St. Petersburg - Peterhof

Thursday, 27 September 2018

Peterhof is Peter the Great's grand imperial palace built to celebrate Russia's victory over Sweden in 1709. Construction took place from 1714 to 1723, but later tsars, most notably Elizabeth and Catherine the Great, made extensive additions and remodeling. Like much of St. Petersburg (then Leningrad), Peterhof was laid to waste by the Germans in World War II. It has been a monumental task (literally) to restore the heritage of St. Petersburg back to its pre-war glory.

Yet another brass band welcomed us to Peterhof.

Peterhof had the most extensive "Don'ts" sign yet. The title reads: "Prohibited in the grounds of the upper garden". I added a similar sign from Kizhi as well, which includes such interesting prohibitions as no drones and no bikinis or speedos.

The Palace

The exterior of the palace.

Peterhof exterior.

Every palace needs a Main Staircase ...

... and a Ballroom ...

... and a Throne Room.

Chesme Hall has three walls of large oil paintings of Russian naval victories between 1769 and 1773. Historians have questioned the accuracy of the details in some of the paintings.

The room in the center of the palace has a view of the lower gardens down the Marine Canal to the Gulf of Finland (left) and of the upper gardens and the Neptune Fountain (right).

The Oak Study is one of the few rooms that remain in the original style.

The Grand Cascade

The Grand Cascade is a huge set of gilded bronze statues and fountains that descend from the palace to the Gulf of Finland along the Marine Canal. It is best visible from the lower gardens, but these were closed today due to windy conditions. The fountains are turned on every day at 11 AM while bombastic patriotic music plays over loud speakers.

Part of the lower gardens before the fountains are turned on.

Turning the valve that starts the water flowing to the fountains. The whole cascade of fountains is gravity-fed.

The Hercules Fountain in the center of the cascade is the first to spout water.

A few moments later, water jets on the side of the fountain start up.

Fountains off to the sides are now flowing.

Fountains on the other side. You can see how the wind is pushing the spray to the side.

The Upper Gardens

We had time to take a short visit to the upper gardens before we had to board the bus to go back to the ship.

Peterhof Palace from the upper gardens. The Oak Fountain is in the foreground.

The Neptune (Poseidon) Fountain.

A manicured aisle of trees along the fountains.

A trellis arcade along the garden's edge.

A palace dome rising above trees in the garden.