Smolensk's pleasant city gardens are known as the Mikhail Glinka City Gardens and opposite the Smolensk Philharmonic is a monument to the great Russian composer himself, who was born and grew up in the village of Novospasskoe in the Smolensk Governorate. This monument to him was unveiled in 1885. A lovely feature is the surrounding fencing which is decorated with the scores of some of Glinka's work.

Deer Sculpture

In the north western corner of the gardens is another sculpture - a statue of a deer which has an interesting backstory. Originally the sculpture was made by a German sculptor and installed in 1909 outside one of Kaiser Wilhelm II's castles in Prussia. In 1944 the sculpture was moved to one of Goering's summerhouses, from where, legend has it, it was taken by a red army soldier back to his home town.