Peterhof (Flashback to St. Petersburg, Russia)

This is a long-delayed post.  I wanted to make sure to accurately record the travel days as they occur because it is easy to forget things that happen from day to day, as so much occurs along the road.  I therefore didn't have time to get this post together until a rest day.

While on a guided tour of St. Petersburg on Monday, August 3, we took the afternoon to escape on a high-speed hydrofoil ferry boat to run across the gulf of Finland to visit the Peterhof, a facility laid out and built for summer use by Peter the Great in the early 1700's.  It is a UNESCO world heritage site.

The Peterhof is one of the most magnificent palace grounds we have ever visited - comparable to Versailles or the other great palaces in Europe.  It has a bit of the feel of "facade", with reconstructions and plaster instead of stone and carvings, but it all adds up to a Disney-like day of fanciful gardens, sculpture, and, most of all, fountains.  The German army mostly destroyed Peterhoff during WW II.  Most of the fountains were blown up, and the palace was burned.  Restoration began immediately after the war and continues today.

The Peterhof has 173 gravity-fed fountains.   Perusing the photographs below, remember that there are no pumps used to create these giant sprays.  Springs in distant mountains feed into a series of large ponds located behind the palace, which feed through an elaborate system of pipes to provide enough water to run the fountains for 10 hours each day.

Our St. Petersburg guide, with the ubiquitous "guide umbrella."

This is may favorite fountain.

I really liked the fish at the top.

Peterhof's Orthodox Chapel

From the palace terrace looking out toward the sea canal and the Gulf of Finland.

Andre Lacy and Lee-Ann.  Andre is a retired executive from Indianapolis and serves on the boards of the Indianapolis State Fair and the Indianapolis 500.

This sign show the destruction left after WW II.

Our transport from downtown St. Petersburg to the Peterhof - turns a three-hour road trip into a one-hour fast hydrofoil ride.

Boz, Randy & Dave

Not much commentary on this posting, but there's plenty of information on the internet.  We just really thought Peterhof was beautifully laid out, with exquisite gardens and the fountains were an amazing feat of engineering.