Peterhof Palace Gardens, St Petersburg tour in Russia
Now to the afternoon on Saturday. You’ll remember we did the Hermitage Museum in the morning. Well, if you are going to tour in Russia or tour Saint Petersburg, you have to go to the Peterhof Palace and the Peterhof Fountains.
The Uniworld river cruise ship River Victoria kitchen provided us with a box lunch to take with us, and we boarded a Russian hydrofoil (image from zdship.ru), which leaves from a dock near the Hermitage. It is a quick trip out of town to the the Peterhof Palace.
The tour in Russia to the Peterhof Palace Gardens and the Peterhof Fountains let you see some of the most amazing sights in all of St. Petersburg. Everything is gold, in near-new condition and fully operational operation.
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This was Peter the Great’s little out of town getaway place. Some call the Peterhof Palace “Versailles by the sea”. Bear in mind as you look at the pictures that he and the court were in residence here approximately 2 weeks each year. Ans we did not get to tour the palace, just the gardens. So he had this huge place, with fantastic (I mean really fantastic) gardens and fountains, that he would just drop by when he felt like it.
It was raining this day, but still the tourist attractions, the gardens and fountains, were fantastic, even though the temperation was only 50 F.
There is a canal that leads from the Neva River up to the house – because Peter liked boats. And obviously he liked his Peterhof Fountains. Thus the hydrofoil is able to take you close to the gardens.
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One important fact here is that all this is water from a Russian mountain spring – all delivered here via canals and piping and simply works because of gravity. Coming here for the tour in Russia is similar to being at the Villa d’Este in Rome. None of this is driven by pumps. There is lots of gold and a whole lot of fountains. All in the middle of beautiful grounds. The palace looked nice too, but we only saw the outside.
The fountain on the right below is the Peterhof Fountains Grand Cascade, which has 3 waterfalls, 64 fountains and 37 gold leaf statues. The fountain in the middle is the largest, a likeness of Samson.
Peterhof Palace, like another important item in the tour in Russia the Catherine Palace, (click here), was captured by German troops in 1941 and held until 1944. Unlike Catherine Palace, employees were only able to save a portion of the treasures of the palaces and fountains. The employess attempted to save the Peterhof Fountains and sculptures, but most remained in place and were destroyed.
The name was changed to “Peter’s Palace” (Russian: Petrodvorets) in 1944 after the war, but the original name of Peterhof Palace (and Peterhof Fountains) was restored in 1997 by the new (post-USSR) Russian government.
In 2003, Saint Petersburg celebrated its 300th anniversary, and along with lots of other tourist sites in Russia, much of the fountains and building were restored.
More fun features for this stop in the tour in Russia:
This is a whimsical one with the water cascading over checkerboard spillway – those are colorful dragons at the top. Of course, the gardens are lovely.
After Peterhof Fountains, and the Peterhof Palace, we got ready to say goodbye to St Petersburg. Our tour in Russia sets off tonight up the River Neva – which turns into the River Svir.
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Posted June 4, 2013 by JB Leep (Google Profile)
Original post Friday, June 1, 2010 Tour in Russia Peterhof Palace Gardens in St Petersburg
Sounds good to me!