Peterhof palace
The Peterhof Palace is a palace and park complex located on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, about 29 km from St. Petersburg. It is located on the territory of the city of Peterhof (formerly called Petrodvoréts). The complex of palace and park of the city of Petrodvorets and its historical center is part, with the code 540-017, of the World Heritage Site called "Historical Center of Saint Petersburg and annexed monumental complexes". It constitutes the Great Palace, which is built on the maritime terrace and is in the Baroque style. Its parks and fountains stand out. Until the October Revolution of 1917, Peterhof was the residence of the tsars. In 1918 it was transformed into a museum.
Background
The conclusion of the Great Northern War led to the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, in which the Swedish Empire ceded part of its territory in the Baltic Sea to the Tsarate of Russia. Peter the Great had already begun construction of his new capital Saint Petersburg in 1703 after successfully conquering Swedish provinces on the eastern coast. This location allowed Russian access to the Baltic Sea via the Neva River to the Gulf of Finland. Kotlin Island and its Kronstadt fortress northeast of Saint Petersburg provided a large gate and trading port due to the shallow depth that exists close to the city.
During the 18th century, Peter I built and expanded Peterhof Palace as part of his westernization and modernization plan from Russia.
Monplaisir Palace (1714–1723)
In 1714, Pedro began construction of the palace Monplaisir (French: "my delight") based on his own sketches. He not only designed the exterior and interior of the palace, but also decorative elements. Based on a Dutch style, it was Peter's summer residence (not to be confused with his summer palace) that he would use whenever he made voyages to Europe via the port of Kronstadt. Pedro hung on the walls of his palace paintings that he brought from Europe. In the palace, located in a corner facing the sea, Pedro created his Maritime Studio, from which the island of Kronstadt could be seen to the west and Saint Petersburg to the east. He later expanded the grounds to include an immense inland palace and garden compound, modeled on the Palace of Versailles that would become Peterhof Palace. The first design was made by the French architect Jean-Baptiste Le Blond.
History
In the early 18th century century, the original Peterhof Palace was quite different from its present appearance. Many of the fountains had not yet been installed and Alejandra Park and Superior Park did not exist. In their place there were vegetable gardens and their respective pools. Samson's fountain and its great pedestal were also not installed in the canal and the latter was used as a great maritime entrance to the palace complex.
Perhaps the most representative change in the design of Pedro I was the conception of the Great Palace as a central and prominent piece. Originally it was called the Upper Palace and it was somewhat larger than the rest of the structures in the complex. However, with the addition of the wings, made between 1745 and 1755 by the Italian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli and financed by Elizabeth of Russia. Also, the Grand Cascade was decorated in abundance compared to the original appearance. Until well into the 19th century the original fonts were expanded and new ones added.
Nazi occupation (1941-1944)
Peterhof, like Tsarskoye Selo, was captured by Nazi troops in 1941, who held it until 1944. Only a few months elapsed between the German invasion of the Soviet Union and the appearance of the German Army, so employees barely they were able to save a part of the treasures of the palace and the fountains. There was an attempt to dismantle and bury the fountain sculptures, but most remained on the site.
On September 23, 1941, German troops captured Peterhof. Two weeks later, Soviet troops tried to recapture the town and blocked the roads with a naval landing. 510 marines from the Baltic Fleet landed in Alexandria Park, only to be met with high-powered German weapons. The commander of the operation was killed and the troops that landed were thrown into disarray; one of the boats sank and another disappeared. Despite Soviet attempts to cover the armed forces as far as Kronstadt, they were quickly called off due to no liaison with the troops and heavy German artillery (only one Marine could be rescued in the water). The landing operation at Peterhof was a failure and the troops were surrounded, some even reaching the lower gardens to the bitter end. The last pockets of resistance held out until October 7, when the Germans released dogs into the gardens to find the hiding Marines. In 1980 a memorial was erected near the pier in the lower gardens.
Reinauguration (1945-present)
German Army forces destroyed Peterhof on a massive scale. Many of the fountains disappeared and blew up part of the palace, leaving it in flames. Restoration works were carried out right at the end of the Second World War and continue today. The Lower Park was reopened to the public in 1945. Since 1946 the fountains have been reconstructed from memory, such as the "Samson" fountain, which was stolen by German troops. In 1952 they began to rebuild the Palacio Grande. In 1964 the museum rooms were opened to the public. The name was changed to "Petrodvorets" (Palacio de Pedro) in 1944 due to anti-Germanic sentiment in the postwar period; although the Russian post-Soviet government reinstated the original name in 1997. In 2003, Saint Petersburg celebrated its 300th anniversary and many rooms and sculptures were restored.
Peterhof was built as a celebration of Russia gaining an outlet to the Baltic Sea, at a time when Peter the Great was also expanding to the Black Sea coastline. Therefore, Peterhof commemorates the imperial expansion and subsequent Russian modernization. Inside the palace you can see paintings of naval battles by the painter Ivan Aivazovsky.
Elements of the set
Peterhof features a mere 16 meters above a cliff and less than 100 meters from the shoreline. The so-called Lower Gardens (Nizhny Sad), with a size of 1.02 km², occupy most of the palace complex and are located between the cliff and the coast. Most of Peterhof's fountains are located here, as well as small buildings and other annexes. To the east of the Lower Gardens is Alexandra Park, housing neo-Gothic buildings from the XIX century such as the chapel.
At the top of the cliff, in the middle of the Lower Gardens, is the Great Palace (Bolshoi Dvorets). To the south are the Upper Gardens (Verhnyy Sad). Below the palace is the Grand Cascade (Bolshoi Kaskad) which, together with the palace, forms the central part of the complex. At its feet begins the Sea Canal (Morskoi Kanal), one of the largest Baroque pools, which divides the Lower Gardens.
The Great Cascade and Samson's Fountain
The Grand Cascade was influenced by the one built by Louis XIV in his castle in Marly, which is also commemorated in one of the annexes of the park.
In the center of the waterfall is a cave that houses a modest museum of the history of the fountains. The sources of the Great Cascade are located under the cave and to its sides. There are 64 fountains, whose waters flow into a semicircular pool where the Canal del Mar ends. In the 1730s, the Samson Fountain was located in this pool, representing the moment when Samson opens the jaws of a lion, a metaphor for the Russian victory in the Great Northern War and its double meaning. The lion appears on the coat of arms of Sweden and one of the great victories of the war for Russia occurred on Samson's Day. From the lion's mouth a jet of water shoots up to 20 meters high, the highest in Peterhof. This masterpiece was made by Mikhail Kozlovsky and was looted by the Nazis during World War II, so a replica was installed in 1947.
Probably Peterhof's greatest technological achievement is that all the fountains work without the use of hydraulic pumps. The water comes from natural springs and the pools of the Lower Gardens, including the Great Cascade. Samson's fountain is provided by a unique aqueduct, more than 4 kilometers long.
The Lower Gardens
The spaces of the Lower Gardens were designed in the 17th century French style. Although many trees have grown in abundance, restorations have been undertaken in the plant spaces to restore their original appearance. The fountains show great creativity in their design, as in the case of the so-called "El Sol", in which a disc radiates water creating an image of solar rays and the entire structure rotates on its vertical axis, therefore what the direction of the "Sun" it is constantly changing.
The same cliff that allows the existence of the Great Cascade is also home to two other very different waterfalls. To the west is the Golden Mountain (Золотая Гора), decorated with marble statues that contrast with the golden figures of the Great Cascade; while to the east is Chess Mountain (Шахматная Гора), in which a waterfall cascades down onto a black and white chess-like board. The most prominent sources are the calls of "Adam" and "Eva", which occupy symmetrical positions on each of the sides of the Canal del Mar.
The Grand Palace
The largest of Peterhof's palaces looks imposing when viewed from either the Lower or Upper Gardens, although in reality it is of more modest proportions and not very extensive, housing a total of thirty rooms.
The Çeşme Hall is decorated with twelve huge paintings of the Battle of Çeşme, a naval battle that occurred during the Turkish-Russian War that ended in Russian victory in 1770. These works were executed by the German artist Jacob Philipp Hackert between 1771-73. Early reviews criticized the unrealistic effect of exploding ships. Catherine II helped the artist by blowing up a frigate in the port of Livorno, Italy, as Hackert had never seen a sea battle firsthand. The German painter had also not studied the Russian and Turkish positions during the battle, so the scenes depicted are quite fanciful, although they show great drama and naval destruction.
The Chinese-style rooms were built between 1766-69 to house decorative objects imported from the Orient. The walls were decorated following oriental-style patterns and made by Russian craftsmen with Chinese landscape paintings. The so-called Hall of Paintings is located in the center of the palace and is decorated with 368 paintings, most representing female figures of different appearance and age, although all correspond to the same model. The works were purchased in 1764 from the widow of the Italian artist Pietro Antonio Rotari, who died in Saint Petersburg.
Other buildings
The Grand Palace is not the only historic building in Peterhof. The Monplaisir and Marli palaces, as well as the pavilion known as the 'Hermitage', were erected during Peterhof's initial phase during the reign of Peter the Great. The Lower Gardens also house large greenhouses, as well as the park of Alejandra is the palace of Nicholas I.