Peterhof Palace and Fountains: Grand Cascade and Lower Gardens

Located 29 kilometres south-west of central Saint Petersburg along the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, the Peterhof State Museum-Reserve was conceived by Tsar Peter the Great in 1710 as a maritime victory monument and formal seaside residence celebrating Russia's hard-won access to the Baltic Sea. Expanded by Empress Elizabeth Petrovna's court architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli between 1747 and 1755 and painstakingly reconstructed after catastrophic destruction during the 1941 to 1944 German occupation, Peterhof is renowned for its gravity-fed fountain system.

The Grand Cascade and Samson Fountain

Set into the natural sixteen-metre limestone bluff separating the Upper Garden from the coastal Lower Gardens, the Grand Cascade forms the centrepiece of Peterhof. Inaugurated in August 1723, the cascade operates without mechanical pumps: water collected from natural springs on the Ropsha Heights 22 kilometres inland flows through canals and wooden-then-cast-iron pipes to feed 64 fountains and more than 200 gilded bronze statues, bas-reliefs, and vases. At the base of the central grotto basin stands the Samson Fountain, originally installed in the 1730s to mark the 25th anniversary of the Russian victory over Sweden at the Battle of Poltava (fought on Saint Samson's Day in 1709). Sculptor Vasily Simonov recreated the 3.5-metre gilded statue of Samson prying open the jaws of a lion in 1947 after Mikhail Kozlovsky's 1802 bronze, which had replaced Carlo Bartolomeo Rastrelli's lead original of 1735, vanished during the Second World War; a vertical jet shoots 20 metres straight up from the lion's mouth.

The Grand Palace on the Terrace

Stretching roughly 300 metres along the crest of the ridge above the Grand Cascade, the Grand Palace began as a modest two-storey Petrine residence built between 1714 and 1725 before Rastrelli lengthened its wings and added the gilded church cupola and coat-of-arms pavilion between 1747 and 1755. Inside, visitors tour the gilded Baroque Gala Staircase, the Throne Room, the Chesma Hall commemorating the 1770 naval victory over the Ottoman fleet, the Chinese Cabinets decorated with lacquered panels, and Peter the Great's original Oak Study.

The Lower Gardens, Trick Fountains and Monplaisir

Stretching along the Gulf of Finland shoreline, the geometric avenues of the Lower Gardens radiate from the Sea Canal Toward two distinct wings:

• The Eastern Wing (Monplaisir and Chessboard Hill): Directly on the water's edge stands Monplaisir, the Dutch-style red-brick villa built between 1714 and 1723 where Peter the Great preferred to stay and watch naval ships near Kronstadt. Nearby sit the Cascade of Dragons (Chessboard Hill), the Roman Fountains, and playful 1720s trick fountains (fontany-shutikhi) that spray unsuspecting passers-by who step on hidden stones or benches.
• The Western Wing (Marly Palace and Golden Hill): Built between 1720 and 1723 at the western end of the park, the compact Marly Palace faces semi-circular fish ponds and the marble-statued Golden Hill Cascade.

Fountain Season and Morning Ceremony

Because freezing Baltic temperatures would crack the historic underground pipes, Peterhof's fountains operate seasonally from late April through mid-October (check the official museum calendar for exact annual turn-on and autumn closing festival dates). During the fountain season, the Grand Cascade jets are switched on each morning accompanied by recorded orchestral music, drawing crowds onto the bridge over the Sea Canal.

How to Reach Peterhof from Central Saint Petersburg

From May to October, high-speed Meteor hydrofoils depart from the piers outside the State Hermitage Museum on Palace Embankment and reach the Lower Gardens pier directly across the bay. Year-round, suburban electric trains leave Baltiysky Railway Station (Baltiyskaya Metro on Line 1) for Novy Petergof Station, while municipal buses run along the Peterhof Highway from Avtovo Metro Station; see how to get there and compare with a day trip to Tsarskoye Selo and Pavlovsk.