Although the weather was cool, sometimes raining, and even some wet snow at times, we really enjoyed our visit to St. Petersburg. In the previous posting, I included photos we took while seeing the Hermitage. Later that day, we took a boat tour on the canal to see other parts of the city. That evening, we went to the Russian Folk Music Show. On the second day, we went with our guide, Max, to Peterhof. We were so glad the fountains had been turned on a few days before.
Peterhof is a huge estate built by Peter the Great and intended to rival the famous gardens of Versailles. The original palace was built in 1714-25 and remodeled in 1745-55 by the architect of the Winter Palace (Hermitage) in St. Petersburg. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland (part of the Baltic Sea). In addition to the palace, there are fountains, statues, and pavilions within the park. We didn’t go inside the palace, but we enjoyed the gardens and fountains.
Neptune Fountain
The Upper Garden, located between the St. Petersburg highway
and the Grand Palace, is a typical French-style formal garden
with five fountains including the one shown here
depicting Neptune, the God of the Sea.
The estate's Lower Park lies between the Grand Palace and the seashore and boasts the world's largest system of fountains. The park's unique fountain system was designed in the 18th century and doesn't require the use of any pumps to operate the fountains. There are three major cascades and over 120 fountains in the park. The most impressive is the Grand Cascade, located directly below the Grand Palace and featuring a golden statue of Samson grasping the jaws of the lion.
The Grand Cascade with the statue of Samson and the lion.
Rochelle & Jeff, Narene & Sam, Doug & Shannon
with the Grand Cascade and the Palace in the background.
Adam Fountain
Eve Fountain
Grand Cascade Canal leading to the Sea
Looking for shells on the shore of the Baltic Sea
(Doug, Jeff, Shannon pictured)
Monplaisir Palace
The park features numerous pavilions and small palaces, but Monplaisir is Peter the Great's favorite. Built between 1714 and 1725, Montplaisir sits right on the sea shore and provided the perfect vantage point for Peter to spend hours watching the ships sail by.
A last look at the Grand Cascade before leaving Peterhof.
(Our guide, Max at the left; Narene, Doug & Shannon pictured.)
Sam & Narene - In the Upper Garden of Peterhof.
Russian Orthodox Church at Peterhof.
The previous day, after our tour of the Hermitage, we took a boat tour on the canal and got a different view of St. Petersburg.
The photo above and the next two pictures were taken
on our boat tour on a canal in St. Petersburg.
Boat Tour
Boat Tour
Russian Folk Music Show
Cathedral of the Resurrection, also known as
“Our Savior-on-the-Spilt-Blood”
One of the metro stations in St. Petersburg.
The express train back to Moscow was a comfortable way to travel, and we were in our apartment by 10:00 Thursday evening after our five-hour train ride.
1 comment:
I absolutely love your blog. So well done the pictures are amazing. Thank you so much !
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