Peterhof Palace and Fountains

Peter I began Peterhof in 1714 as a residence on the gulf, and the fountains are the engineering achievement: water is gathered from springs on the Ropsha heights some twenty kilometres away and brought by a system of canals and reservoirs to the ridge above the park, where the fall of about twenty metres drives everything by gravity - no pumps then and none now. The Grand Cascade below the palace has sixty-four fountains and over two hundred sculptures, with the Samson fountain throwing a jet twenty metres up, and the sea canal runs from it to the gulf. In the lower park are trick fountains that soak people who step on the wrong stone, a Peter I amusement that still works. The Germans held Peterhof from 1941 to 1944 and the palace was burned and looted, the Samson group taken and lost; what stands is a long post-war restoration, with work continuing.

What you actually see

• The gravity system - water from twenty kilometres away driving everything without pumps.
• The Grand Cascade - sixty-four fountains and over two hundred sculptures below the palace.
• The trick fountains - stones that soak the unwary, working as Peter intended.
• The restoration - a palace burned in the war and rebuilt over decades.

When to go

Late April to mid October, when the fountains run - outside that they are drained and the point is gone. A full day.

Honest expectations

The fountains are switched off from around mid October to late April. Much of the palace is post-war reconstruction. Queues for the Grand Palace are long; book ahead. Multiple separate tickets. Extremely crowded in summer.

Nearby

Oranienbaum is west along the coast; St Petersburg is east.