Peterhof Palace: water and gold fountains
Visiting the Peterhof Palace is ideal if you will spend some time in the city of St. Petersburg. The excursion in the Peterhof Palace or Tour in Peterhof is possible with GuiaRus, who will accompany you and guide you through each place while you know its history and admire its beauty.
This palace is located just 29 kilometers from St. Petersburg; and it constitutes a unique architectural marvel since it is not the typical complex of buildings around a central palace but its multiple gardens and fountains constitute the largest complex of fountains worldwide.
The construction of this palace began in 1707 and due to several incidents that paralyzed its construction. It was finished during the reign of Isabel I and used as the residence of the tsars until 1917; with the Russian Revolution.
The complex of fountains surrounding the Central Palace reaches 20 kilometers in length. Its design was carried out by architects and engineers sought across the country by order of the tsars.
Peterhof tour
The first source you find when entering the Palace is the Cascada Grande; where only 38 statues, 213 bas-reliefs have been used for this source; and a gigantic scene of Samson and the Lion.
In the design of his summer residence, which was not going to be inferior to Versailles in his luxury, Peter I assigned the most important role to the fountains. The Emperor in his decrees explained in detail how and where to build a fountain or waterfall. Although Peterhof suffered serious damage during the years of fascist occupation, many of the sources of the Peter I era have been operating for more than 300 years and its worldwide fame will not fade. The last restoration was carried out in 1995. In the lower and upper park of Peterhof, there are about 150 fountains and waterfalls. It is not possible to describe them all, but without mentioning at least some of them, we cannot do it.
A fantastic show is the Grand Cascade, bright with gold sculptures and silver water jets. In the center of the water bucket, a powerful stream of Samson fountain rises upward, and the waterfall is connected to the bay by the Sea Channel. The Grand Cascade is the most significant building in the Peterhof fountain system and a bright monument of baroque art.
The fountain “Samson, tearing a lion’s mouth” (1802) symbolizes Russia’s victory over Sweden on St. Sampson’s day, which includes a lion in the emblem of the coat of arms.
Two large chalice fountains are located on both sides of the Grand Cascade and sustainably support Samson’s huge water column. The set of the Lower Park stalls consists of these powerful fountains, the Great Flower Gardens and the Voronikhinsky marble colonnades, from whose roofs, from the golden jet vases flowing into semicircular bowls. Behind the western colonnade of Voronikhinsky there is a fun favorite font. In a small pool, 4 ducks and a pug chasing them move in a circle, while barking and croaking are heard. This fountain serves as an example of Peter I’s plan to build along the fountains of the Canal del Mar 22 with sculptural decoration on the plots of Aesop’s fables.
Behind Voronikhinsky’s western colonnade is a fun favorite fountain. In a small pool, 4 ducks and a pug chasing them move in a circle, while barking and croaking are heard.
One of Peterhof’s most beautiful fountains is the Roman fountains, which are named after the similarities with the fountains in the square in front of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. A huge disk rests on a huge cubic marble pedestal, on it there is a smaller pedestal with another disk, from which five jets collide from the center. The fountains are decorated with colored marbles, gold garlands, crowns and masks. Near the Roman fountains that flow along the water side of the “Chess Mountain” waterfall, whose steps are painted under a chessboard. However, at first the waterfall was called “Dragon Mountain”, since the entrance to the upper cave is guarded by three dragons, from whose open mouths come powerful water currents.
Many wonderful fountains are located in the Monplaisir Garden, adjacent to the Monplaisir Palace, Peter’s favorite creation, who wanted to see Petersburg, Kronstadt and the north coast of the Gulf of Finland from its windows. The largest of these is the Sheaf fountain, surrounded by bell fountains on four sides: sculptures by Psique, Fauno, Apollino and Baco are mounted on pedestals in the form of inverted bowls from which water flows. Two modest white benches in the Monplaisir Garden are not as simple as it seems at first glance. It is worth approaching them, since you are immediately overwhelmed by small streams of water. And these are not the only sources-crackers in Peterhof. For example, “Oak”: a tree surrounded by tulips and two benches next to it. Those who wish to see the blooming tulip so late immediately immediately pour a stream of water, a retreat under the tree only adds sputum of sensations, and the flight to the banks, from where the water also suddenly begins to beat, completes the work. There are several more cookies in the Lower Park, but we will give you the opportunity to discover which ones by yourself.
Source Schedule
The fountains only work in summer, from the end of April until the middle of October. The sources of the Grand Cascade are solemnly launched every day at 11:00 with the music of Glier “Anthem to the Great City” and turn off at 6:00 pm. The spring festival of the grand opening of the fountains is usually held in mid-May.
The season is also solemnly closed, with the Autumn Festival of the Fountains in mid-September. In mid-October, they turn off during the winter and turn on only at the end of April.
Address: St. Petersburg, Peterhof.
Visit Peterhof Palace
If you want to know this palace do not hesitate to ask for information or visit the tour in Peterhof and the City of Pushkin