Arbor «Aeolian Harp», Academic Gallery and Lermontov Grotto
The highest point of the Mikhailovsky spur of Mashuk is decorated with the Arbor «Aeolian Harp», built by the architect Giuseppe Bernardazzi in 1831. The «Aeolian harp» or «Air harp» was called a popular musical instrument in Europe, which made sounds in the wind. It was brought to Pyatigorsk and installed in the arbor. In 2008 an autonomous system was mounted in it, and now one can hear the harp sounds in windless weather too.
Enjoying the best view of Pyatigorsk, which opens from the Arbor «Aeolian Harp» one can go down to the Lermontov Grotto. This natural cave was decorated by Bernardazzi brothers in 1851. Lermontov loved this secluded grotto and made it a meeting place for the heroes in his famous novel «The Hero of Our Time». Then the grotto was named after the poet.
The Academic Gallery stands below the slope on the site of the first drinking spring. The spring was so popular that next to the well they first put a wooden house with a bath, and later a gallery made of canvas for the convenience of those who were resting. In 1850 it was replaced by a stone gallery in the style of the Italian Renaissance with a pump room. Since 1995 a museum of insects has been opened in the building. Here one can see snakes, lizards, scorpions, spiders and butterflies not only from the Caucasus region, but also from Australia, the USA and South America.
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