Peterhof

Peterhof, (originally Piterhof, Dutch: "Peter's Court") is a series of palaces and gardens, laid out on the orders of Tsar Peter the Great, and sometimes called the "Russian Versailles". It is located about 20 km west and 6 km south of St Petersburg, overlooking the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The same name refers to the adjacent town of 82,000 people.

The Lower Gardens

The expanse of the Lower Gardens is an informal (English) garden. Unlike the gardens at Pavlovsk and Tsarskoye Selo, these are altered significantly from their natural state; they have little undergrowth, and only mature trees.

Related Topics:
Pavlovsk - Tsarskoye Selo

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The many fountains located here exhibit an unusual degree of creativity. One of the most notable designs is entitled 'The Sun'. A disk radiating water jets from its edge creates an image of the sun's rays, and the whole structure rotates about a vertical axis so that the direction in which the "sun" faces is constantly changing.

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Several fountains are designed with the specific purpose of soaking visitors. Two take the form of gangly trees rigged with jets that activate when someone approaches. Another, disguised as an umbrella with a circular bench set around the stem, drops a curtain of water from its rim when someone enters to take a seat.

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The same bluff that provides a setting for the Grand Cascade houses two other, very different cascades. West of the Grand Palace is the Golden Mountain (Zolotaia Gora), decorated with marble statuary that contrasts with the riotous gilded figures of the Grand Cascade. To the east is the Chess Mountain (Shahmatnaia Gora), a broad chute whose surface is tiled black and white like a chessboard.

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The most prominently positioned fountains of Peterhof are 'Adam' and 'Eve'. They occupy symmetric positions on either side of the Sea Channel, each at the conjunction of eight paths.

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