The fountains are one of Russia’s most famous tourist attractions, drawing millions of visitors every year. Fountains were intrinsic to Peter the Great’s original plans for Peterhof – it was the impossibility of engineering sufficiently powerful jets of water that prompted him to move his attentions from the Strelna site to Peterhof – and subsequent generations competed with their predecessors to add grander and ever more ingenious water features to the parkland surrounding the Grand Palace.

The most famous ensemble of fountains, the Grand Cascade, which runs from the northern facade of the Grand Palace to the Marine Canal, comprises 64 different fountains, and over 200 bronze statues, basoreliefs, and other decorations. At the center stands Rastrelli’s spectacular statue of Samson wrestling the jaws of a lion. The vista of the Grand Cascade with the Grand Palace behind it, the first sight to great visitors who arrive in Peterhof by sea, is truly breathtaking. The Grotto behind the Grand Cascade, which was once used for small parties, contains the enormous pipes, originally wooden, that feed the fountains.

Everywhere in the park we can find many fountains, the range and diversity is astounding, from a monumental ensembly like the Chess Cascade and the Pyramid Fountain, to the ever-popular Joke Fountains, including one which sprays unwary passers-by who step on a particular paving stone. The Joke Fountain is not that funny in a cold day.

From an official we found out that the official opening of the fountains, which usually takes place at the end of May, is an all-day festival, with classical music, fireworks and other performances, as each section of the park’s fountains is turned on one by one.

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If you arrive in Peterhof by boat, Monplaisir is one of the first sights to greet you. Sitting in the eastern corner of the Lower Park, right on the shoreline of the Gulf of Finland, Monplaisir vaguely resembles a Dutch Colonial mansion, with its high gabled roof over the central corpus and narrow rectangular windows to keep out the wintry north wind. The facade on the opposite side of the palace is quite different, with long single-storey galleries topped by a balustraded terrace and supported by slender columns. Here, large French windows allow natural light to pour into the rooms, giving the whole building a summery, almost tropical feel.

Monplaisir was completed by 1723, and became Peter’s preferred retreat, where he entertained only his closest friends and advisors. The rooms inside are almost entirely paneled in oak, and contain an interesting collection of 17th century art, much of which comes from Peter’s own collection. Among the highlights inside is the delightful Lacquered Gallery, the creation of which required Russian icon-painters to spend months studying Chinese lacquering. The result is an extraordinary mixture of black, gold and red panels with a distinctly Russian accent. The Assembly Hall, which was the main reception room, used for riotous banquets in Peter’s time, is decorated with latticed panels representing Africa, America, and Asia, and intricate rocaille coving.

Typically for Peter, Monplaisir displays an intriguing mixture of grandeur and homely comfort, with its pretty Dutch-tiled pantry, where Peter’s wife Catherine would herself cook for guests, and the cozy Maritime Study, with tiles representing 13 different types of ship. From the windows, the view across the Gulf to Kronshtadt on one side and St. Petersburg on the other is particularly fine.
Added later to Monplaisir are the Bathhouse Wing and Kitchen Block, ordered by Catherine after Peter’s death, and the Catherine Wing, which was originally built for Empress Elizabeth, but adapted by Quarenghi for Catherine the Great, who lived at Monplaisir during the last years of her marriage to Peter III. It was here that she heard the news of the coup against her husband that would eventually make her Empress of All the Russias. Inside the Catherine Wing, there are more relics of Alexander I than of Catherine, including his study and bedroom, with an extraordinary boat-shaped bed.

Opening Hours: June to September, daily from 10.30am to 5pm, closed on Wednesdays. For the Catherine Wing: May to September, daily from 10.30 am to 5pm, closed Thursdays, October to April, weekends only from 10.30am to 5pm.

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The first areas of land to be developed at Peterhof were the formal gardens around Monplaisir and Marly, part of the Lower Park. The earth excavated to create the Marly Ponds was used to build a rampart against the sea winds that, along with a 3-meter-high stone wall, surrounds the Garden of Venus, Peter’s orchard, with cherry and apple trees, and several charming statues. The garden was created simultaneously with Marly, and completed in 1724. Adjoining the Garden of Venus, the Garden of Bacchus was also begun during Peter’s reign, although additions were made to its statuary and fountains throughout the 18th century. The same is true of the gardens around Monplaisir.

Also during Peter’s reign, and then under Empress Elizabeth, who continued her father’s work at Peterhof after over a decade of neglect, the Upper Gardens south of the Grand Palace, which great most visitors to Peterhof beyond the entrance to the park, were laid out, mostly by Jean Leblond and Nicola Michetti. Here, three alleys lead to the Palace, surrounded by formal flowerbeds and low, clipped hedges.

Catherine the Great oversaw the creation of the first landscape garden at Peterhof, the English Park, which was designed jointly by English landscaper James Meders and the great Italian architect Giacomo Quarenghi. The park was once the setting for Quarenghi’s English Palace, considered one of the finest works of Russian classicism, which was later used as a guesthouse for foreign visitors, and then destroyed by artillery fire in the Second World War.

The grounds were again extended considerably during the reign of Nicholas I, who not only commissioned the Alexandria Park, but also added large sections of landscaped gardens around the original Lower Park.

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The palace and park at Peterhof (also known as Petrodvorets) is one of St. Petersburg’s most famous and popular visitor attractions. Often they are referred to as “the Russian Versaille”, but we think that the comparison does a disservice to the grandeur and scope of this majestic estate.

However, from the historian tales, Versailles was the inspiration for Peter the Great’s desire to build an imperial palace in the suburbs of his new city. Peterhof – which means “Peter’s Court” in German – became the site for the Tsar’s Monplaisir Palace, and then of the original Grand Palace. The estate was equally popular with Peter’s granddaughter, Empress Elizabeth, who ordered the expansion of the Grand Palace and greatly extended the park and the famous system of fountains, including the truly spectacular Grand Cascade.

During the 18th and 19th century’s improvements to the park continued. Catherine the Great moved the court to Pushkin, but Peterhof once again became the official Imperial Residence in the reign of Nicholas I, who ordered the building of the modest Cottage Palace in 1826.

In the Second World War, Peterhof was ravaged by German troops. However, it was one of the first to be resurrected and, thanks to the work of military engineers and over 1,000 volunteers; most of the estate’s major structures had been fully restored by 1947. The name was also de-Germanized after the war, becoming Petrodvorets, the name under which the surrounding town is still known.

The palace and park are once again known as Peterhof.

As you enter the estate we pass a beautiful park and some fountains.

In front, between trees, you can see the grand palace. The Grand Palace at Peterhof was designed to be the centerpiece of Peter the Great’s “Russian Versaille”. Around 1720, the Tsar gave up on attempts to establish his court at Strelna, mainly because the boggy ground proved entirely unsuitable for the canals and fountains that he envisioned. Moving his attentions further east to Peterhof, the Tsar began to draw up his own plans for the grounds and palace. Work had already begun on a modest palace, designed by Jean-Baptiste Le Blond, in 1714, and that building was completed in 1721.

Meanwhile, fired by Peter’s untiring enthusiasm, a massive amount of work had been completed around the palace, including the landscaping of the Lower Park, the digging of the Sea Canal, and the building of Monplaisir, Marly Palace, and most of the Hermitage. The original Higher Palace was somewhat inadequate for its surrounding splendors, and Peter instructed Le Blond and his pupil, Johann Braunstein, to expand the building.

Work was halted after Peter’s death in 1725, and Peterhof was almost abandoned until Peter’s daughter Elizabeth came to the throne in 1740. Elizabeth commissioned Bartolomeo Rastrelli, who had already completed the Summer Palace in St. Petersburg, to build a genuinely regal palace. Rastrelli chose to retain the original building within his design, and the result is supremely elegant and surprisingly restrained. The long, narrow palace, which was built in the last decade before baroque made way for neoclassicism, has minimal decoration, and Rastrelli’s chief stylistic flourishes are the two white pavilions with gilded cupolas at the end of the wings. Beige and white, the palace is majestic without being overwhelming, and provides a perfect backdrop both to the elegantly formal Upper Garden, and to the spectacular Grand Cascade.

Unfortunate we came in a day when we couldn’t visit the inside part of the castle. Maybe we’ll have better luck next time.

Opening Hours: Daily, 10.30am to 5pm. Closed Mondays and the last Tuesday of each month.

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Sankt Petersburg is the northernmost major city of the world and one of the world’s most beautiful cities. Peter has all the ingredients for an unforgettable travel experience: high art, lavish architecture, wild nightlife, an extraordinary history and rich cultural traditions that have inspired and nurtured some of the modern world’s greatest literature, music, and visual art.

Due to the city’s northern position it enjoys the phenomenon of the “white nights”, lasting from May 25-26 till July 16-17. July 22, the Solstice Day is the longest day (18 hours 53 minutes); the shortest day is December 22 (5 hours 52 minutes).
The Neva River is the city’s main waterway. The name of the river derives from the ancient name of Lake Ladoga, the Neva where it begins. In the delta, the Neva splits into three main branches: the Bolshaya Neva, the Malaya Neva and the Bolshaya Nevka. The city is located on 44 islands formed by the Neva River and 90 more rivers and canals.

The abundance of islands has led to the construction of a multitude of bridges. The longest bridge across the Neva is the Alexander Nevsky Bridge (909 meters with runways), the widest bridge is the Siniy Bridge on the Moika River (99.5 meters).

Floods occur frequently in the city. Most often they happen in autumn due to strong westerly winds. In the history of the city the Neva has risen above ordinary level more than 300 times.

A water-meter was built near the Mining Institute in 1877. A flood is registered if the water rises 180 cm above the normal level. The biggest flood was on November 7 1824 when the water rose 4.1 meters above the ordinary level.
Because of the floods some of the metro stations have anti flood doors. If you are claustrophobic is not best place to be. But after couple of times you are getting used to it. I know I did.

But enough with the history; let’s get on with the story.

We left Moscow with one of the night trains, around midnight. The midnight train is best because of the arrival in Peter at early hour. Incredible, but the train was full. A huge number of teenagers are going to have fun and enjoy the white nights.

Our hotel “Gostevoy Dom” is located near Proletarskaya metro station which is fifth metro station from train station. The hotel is a brand new and somehow hard to find. We check in fast and after a short shower we left to explore the city.

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