Zone: The suburbs

Author: Ekaterina Selyutina

Welcome to Peterhof! We're going to enjoy a magnificent stroll among its fountains, leafy promenades, and golden statues. It's usually considered that Peterhof was founded in 1714 – we can be quite clear about this, because it was an entirely new project, the brainchild of Emperor Peter the Great, and built on a fresh, greenfield site – there had only been woods and rivers here before then. His idea in creating this marvellous royal estate was to have something which could compare with Versailles, the French royal palace – another location which had made a deep impression on him during his European grand tour. The landscape of Peterhof was created – largely to his own designs – to make it 'kingdom of fountains'. During our walk we'll introduce you to what's called the Lower Park, and the Great Palace – which may glitter today, but have also known the worst of times. Today the palace and grounds have risen from the ashes, and radiantly greet their guests.