Petrodvorets · Russia

Peterhof Palace

palacegardensfountainshistorygoogle verified

easy

10/10

best: morning

majestic, theatrical, extravagant

A local would say...

Peter the Great built these 64 fountains to run entirely on gravity — no pumps, just physics, since 1723.

The most popular of the tsarist palaces ringing St Petersburg, built by Peter the Great on a terrace above the Gulf of Finland and designed around a breathtaking centrepiece of 64 fountains and 37 bronze statues cascading from the palace terrace all the way to the sea. Almost completely destroyed by the German advance in WWII, the palace and grounds were painstakingly reconstructed and the fountains operate using only natural hydraulic pressure — no pumps. The sea canal and fountain avenue running from the palace to the water is one of the most grandiose landscape designs in history.