. In summer 1942 the Field of Mars was completely covered with vegetable gardens to supply the besieged Leningrad.

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