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The Summer Gardens in St Petersburg are considered symbolic of Peter I's 'Europeanizing' aims for his 'new' city. While their physical appearance naturally displays the influence and input of foreign personnel, the gardens' role as a social space for the ruler, the court and other privileged groups sheds light on another area of comparison with contemporary European practice. This article examines the social function of the Summer Gardens in the understudied period between Peter I and Catherine II and the access granted to social groups beyond the court elite in the 1750s, albeit with firm restrictions still in place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]