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Parchim II Class Anti-submarine Corvettes (Project 1331M) pennant numbers 304 - MPK-192 URENGOI, 308 - MPK-99 ZELENODOLSK, and 311 - MPK-205 KAZANETS ('Citizen of Kazan') are berthed at the Kronstadt military seaport on Kotlin Island, off Saint Petersburg, in the Gulf of Finland.
The Parchim class was designed for defensive and patrol operations in the narrow, shallow seas of the Baltic. They were built at VEB Peenewerft in East Germany, in 1986 and 1987, for the Soviet Navy in payment for Soviet economic and military aid. All units were delivered between 1986 and 1990, and were probably acquired as a subsidy for the East German shipbuilding industry. The Parchim-II in Russian service is a modified version of the former East German Parchim I-class covettes (now in the Indonesian Navy).
(Project 21980 Grachonok) P-104 Pennant 889, built at the A.M. Gorky shipyard, Zelenodolsk in 2009 and named NAKHIMOVETS in 2013.
By the order of the Commander-in-Chief of RF Navy, the lead counter-terror boat of Project 21980, built by the OJSC Zelenodolsk Plant was named by M. Gorky as P-104 Nakhimovets.
Counter-terror boat Grachonok, which joined the Baltic Fleet, is currently based in Kronshtadt. The name was proposed by the Saint-Petersburg Union of graduates from Suvorov’s military schools, Nakhimov’s naval schools and cadet’s colleges to commemorate the 70-year anniversary of the Nakhimov Naval School.
According to the proposal, the next boats of project 21980 can be named 'Suvorovets' (Cadets).
Non-self-propelled SFDR (Arcticheskaya) ARCTIC (Project 15402M) moored at the Kronstadt military seaport on Kotlin Island, off Saint Petersburg, in the Gulf of Finland.
The rig is designed to drill exploratory and development wells for oil and gas on the continental shelf of the Arctic seas, and elsewhere, to a depth of 6500 m, at a depth of 10 to 30 meters. The drilling rig has a displacement of 16350 tonnes and stands on three cylindrical supports of 6 m in diameter and 72 m in height with three rack bars each.
There is a living complex and helicopter landing site in the forward part, whilst the drilling block is arranged on the sliding console in the aft part of the rig. Dimensions of living and drilling modules are 88х6 m, and total weight is 14800 tonnes. Designer General of SFDR is CDB Corall (Ukraine). Customer of platform construction is RJSC Gasprom.
In compliance with Marine Shipping Register RF the platform is qualified to be of KPBU self-lifting class.
Kronstadt is located on an island (Kotlin) at the head of the Gulf of Finland. It has played a significant roll, starting in 1704, of guarding St. Petersburg from invaders. We spent some time crawling around these World War Two era bunkers and gun emplacements. It was very interesting.
El palacio de Peterhof es un conjunto del palacio y del parque que se encuentra en la orilla meridional del Golfo de Finlandia, a unos 29 km de San Petersburgo. Está situado en el territorio de la ciudad de Peterhof (llamada antiguamente Petrodvoréts). El conjunto de palacio y parque de la ciudad de Petrodvoréts y su centro histórico forma parte, con el código 540-017, del lugar Patrimonio de la Humanidad llamado «Centro histórico de San Petersburgo y conjuntos monumentales anexos». El centro del conjunto lo constituye el Palacio Grande, que está construido en la terraza marítima y es de estilo barroco. Destacan sus parques y fuentes.
Hasta la Revolución de Octubre de 1917, Peterhof fue residencia de los zares. En el año 1918 se transformó en museo. Durante de Segunda Guerra Mundial estuvo ocupado por las tropas alemanas. Antes de su llegada se pudieron evacuar más de 8.000 objetos de decoración de los palacios y cerca de 50 estatuas. Las tropas alemanas destruyeron casi todo. Después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial se empezó a restaurar el Palacio de Peterhof, y aún hoy continúan las obras (2007). Desde 1945 está abierto el Parque Inferior. Desde 1946 las fuentes se están reconstruyendo de memoria, como la fuente «Sansón», que fue robada por las tropas alemanas. En el año 1952 se empezó a reconstruir el Palacio Grande. En 1964 quedaron abiertas al público las salas del museo.
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palacio_Peterhof
The Peterhof Palace (Russian: Петерго́ф) is a series of palaces and gardens located in Petergof, Saint Petersburg, Russia, commissioned by Peter the Great as a direct response to the Palace of Versailles by Louis XIV of France. Originally intended in 1709 for country habitation, Peter the Great sought to expand the property as a result of his visit to the French royal court in 1717, inspiring the nickname used by tourists "The Russian Versailles". In the period between 1714 and 1728, the architecture was designed by Domenico Trezzini, and the style he employed became the foundation for the Petrine Baroque style favored throughout Saint Petersburg. Also in 1714, Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond designed the gardens, likely chosen due to his previous collaborations with Versailles landscaper André Le Nôtre. Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli completed an expansion from 1747 to 1756 for Elizabeth of Russia. The palace-ensemble along with the city center is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The end of the Great Northern War resulted in the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, ceding much of the Swedish Empire's claim to the Baltic Sea to the rising Tsardom of Russia. Peter the Great already began construction of his new capital St Petersburg in 1703 after successfully capturing Swedish provinces on the eastern coast. This strategic location allowed Russian access to the Baltic Sea through the Neva River that flowed to the Gulf of Finland. The island of Kotlin and its fortress Kronstadt northeast of St Petersburg provided a gateway and commercial harbor access owing to the shallowness of water closer to the city.
Throughout the early 18th century, Peter the Great built and expanded the Peterhof Palace complex as a part of his goal to modernize and westernize Russia.
In 1714, Peter began construction of the Monplaisir Palace (French: "my delight") based on his own sketches. He "сhalked out not only the site but also the inside layout, some elements of the decorative finish, etc". Based in a Dutch style, this was Peter's summer retreat (not to be confused with his Summer Palace) that he would use on his way coming and going from Europe through the harbour at Kronstadt. On the walls of this seacoast palace hung hundreds of paintings that Peter brought from Europe and allowed to weather Russian winters and the dampness of the sea without heat. In the seaward corner of his Monplaisir Palace, Peter made his Maritime Study, from which he could see Kronstadt Island to the left and St. Petersburg to the right. Later, he expanded his plans to include a vaster royal château of palaces and gardens further inland, on the model of Versailles which would become Peterhof Palace. The initial design of the palace and its garden was done by the French architect Jean-Baptiste Le Blond.
The dominant natural feature of Peterhof is a 16-m-high bluff lying less than 100 m from the shore. The so-called Lower Gardens (Nizhny Sad), at 1.02 km² comprising the better part of Peterhof's land area, are confined between this bluff and the shore, stretching east and west for roughly 200 m. The majority of Peterhof's fountains are contained here, as are several small palaces and outbuildings. East of the Lower Gardens lies the Alexandria Park with 19th-century Gothic Revival structures such as the Kapella.
Atop the bluff, near the middle of the Lower Gardens, stands the Grand Palace (Bolshoi Dvorets). Behind (south) of it are the comparatively small Upper Gardens (Verhnyy Sad). Upon the bluff's face below the palace is the Grand Cascade (Bolshoi Kaskad). This and the Grand Palace are the centrepiece of the entire complex. At its foot begins the Sea Channel (Morskoi Kanal), one of the most extensive waterworks of the Baroque period, which bisects the Lower Gardens.
The Grand Cascade is modelled on one constructed for Louis XIV at his Château de Marly,[15] which is likewise memorialised in one of the park's outbuildings.
At the centre of the cascade is an artificial grotto with two stories, faced inside and out with hewn brown stone. It currently contains a modest museum of the fountains' history. One of the exhibits is a table carrying a bowl of (artificial) fruit, a replica of a similar table built under Peter's direction. The table is rigged with jets of water that soak visitors when they reach for the fruit, a feature from Mannerist gardens that remained popular in Germany. The grotto is connected to the palace above and behind by a hidden corridor.
The fountains of the Grand Cascade are located below the grotto and on either side of it. There are 64 fountains.[16] Their waters flow into a semicircular pool, the terminus of the fountain-lined Sea Channel. In the 1730s, the large Samson Fountain was placed in this pool. It depicts the moment when Samson tears open the jaws of a lion, representing Russia's victory over Sweden in the Great Northern War, and is doubly symbolic.[17] The lion is an element of the Swedish coat of arms, and one of the great victories of the war was won on St Sampson's Day. From the lion's mouth shoots a 20-metre-high vertical jet of water, the highest in all of Peterhof. This masterpiece by Mikhail Kozlovsky was looted by the invading Germans during the Second World War; see History below. A replica of the statue was installed in 1947.
Perhaps the greatest technological achievement of Peterhof is that all of the fountains operate without the use of pumps. Water is supplied from natural springs and collects in reservoirs in the Upper Gardens. The elevation difference creates the pressure that drives most of the fountains of the Lower Gardens, including the Grand Cascade. The Samson Fountain is supplied by a special aqueduct, over 4 km in length, drawing water and pressure from a high-elevation source.
The expanse of the Lower Gardens is designed in the formal style of French formal gardens of the 17th century. Although many trees are overgrown, in the recent years the formal clipping along the many allees has resumed in order to restore the original appearance of the garden. The many fountains located here exhibit an unusual degree of creativity. One of the most notable designs is entitled 'The Sun'. A disk radiating water jets from its edge creates an image of the sun's rays, and the whole structure rotates about a vertical axis so that the direction in which the "sun" faces is constantly changing.
The same bluff that provides a setting for the Grand Cascade houses two other, very different cascades. West of the Grand Palace is the Golden Mountain (Золотая Гора), decorated with marble statuary that contrasts with the riotous gilded figures of the Grand Cascade. To the east is the Chess Mountain (Шахматная Гора), a broad chute whose surface is tiled black and white like a chessboard. The most prominently positioned fountains of Peterhof are 'Adam' and 'Eve'. They occupy symmetric positions on either side of the Sea Channel, each at the conjunction of eight paths.
This is the oldest of the many lighthouses in Kronstadt, built in 1810. The station was established in 1719. The round old style stone tower is white with a red lantern dome, with a two story stone keeper's house nearby. The original lighthouse on this site was a wooden structure ordered by Peter The Great.
The light signal is a white light 3 seconds on and 9 seconds off.
Located on a tiny island 4 miles west northwest of the western tip of Kotlin Island, which accounts for the poor quality blurred photograph.
Kotlin is a Russian island, located near the head of the Gulf of Finland, 20 mi (32 km) west of St Petersburg in the Baltic Sea.
The fortified town of Kronstadt is the main settlement on the island. Kotlin (kettle) Island serves as a gateway to Spb and as such has been the site of several military engagements over the centuries.
The town of Kronstadt was founded by Peter the Great, who took the island of Kotlin from the Swedes in 1703. It was the site of the 'Kronstadt rebellion' in March of 1921 which resulted in over 11,000 casualties. Before and for many years after the rebellion, Kronstadt was the base for the Russian Baltic Fleet and the main port for St Petersburg.
El Palacio de Peterhof es un conjunto del palacio y del parque que se encuentra en la orilla meridional del Golfo de Finlandia, a unos 29 km de San Petersburgo. Está situado en el territorio de la ciudad de Peterhof, llamado antiguamente Petrodvoréts). El conjunto de palacio y parque de la ciudad de Petrodvoréts y su centro histórico forma parte, con el código 540-017 , del lugar Patrimonio de la Humanidad llamado «Centro histórico de San Petersburgo y conjuntos monumentales anexos».1 El centro del conjunto lo constituye el Palacio Grande, que está construido en la terraza marítima y es de estilo barroco. Destacan parques y las fuentes.
Hasta la Revolución de Octubre (1917) Peterhof fue residencia de los zares. En el año 1918 se transformó en museo. Durante de Segunda Guerra Mundial estuvo ocupado por las tropas alemanas. Antes de su llegada se pudieron evacuar más de 8.000 objetos de decoración de los palacios y cerca de 50 estatuas. Las tropas alemanas destruyeron casi todo. Después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial se empezó a restaurar el Palacio de Peterhof, y aún hoy continúan las obras (2007). Desde 1945 está abierto el Parque Inferior. Desde 1946 las fuentes se están reconstruyendo de memoria, como la fuente «Sansón», que fue robada por las tropas alemanas. En el año 1952 se empezó a reconstruir el Palacio Grande. En 1964 quedaron abiertas al público las salas del museo.
Peterhof (in russo: Петерго́ф[?], letteralmente Petergóf; il toponimo originale, Peterhof, significa Corte di Pietro in tedesco[1]) è una reggia dello zar, sulle rive del Golfo di Finlandia, edificata per volere di Pietro il Grande.[2] Fa parte della lista delle Sette meraviglie della Russia.
Situato nell'omonima cittadina, a circa 20 chilometri ad ovest da San Pietroburgo, questa reggia comprende diversi e numerosi palazzi, si estende su di una superficie di 607 ettari ed è inserita nell'elenco dei Patrimoni dell'umanità stilato dall'Unesco[3][4].
Storia [modifica | modifica sorgente]
Funse da residenza imperiale fino alla Rivoluzione d'Ottobre, nel 1918 i palazzi divennero musei ma durante la Seconda guerra mondiale Peterhof fu occupato dai soldati nazisti dal 1941 al 1944. Tuttavia prima dell'occupazione si riuscì a sgombrare più di 8 000 oggetti dell’arredamento dei palazzi e circa 50 statue, che vennero salvate mentre il complesso fu quasi completamente distrutto da bombardamenti e combattimenti vari.
Dopo la guerra incominciò la ricostruzione di Peterhof, che prosegue tuttora. Nel 1945 fu aperto il Parco inferiore, nel 1946 riaprirono le fontane, nel 1947 fu costruita una copia della scultura Sansone, nel 1952 fu iniziata la ricostruzione del Palazzo Grande, il 17 maggio 1964 vennero aperti al grande pubblico le prime sale dei musei di Peterhof, che attualmente è una delle mete più visitate da turisti, sia russi che stranieri.
Il complesso [modifica | modifica sorgente]
La tenuta di Peterhof comprende il Parco superiore, il Parco inferiore e il Parco di Aleksandra, che occupano un'area di circa 607 ettari. Oltre ai numerosi palazzi e alle molte fontane, vi sono viali alberati, sentieri immersi nei boschi e che dominano il Mar Baltico. Le Blond progettò la tenuta del Gran palazzo secondo il formale stile francese, con aiuole geometriche, sculture, chioschi e pergolati. Piante e arbusti, tra i quali alberi di vischio, olmi, aceri e roseti, vennero importati sia dalla Russia sia dall'estero[5].
Palazzi [modifica | modifica sorgente]
La grande fontana.
Gran Palazzo: questo è il palazzo principale del complesso di Peterhof ed è la struttura più imponente dell'intero complesso. Detrminante fu l'aggiunta delle ali laterali, realizzate fra il 1745 ed il 1755, su commissione di Elisabetta di Russia e progettate dall'architetto italiano Bartolomeo Rastrelli.
La stanza di Çeşme è decorata da dipinti che raffigurano l'omonima Battaglia di Çeşme, pitture realizzate dal 1771 al 1773 da Jakob Philipp Hackert. Nel Gran Palazzo, la maggior sala di rappresentanza è anche la ricca sala del trono, progettata da Jurij Velten nel 1770.
Montplaisir: fu progettato nel 1714 da Johann Braunstien. Benché non vivesse nel Grande Palazzo di Peterhof, Pietro il Grande riceveva qui gli ospiti, che non potevano sottrarsi alle forti libagioni. Anche se non sfarzosi come quelli del Gran Palazzo, gli interni del palazzo Montplaisir sono altrettanto notevoli, in particolare la sala cerimoniale, rivestita in legno. Questo complesso si affaccia direttamente sul Golfo di Finlandia.
Marly: Marly-le-Rois, il capanno di caccia del re di Francia, ispirò Pietro durante le sue visite in Europa nel 1717. Eresse nello stesso anno una modesta residenza nel parco di Peterhof, che poteva accogliere alcuni ospiti. L'edificio si trova in un giardino di sculture e fontane.
Ermitage: situato in posizione isolata sulle rive del Golfo di Finlandia, questo elegante padiglione costruito tra il 1721 e il 1725 venne progettato da Braunstein come sala da pranzo privata per lo zar e per i suoi amici. La facciata in stucco è decorata con pilastri corinzi, elaborati balconi in ferro battuto e ampie finestre.
Cottage: La romantica tenuta-giardino del parco di Aleksandra, dal nome della moglie di Nicola I, costituisce l'ambientazione ideale per il Cottage. Questa residenza neogotica fu costruita tra il 1826 e il 1829 dall'architetto scozzese Adam Menelaws per Nicola I e sua moglie.
Parchi [modifica | modifica sorgente]
Una fontana di Peterhof.
Parco superiore: conta un grande numero di fontane e piscine. Nonostante il simile nome a quello del Parco inferiore, è diverso da esso. Il parco è situato in un'area pianeggiante ed è costituito in gran parte da giardini classici; i boschetti sono pochi.
Parco inferiore: anch'essa conserva preziose fontane. Qui, al contrario che nei giardini superiori, prevale il bosco.
Parco di Aleksandra: è un ulteriore parco di Peterhof, diverso dagli altri perché più boscoso. Al suo interno si trova un unico palazzo, il Cottage, in stile neoclassico, costruito nella prima metà del XIX secolo, immerso in un giardino lussureggiante. Altro edificio di particolare pregio è la cappella di Aleksandr Nevskij in stile neogotico. Il nome di questo parco deriva da quello della moglie dello zar Nicola I, che visse nel Cottage per un po' di tempo.
Fontane [modifica | modifica sorgente]
Fontana romana.
Grande cascata: era ornata da statue in piombo che vennero danneggiate dagli agenti atmosferici. Esse furono sostituite da sculture di bronzo nel 1799. Numerosi scultori provenienti dalla Russia crearono questa fontana dai getti mozzafiato.
Fontana di Adamo ed Eva: scolpita da Giovanni Bonazza, venne commissionata da Pietro I di Russia nel 1718. Le due fontane si riferiscono al paradiso terrestre, ricreato a Peterhof dallo zar.
Fontana di Nettuno: esisteva già circa 50 anni prima della costruzione del complesso di Peterhof. La scultura barocca venne eretta a Norimberga nel 1658 per celebrare la fine della guerra dei trent'anni e fu acquistata dallo zar Paolo I nel 1782, poiché là non vi era acqua sufficiente per farla funzionare.
Fontane romane: furono progettate da Ivan Blank e da Ivan Davydov tra il 1738 e il 1739. Particolari sono quelle in marmo a due piani, simili a una fontana in Piazza San Pietro, a Roma.
Fontana piramidale: fu eretta nel 1720. Questa è una delle molte fontane il cui getto crea una forma particolare. Più di 500 zampilli disposti in sette file si innalzano per creare l'obelisco in onore della Russia che vince la Svezia.
Informazioni turistiche [modifica | modifica sorgente]
Peterhof è accessibile dal mare: numerosi aliscafi partono dal Palazzo d'inverno, a San Pietroburgo, attraversa il fiume Neva e segue il percorso della costa del golfo di Finlandia. Il complesso è comunque facilmente accessibile dalla strada: regolari collegamenti di autobus da e per San Pietroburgo trasportano i turisti.
I giardini superiori sono accessibili liberamente, ma per accedere a quelli inferiori bisogna essere muniti di biglietti[6]. I palazzi sono accessibili solo se si fa la visita guidata. Come in molte delle attrazioni turistiche in Russia, i biglietti per turisti russi sono scontati circa del 10%; gli stranieri, invece, devono pagare il prezzo pieno. Questo favorisce anche un maggiore accesso ai russi alle spiagge di Peterhof.
Il complesso di Peterhof non è sempre aperto, come tutti gli altri palazzi e musei. In estate, la stagione dei turisti, i giardini inferiori sono aperti dalle ore 10 e le fontane non gettano più acqua alle ore 17.
he Peterhof Palace (Russian: Петерго́ф, IPA: [pʲɪtʲɪrˈɡof],[1] German for Peter's Court)[2] is a series of palaces and gardens located in Saint Petersburg, Russia, laid out on the orders of Peter the Great. These Palaces and gardens are sometimes referred as the "Russian Versailles". The palace-ensemble along with the city centre is recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.The Grand Cascade is modelled on one constructed for Louis XIV at his Château de Marly, which is likewise memorialised in one of the park's outbuildings.
At the centre of the cascade is an artificial grotto with two stories, faced inside and out with hewn brown stone. It currently contains a modest museum of the fountains' history. One of the exhibits is a table carrying a bowl of (artificial) fruit, a replica of a similar table built under Peter's direction. The table is rigged with jets of water that soak visitors when they reach for the fruit, a feature from Mannerist gardens that remained popular in Germany. The grotto is connected to the palace above and behind by a hidden corridor.
The fountains of the Grand Cascade are located below the grotto and on either side of it. Their waters flow into a semicircular pool, the terminus of the fountain-lined Sea Channel. In the 1730s, the large Samson Fountain was placed in this pool. It depicts the moment when Samson tears open the jaws of a lion, representing Russia's victory over Sweden in the Great Northern War, and is doubly symbolic. The lion is an element of the Swedish coat of arms, and one of the great victories of the war was won on St Samson's Day. From the lion's mouth shoots a 20-metre-high vertical jet of water, the highest in all of Peterhof. This masterpiece by Mikhail Kozlovsky was looted by the invading Germans during the Second World War; see History below. A replica of the statue was installed in 1947.
Perhaps the greatest technological achievement of Peterhof is that all of the fountains operate without the use of pumps. Water is supplied from natural springs and collects in reservoirs in the Upper Gardens. The elevation difference creates the pressure that drives most of the fountains of the Lower Gardens, including the Grand Cascade. The Samson Fountain is supplied by a special aqueduct, over four km in length, drawing water and pressure from a high-elevation source.
The Lower Gardens[edit source | editbeta]
a Garden area.
The expanse of the Lower Gardens is designed in the formal style of french formal gardens of the 17th century. Although many trees are overgrown, in the recent years the formal clipping along the many allees has resumed in order to restore the original appearance of the garden. The many fountains located here exhibit an unusual degree of creativity. One of the most notable designs is entitled 'The Sun'. A disk radiating water jets from its edge creates an image of the sun's rays, and the whole structure rotates about a vertical axis so that the direction in which the "sun" faces is constantly changing.
Several fountains are designed with the specific purpose of soaking visitors. Two take the form of gangly trees rigged with jets that activate when someone approaches. Another, disguised as an umbrella with a circular bench set around the stem, drops a curtain of water from its rim when someone enters to take a seat.
The same bluff that provides a setting for the Grand Cascade houses two other, very different cascades. West of the Grand Palace is the Golden Mountain (Золотая Гора), decorated with marble statuary that contrasts with the riotous gilded figures of the Grand Cascade. To the east is the Chess Mountain (Шахматная Гора), a broad chute whose surface is tiled black and white like a chessboard. The most prominently positioned fountains of Peterhof are 'Adam' and 'Eve'. They occupy symmetric positions on either side of the Sea Channel, each at the conjunction of eight paths.
The Grand Palace[edit source | editbeta]
Main article: Peterhof Grand Palace
French style interior
The largest of Peterhof's palaces looks truly imposing when seen from the Lower or Upper Gardens, but in fact it is quite narrow and not overly large. Of its approximately thirty rooms, several deserve mention.
The Chesma Hall is decorated with twelve large paintings of the Battle of Chesma, a stunning naval victory of the Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774. These were painted between 1771 and 1773 by the German artist Jacob Philipp Hackert. His first renderings of the great battle scenes were criticised by witnesses as not showing realistically the effect of exploding ships — the flying timbers, great flames, smoke, and fireballs. Catherine II assisted the artist by exploding a frigate in the harbour of Livorno, Italy, for the benefit of Hackert, who had never seen a naval battle first-hand. Hackert also did not research the actual positions of the Russian and Turkish forces during the battle, so the scenes depicted are somewhat fanciful, but do effectively convey drama and destruction of naval warfare.
The East and West Chinese Cabinets were decorated between 1766 and 1769 to exhibit objects of decorative art imported from the East. The walls were decorated with imitation Oriental patterns by Russian craftsmen, and hung with Chinese landscape paintings in yellow and black lacquer. Another room, positioned at the centre of the palace, bears the name of the Picture Hall. Its walls are almost entirely covered by a series of 368 paintings, mostly of variously dressed women, differing in appearance and even age, yet most were drawn from a single model. These were purchased in 1764 from the widow of the Italian artist P. Rotari, who died in St. Petersburg.
Other features[edit source | editbeta]
The Grand Palace is not the only historic royal building in Peterhof. The palaces of Monplaisir and Marly, as well as the pavilion known as the 'Hermitage', were all raised during the initial construction of Peterhof during the reign of Peter the Great. The Lower Gardens also contain a large greenhouse, and in the Alexandrine Park stands the palace of Nicholas I.
Like the Lower Gardens, the Upper Gardens contain many fountains, distributed among seven broad pools. The landscaping, though, is entirely different; unlike the Lower Gardens (which are strictly geometric), the Upper Gardens are not. While a few of the fountains have curious sculpture, the waterworks themselves are comparatively unimpressive.[citation needed]
History[edit source | editbeta]
In the time of Peter the Great, the sea floor just north of the Peterhof site and to the east toward St. Petersburg was too shallow for either commercial ships or warships. However, to the west of Peterhof, the sea floor dropped off to be deep enough for sea vessels. Accordingly, when Peter the Great decided to build St. Petersburg at the eastern end of the Gulf of Finland, he first captured the Kotlin Island clearly visible from the Peterhof site just to the northeast in the middle of the Gulf. At Kotlin Island he would build the commercial harbour for St. Petersburg as well as the Kronstadt fortifications across the 20 kilometres of shallow sea to provision and defend the Navy that he would build.
Peter the Great first mentions the Peterhof site in his journal in 1705, during the Great Northern War, as a good place to construct a landing for use in travelling to and from the island fortress of Kronstadt. And in 1714, Peter began construction of the Monplaisir ("my pleasure") Palace based on his own sketches of the palace that he wanted close to the shoreline. This was Peter's Summer Palace that he would use on his way coming and going from Europe through the harbour at Kronstadt. On the walls of this seacoast palace hung hundreds of paintings that Peter brought from Europe and allowed to weather Russian winters without heat together with the dampness of being so close to the sea.[3] And in the seaward corner of his Monplaisir Palace, Peter made his Maritime Study from which he could see Kronstadt Island to the left and St. Petersburg to the right.[4] Later, he expanded his plans to include a vaster royal château of palaces and gardens further inland, on the model of Versailles. Each of the tsars after Peter expanded on the inland palaces and gardens of Peterhof, but the major contributions by Peter the Great were completed by 1725. Peter had also entertained plans of a similar palace at Strelna, a short way to the east, but these plans were abandoned.
Peterhof originally appeared quite differently than it does today. Many of the fountains had not yet been installed. The entire Alexandrine Park and Upper Gardens didn't exist. (The latter was used to grow vegetables, and its ponds, then numbering only three, for fish.) The Samson Fountain and its massive pedestal had not yet been installed in the Sea Channel, and the channel itself was used as a grand marine entrance into the complex.
Perhaps the most important change augmenting Peter's design was the elevation of the Grand Palace to central status and prominence. The Grand Palace was originally called simply 'Upper', and was hardly larger than any of the other structures of the complex. The addition of wings, undertaken between 1745 and 1755, was one of the many projects commissioned from the Italian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli by Elizabeth of Russia. Likewise, the Grand Cascade was more sparsely decorated when initially built. The augmentation of Peterhof's original fountains and the addition of new ones continued well into the 19th century.
Peterhof, like Tsarskoye Selo, was captured by German troops in 1941 and held until 1944. In the few months that elapsed between the outbreak of war in the west and the appearance of the German Army, employees were only able to save a portion of the treasures of the palaces and fountains. An attempt was made to dismantle and bury the fountain sculptures, but three quarters, including all of the largest ones, remained in place. The occupying forces of the German Army largely destroyed[5] Peterhof. Many of the fountains were destroyed, and the palace was partially exploded and left to burn. Restoration work began almost immediately after the end of the war and continues to this day.
The name was changed to "Petrodvorets" ("Peter's Palace") in 1944 as a result of wartime anti-German sentiment and propaganda, but the original name was restored in 1997 by the post-Soviet government of Russia. In 2003, Saint Petersburg celebrated its 300th anniversary. As a result, much of the building and statuary in Peterhof has been restored and new gilt-work abounds.
The "purpose" of Peterhof was as a celebration and claim to access to the Baltic (while simultaneously, Peter the Great was also expanding on the Black Sea littoral). Thus Peterhof commemorates the imperial expansion (and modernization of Russia). Inside the Peterhof there are many paintings of sea battles by the famous Ivan Aivazovsky.
„Петерхоф“ (на руски: Петергоф, от нидерландски Peterhof, в превод: „дворът на Петър“), предишно име „Петродворец“ (1944 - 1997), е дворцово-парков ансамбъл, разположен на южния бряг на Финския залив. Намира се в едноименния град Петерхоф (бивш Петродворец) на 29 километра от Санкт Петербург.
Основан е от царя обединител и първи император на Русия Петър I през 1710 година. Строителството на парка продължава до 1755 г.
Построен е в стил барок, присъстват обаче и елементи на класицизъм, необарок и неоготика. Дворецът заедно с целия архитектурен и парков комплекс около него е част от културното наследство на Руската федерация и е включен в списъка на световното културно и природно наследство на ЮНЕСКО[1].
Парковете са изпълнени с множество фонтани, преливащи от един стил и период на изкуството в друг. Фасадите на всички сгради в „Петерхоф“ са пищни и богато украсени.
Ансамбълът e вдъхновен от френския Версай, но според критиците в много отношения дори го надминава. Свързващата сила между всички паркове и градини е водата – връзката между живата природа и архитектурата. В рамките на този културен паметник се помещават голям брой произведения на изкуството.
Решението за създаването на извънградска резиденция Петър I взима през 1705 г. Съхранените скици, укази и отметки по документите на императора дават възможност да се твърди, че общата концепция на дворцовия комплекс, а понякога и на детайлни разработки на отделни елементи в архитектурата и водоскочните съоръжения, му принадлежат.
През август 1723 г. се състоява тържественото откриване на „Петерхоф“. По онова време е планиран и Долният парк, прокопан е Морският канал, част от фонтаните действат, привършени са горните палати, построен е „Монплезир“, почти е готов и павилионът „Ермитаж“, построени са повече от 20 дървени галерии и павилиони, перголи, Голямата каскада, Марлинският дворец, 16 големи фонтана.[2]
The opening of one of the Russian Navy port areas at Kronstadt which is a municipal town in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of Saint Petersburg, Russia, located on Kotlin Island, 19 miles west of Saint Petersburg proper near the head of the Gulf of Finland.
Kotlin Island. The focal point is the huge Kronstadt naval cathedral, which can be seen for miles around.
The Peterhof Palace is a series of palaces and gardens located in Petergof, Saint Petersburg, Russia, commissioned by Peter the Great as a direct response to the Palace of Versailles by Louis XIV of France. Originally intending it in 1709 for country habitation, Peter the Great sought to expand the property as a result of his visit to the French royal court in 1717, inspiring the nickname of "The Russian Versailles". The architect between 1714 and 1728 was Domenico Trezzini, and the style he employed became the foundation for the Petrine Baroque style favored throughout Saint Petersburg. Also in 1714, Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond, likely chosen due to his previous collaborations with Versailles landscaper André Le Nôtre, designed the gardens. Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli completed an expansion from 1747 to 1756 for Elizabeth of Russia. The palace-ensemble along with the city center is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Construction
The end of the Great Northern War resulted in the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, ceding much of the Swedish Empire's claim to the Baltic Sea to the rising Tsardom of Russia. Peter the Great already began construction of his new capital St Petersburg in 1703 after successfully capturing Swedish provinces on the eastern coast. This strategic location allowed Russian access to the Baltic Sea through the Neva River that flowed to the Gulf of Finland. The island of Kotlin and its fortress Kronstadt west of St Petersburg provided a gateway and commercial harbor access owing to the shallowness of water closer to the city.
Throughout the early 18th century, Peter the Great built and expanded the Peterhof Palace complex as a part of his goal to modernize and westernize Russia.
Monplaisir Palace (1714–1723)
In 1714, Peter began construction of the Monplaisir Palace (French: "my delight") based on his own sketches. He "сhalked out not only the site but also the inside layout, some elements of the decorative finish, etc". Based in a Dutch style, this was Peter's summer retreat (not to be confused with his Summer Palace) that he would use on his way coming and going from Europe through the harbour at Kronstadt. On the walls of this seacoast palace hung hundreds of paintings that Peter brought from Europe and allowed to weather Russian winters and the dampness of the sea without heat. In the seaward corner of his Monplaisir Palace, Peter made his Maritime Study, from which he could see Kronstadt Island to the left and St. Petersburg to the right. Later, he expanded his plans to include a vaster royal château of palaces and gardens further inland, on the model of Versailles which would become Peterhof Palace. The initial design of the palace and its garden was done by the French architect Jean-Baptiste Le Blond.
Layout
The dominant natural feature of Peterhof is a 16-m-high bluff lying less than 100 m from the shore. The so-called Lower Gardens (Nizhny Sad), at 1.02 km2 comprising the better part of Peterhof's land area, are confined between this bluff and the shore, stretching east and west for roughly 200 m. The majority of Peterhof's fountains are contained here, as are several small palaces and outbuildings. East of the Lower Gardens lies the Alexandria Park with 19th-century Gothic Revival structures such as the Kapella.
Atop the bluff, near the middle of the Lower Gardens, stands the Grand Palace (Bolshoi Dvorets). Behind (south) of it are the comparatively small Upper Gardens (Verhnyy Sad). Upon the bluff's face below the palace is the Grand Cascade (Bolshoi Kaskad). This and the Grand Palace are the centrepiece of the entire complex. At its foot begins the Sea Channel (Morskoi Kanal), one of the most extensive waterworks of the Baroque period, which bisects the Lower Gardens.
The Grand Cascade and Samson Fountain
The Grand Cascade is modelled on one constructed for Louis XIV at his Château de Marly, which is likewise memorialised in one of the park's outbuildings.
At the centre of the cascade is an artificial grotto with two stories, faced inside and out with hewn brown stone. It currently contains a modest museum of the fountains' history.
The fountains of the Grand Cascade are located below the grotto and on either side of it. There are 64 fountains. Their waters flow into a semicircular pool, the terminus of the fountain-lined Sea Channel. In the 1730s, the large Samson Fountain was placed in this pool. It depicts the moment when Samson tears open the jaws of a lion, representing Russia's victory over Sweden in the Great Northern War, and is doubly symbolic. The lion is an element of the Swedish coat of arms, and one of the great victories of the war was won on St Sampson's Day. From the lion's mouth shoots a 20-metre (66 ft)-high vertical jet of water, the highest in all of Peterhof. This masterpiece by Mikhail Kozlovsky was looted by the invading Germans during the Second World War; see History below. A replica of the statue was installed in 1947.
Perhaps the greatest technological achievement of Peterhof is that all of the fountains operate without the use of pumps. Water is supplied from natural springs and collects in reservoirs in the Upper Gardens. The elevation difference creates the pressure that drives most of the fountains of the Lower Gardens, including the Grand Cascade.
The Lower Gardens
The expanse of the Lower Gardens is designed in the formal style of French formal gardens of the 17th century. Although many trees are overgrown, in recent years the formal clipping along the many allees has resumed in order to restore the original appearance of the garden. The many fountains located here exhibit an unusual degree of creativity.
The same bluff that provides a setting for the Grand Cascade houses two other, very different cascades. West of the Grand Palace is the Golden Mountain (Золотая Гора), decorated with marble statuary that contrasts with the riotous gilded figures of the Grand Cascade. To the east is the Chess Mountain (Шахматная Гора), a broad chute whose surface is tiled black and white like a chessboard. The most prominently positioned fountains of Peterhof are 'Adam' and 'Eve'.
The Grand Palace
The largest of Peterhof's palaces looks imposing when seen from the Lower or Upper Gardens, but in fact it is quite narrow and not overly large.
The Chesma Hall is decorated with twelve large paintings of the Battle of Chesma, a stunning naval victory of the Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774. These were painted between 1771 and 1773 by the German artist Jacob Philipp Hackert. His first renderings of the great battle scenes were criticised by witnesses as not showing realistically the effect of exploding ships — the flying timbers, great flames, smoke, and fireballs.
The East and West Chinese Cabinets were decorated between 1766 and 1769 to exhibit objects of decorative art imported from the East. The walls were decorated with imitation Oriental patterns by Russian craftsmen, and hung with Chinese landscape paintings in yellow and black lacquer. Another room, positioned at the centre of the palace, bears the name of the Picture Hall.
Other features
The Grand Palace is not the only historic royal building in Peterhof. The palaces of Monplaisir and Marli, as well as the pavilion known as the 'Hermitage', were all raised during the initial construction of Peterhof during the reign of Peter the Great.
History
1705–1755
In the early 1700s, the original Peterhof appeared quite different from today. Many of the fountains had not yet been installed and the entire Alexandrine Park and Upper Gardens did not exist. What is now the Upper Gardens was used to grow vegetables, and its ponds, then numbering only three, for fish. The Samson Fountain and its massive pedestal had not yet been installed in the Sea Channel, and the channel itself was used as a grand marine entrance into the complex.
Perhaps the most important change augmenting Peter's design was the elevation of the Grand Palace to central status and prominence. The Grand Palace was originally called simply 'Upper', and was hardly larger than any of the other structures of the complex. The addition of wings, undertaken between 1745 and 1755, was one of the many projects commissioned from the Italian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli by Elizabeth of Russia. Likewise, the Grand Cascade was more sparsely decorated when initially built.
1941–modern day
Peterhof, like Tsarskoye Selo, was captured by German troops in 1941 and held until 1944. In the few months that elapsed between the German invasion of the Soviet Union and the appearance of the German Army, employees were only able to save a portion of the treasures of the palaces and fountains. An attempt was made to dismantle and bury the fountain sculptures, but three quarters, including all of the largest ones, remained in place.
On 23 September 1941 German troops captured Peterhof. Two weeks later, on 5 October 1941, Soviet troops tried to recapture the town and block the highway by naval landing. 510 marines of the Soviet Baltic Fleet landed on the beach of the neighboring park of Alexandria but faced a heavy fire from the Germans. The commander of the operation was killed, all landing troops became disorganised, one landing craft was sunk and another one missed. Despite Soviet attempts to cover the landing forces by coastal artillery from Kronstadt, they were quickly suspended because of lack of connection with the landing troops. Evacuation attempts also failed due to heavy German artillery shelling (only one marine was picked up from the water). The Peterhof landing operation failed and all landing troops were cut off from the shore and surrounded. Some of them reached the Lower Gardens and fought until the bitter end, including hand-to-hand combat. The last pockets of resistance were destroyed on 7 October. Several dozen German Shepherd dogs were released into the gardens to find the hiding marines. Many of the wounded marines were mauled to death and several were captured.
The occupying forces of the German Army largely destroyed Peterhof. Many of the fountains were destroyed, and the palace was partially exploded and left to burn. Restoration work began almost immediately after the end of the war and continues to this day. The Lower Park was reopened to the public in 1945.
The name was changed to "Petrodvorets" ("Peter's Palace") in 1944 as a result of wartime anti-German sentiment and propaganda, but the original name was restored in 1997 by the post-Soviet government of Russia.
The "purpose" of Peterhof was as a celebration and claim to access to the Baltic (while simultaneously, Peter the Great was also expanding on the Black Sea littoral).
Petergof known as Petrodvorets from 1944 to 1997, is a municipal town in Petrodvortsovy District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, located on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland.
The town hosts one of two campuses of Saint Petersburg State University and the Petrodvorets Watch Factory, one of the leading Russian watch manufactures. A series of palaces and gardens, laid out on the orders of Peter the Great and sometimes called the "Russian Versailles", is also situated there. The palace-ensemble along with the city center is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
St. Petersburg State University
Besides the downtown campus, certain Saint Petersburg State University's schools and departments are located in Petergof:
Graduate School of Management's campus in Mikhailovka (under reconstruction)
Faculty of Biology and Soil Studies' research center in Sergievka (Leuchtenberg Palace)
Petrodvorets Complex including four faculties:
Applied Mathematics and Control Processes
Chemistry
Mathematics and Mechanics
Physics
seven research institutes:
Astronomy
Chemistry
Computational Mathematics and Control Processes
Laser Research
Mathematics and Mechanics
Radiophysics
Physics
as well as 12 dormitories and a number of infrastructure objects.
The Petrodvorets Complex dates back to 1960s when it was decided[by whom?] to copy best international practices and to construct a brand-new suburban campus for the University, which had a crucial need for new premises. However, the idea was said to be widely opposed by the faculty, who did not want to commute two hours a day, and as few as four faculties relocated to Petergof.
In the 1990s the number of students from other regions fell significantly, and the University sold many of its downtown dormitories. When the trend reversed, the need for housing made the University administration accommodate most students in Petergof, even those studying in downtown faculties, which has created certain tensions. Still, the idea of a suburban campus seems to be persistent, as the Government of the Russian Federation has decided to hand over the Mikhailovka estate to the University to reconstruct it and house the Graduate School of Management's campus.
Due to the extensive presence of research facilities, mainly belonging to St. Petersburg State University, Petergof was named a naukograd in 2005.
Petrodvorets Watch Factory
Russia's oldest factory was founded by Peter the Great in 1721 first as a lapidary plant to help in the construction of the Peterhof Palaces but also other Palaces in St. Petersburg. It started to produce equipment and parts for the watch industry in the 1920s. After World War II, the factory started to produce complete watches under the brand name Pobeda and from 1961 under the brand Raketa. in 1985 the factory had 7500 employees and was producing 5 million mechanical watches per year. Today, it is the last watch factory in Russia producing its own movements from A to Z, though the production is much smaller than it used to be.
Transportation
The town is served by three railway stations (Novy Petergof, Stary Petergof, and Universitet). The palaces of Peterhof are accessible by sea via hydrofoils based near the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. The palace is also accessed by road. Public transit and private van services make trips from Saint Petersburg.
The Upper Gardens are accessible, but entry to the Lower Gardens requires the purchase of tickets (not included in the boat fee for visitors arriving by hydrofoil). The palaces and grotto are accessible only as part of guided tours.
Local government
Petergof is a municipal entity - an intracity territory of the federal city of St. Petersburg. Local self-government is carried out on the basis of the charter, which was adopted by the resolution of the municipal council of the municipal formation of the city of Petergof dated 5 November 2008 No. 54-n.
The current body of local self-government - the Municipal Council - has been operating since 1998. As a result of the elections on 14 September 2014, a new composition of the fifth convocation was elected (out of 19 deputies: 18 from United Russia and 1 from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation).
The head of the municipal district of Petergof (since 2019) is deputy of the Municipal Council Alexander Shifman.
The executive body of local self-government is the local administration, headed by Tatyana Yegorova.
Sister cities
Germany Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Germany
France Le Blanc-Mesnil, France
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of roughly 5.6 million residents as of 2021, with more than 6.4 million people living in the metropolitan area. Saint Petersburg is the fourth-most populous city in Europe, the most populous city on the Baltic Sea, and the world's northernmost city of more than 1 million residents. As Russia's Imperial capital, and a historically strategic port, it is governed as a federal city.
The city was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on 27 May 1703 on the site of a captured Swedish fortress, and was named after the apostle Saint Peter. In Russia, Saint Petersburg is historically and culturally associated with the birth of the Russian Empire and Russia's entry into modern history as a European great power. It served as a capital of the Tsardom of Russia, and the subsequent Russian Empire, from 1712 to 1918 (being replaced by Moscow for a short period of time between 1728 and 1730). After the October Revolution in 1917, the Bolsheviks moved their government to Moscow. The city was renamed Leningrad after Lenin's death in 1924. In June 1991, only a few months before the Belovezha Accords and the dissolution of the USSR, voters supported restoring the city's original appellation in a city-wide referendum.
As Russia's cultural centre, Saint Petersburg received over 15 million tourists in 2018. It is considered an important economic, scientific, and tourism centre of Russia and Europe. In modern times, the city has the nickname of being "the Northern Capital of Russia" and is home to notable federal government bodies such as the Constitutional Court of Russia and the Heraldic Council of the President of the Russian Federation. It is also a seat for the National Library of Russia and a planned location for the Supreme Court of Russia, as well as the home to the headquarters of the Russian Navy, and the Western Military District of the Russian Armed Forces. The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Saint Petersburg is home to the Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world, the Lakhta Center, the tallest skyscraper in Europe, and was one of the host cities of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euro 2020.
Russia or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the largest country in the world by area, extending across eleven time zones. It shares land boundaries with fourteen countries. It is the world's ninth-most populous country and Europe's most populous country. The country's capital as well as its largest city is Moscow. Saint Petersburg is Russia's second-largest city and cultural capital. Other major urban areas in the country include Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Chelyabinsk, Krasnoyarsk, Kazan, Krasnodar and Rostov-on-Don.
The East Slavs emerged as a recognised group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries CE. The first East Slavic state, Kievan Rus', arose in the 9th century, and in 988, it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire. Rus' ultimately disintegrated, with the Grand Duchy of Moscow growing to become the Tsardom of Russia. By the early 18th century, Russia had vastly expanded through conquest, annexation, and the efforts of Russian explorers, developing into the Russian Empire, which remains the third-largest empire in history. However, with the Russian Revolution in 1917, Russia's monarchic rule was abolished and eventually replaced by the Russian SFSR—the world's first constitutionally socialist state. Following the Russian Civil War, the Russian SFSR established the Soviet Union with three other Soviet republics, within which it was the largest and principal constituent. At the expense of millions of lives, the Soviet Union underwent rapid industrialisation in the 1930s and later played a decisive role for the Allies in World War II by leading large-scale efforts on the Eastern Front. With the onset of the Cold War, it competed with the United States for global ideological influence. The Soviet era of the 20th century saw some of the most significant Russian technological achievements, including the first human-made satellite and the first human expedition into outer space.
In 1991, the Russian SFSR emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as the independent Russian Federation. A new constitution was adopted, which established a federal semi-presidential system. Since the turn of the century, Russia's political system has been dominated by Vladimir Putin, under whom the country has experienced democratic backsliding and a shift towards authoritarianism. Russia has been militarily involved in a number of conflicts in former Soviet states and other countries, including its war with Georgia in 2008 and annexation of Crimea in 2014 from neighbouring Ukraine, followed by the further annexation of four other regions in 2022 during an ongoing invasion.
Internationally, Russia ranks among the lowest in measurements of democracy, human rights and freedom of the press; the country also has high levels of perceived corruption. The Russian economy ranks 11th by nominal GDP, relying heavily on its abundant natural resources, and 68th by GDP per capita. Its mineral and energy sources are the world's largest, and its figures for oil production and natural gas production rank highly globally. Russia possesses the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons and has the third-highest military expenditure. The country is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council; a member state of the G20, SCO, BRICS, APEC, OSCE, and WTO; and the leading member state of post-Soviet organisations such as CIS, CSTO, and EAEU/EEU. Russia is home to 30 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The Peterhof Palace is a series of palaces and gardens located in Petergof, Saint Petersburg, Russia, commissioned by Peter the Great as a direct response to the Palace of Versailles by Louis XIV of France. Originally intending it in 1709 for country habitation, Peter the Great sought to expand the property as a result of his visit to the French royal court in 1717, inspiring the nickname of "The Russian Versailles". The architect between 1714 and 1728 was Domenico Trezzini, and the style he employed became the foundation for the Petrine Baroque style favored throughout Saint Petersburg. Also in 1714, Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond, likely chosen due to his previous collaborations with Versailles landscaper André Le Nôtre, designed the gardens. Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli completed an expansion from 1747 to 1756 for Elizabeth of Russia. The palace-ensemble along with the city center is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Construction
The end of the Great Northern War resulted in the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, ceding much of the Swedish Empire's claim to the Baltic Sea to the rising Tsardom of Russia. Peter the Great already began construction of his new capital St Petersburg in 1703 after successfully capturing Swedish provinces on the eastern coast. This strategic location allowed Russian access to the Baltic Sea through the Neva River that flowed to the Gulf of Finland. The island of Kotlin and its fortress Kronstadt west of St Petersburg provided a gateway and commercial harbor access owing to the shallowness of water closer to the city.
Throughout the early 18th century, Peter the Great built and expanded the Peterhof Palace complex as a part of his goal to modernize and westernize Russia.
Monplaisir Palace (1714–1723)
In 1714, Peter began construction of the Monplaisir Palace (French: "my delight") based on his own sketches. He "сhalked out not only the site but also the inside layout, some elements of the decorative finish, etc". Based in a Dutch style, this was Peter's summer retreat (not to be confused with his Summer Palace) that he would use on his way coming and going from Europe through the harbour at Kronstadt. On the walls of this seacoast palace hung hundreds of paintings that Peter brought from Europe and allowed to weather Russian winters and the dampness of the sea without heat. In the seaward corner of his Monplaisir Palace, Peter made his Maritime Study, from which he could see Kronstadt Island to the left and St. Petersburg to the right. Later, he expanded his plans to include a vaster royal château of palaces and gardens further inland, on the model of Versailles which would become Peterhof Palace. The initial design of the palace and its garden was done by the French architect Jean-Baptiste Le Blond.
Layout
The dominant natural feature of Peterhof is a 16-m-high bluff lying less than 100 m from the shore. The so-called Lower Gardens (Nizhny Sad), at 1.02 km2 comprising the better part of Peterhof's land area, are confined between this bluff and the shore, stretching east and west for roughly 200 m. The majority of Peterhof's fountains are contained here, as are several small palaces and outbuildings. East of the Lower Gardens lies the Alexandria Park with 19th-century Gothic Revival structures such as the Kapella.
Atop the bluff, near the middle of the Lower Gardens, stands the Grand Palace (Bolshoi Dvorets). Behind (south) of it are the comparatively small Upper Gardens (Verhnyy Sad). Upon the bluff's face below the palace is the Grand Cascade (Bolshoi Kaskad). This and the Grand Palace are the centrepiece of the entire complex. At its foot begins the Sea Channel (Morskoi Kanal), one of the most extensive waterworks of the Baroque period, which bisects the Lower Gardens.
The Grand Cascade and Samson Fountain
The Grand Cascade is modelled on one constructed for Louis XIV at his Château de Marly, which is likewise memorialised in one of the park's outbuildings.
At the centre of the cascade is an artificial grotto with two stories, faced inside and out with hewn brown stone. It currently contains a modest museum of the fountains' history.
The fountains of the Grand Cascade are located below the grotto and on either side of it. There are 64 fountains. Their waters flow into a semicircular pool, the terminus of the fountain-lined Sea Channel. In the 1730s, the large Samson Fountain was placed in this pool. It depicts the moment when Samson tears open the jaws of a lion, representing Russia's victory over Sweden in the Great Northern War, and is doubly symbolic. The lion is an element of the Swedish coat of arms, and one of the great victories of the war was won on St Sampson's Day. From the lion's mouth shoots a 20-metre (66 ft)-high vertical jet of water, the highest in all of Peterhof. This masterpiece by Mikhail Kozlovsky was looted by the invading Germans during the Second World War; see History below. A replica of the statue was installed in 1947.
Perhaps the greatest technological achievement of Peterhof is that all of the fountains operate without the use of pumps. Water is supplied from natural springs and collects in reservoirs in the Upper Gardens. The elevation difference creates the pressure that drives most of the fountains of the Lower Gardens, including the Grand Cascade.
The Lower Gardens
The expanse of the Lower Gardens is designed in the formal style of French formal gardens of the 17th century. Although many trees are overgrown, in recent years the formal clipping along the many allees has resumed in order to restore the original appearance of the garden. The many fountains located here exhibit an unusual degree of creativity.
The same bluff that provides a setting for the Grand Cascade houses two other, very different cascades. West of the Grand Palace is the Golden Mountain (Золотая Гора), decorated with marble statuary that contrasts with the riotous gilded figures of the Grand Cascade. To the east is the Chess Mountain (Шахматная Гора), a broad chute whose surface is tiled black and white like a chessboard. The most prominently positioned fountains of Peterhof are 'Adam' and 'Eve'.
The Grand Palace
The largest of Peterhof's palaces looks imposing when seen from the Lower or Upper Gardens, but in fact it is quite narrow and not overly large.
The Chesma Hall is decorated with twelve large paintings of the Battle of Chesma, a stunning naval victory of the Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774. These were painted between 1771 and 1773 by the German artist Jacob Philipp Hackert. His first renderings of the great battle scenes were criticised by witnesses as not showing realistically the effect of exploding ships — the flying timbers, great flames, smoke, and fireballs.
The East and West Chinese Cabinets were decorated between 1766 and 1769 to exhibit objects of decorative art imported from the East. The walls were decorated with imitation Oriental patterns by Russian craftsmen, and hung with Chinese landscape paintings in yellow and black lacquer. Another room, positioned at the centre of the palace, bears the name of the Picture Hall.
Other features
The Grand Palace is not the only historic royal building in Peterhof. The palaces of Monplaisir and Marli, as well as the pavilion known as the 'Hermitage', were all raised during the initial construction of Peterhof during the reign of Peter the Great.
History
1705–1755
In the early 1700s, the original Peterhof appeared quite different from today. Many of the fountains had not yet been installed and the entire Alexandrine Park and Upper Gardens did not exist. What is now the Upper Gardens was used to grow vegetables, and its ponds, then numbering only three, for fish. The Samson Fountain and its massive pedestal had not yet been installed in the Sea Channel, and the channel itself was used as a grand marine entrance into the complex.
Perhaps the most important change augmenting Peter's design was the elevation of the Grand Palace to central status and prominence. The Grand Palace was originally called simply 'Upper', and was hardly larger than any of the other structures of the complex. The addition of wings, undertaken between 1745 and 1755, was one of the many projects commissioned from the Italian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli by Elizabeth of Russia. Likewise, the Grand Cascade was more sparsely decorated when initially built.
1941–modern day
Peterhof, like Tsarskoye Selo, was captured by German troops in 1941 and held until 1944. In the few months that elapsed between the German invasion of the Soviet Union and the appearance of the German Army, employees were only able to save a portion of the treasures of the palaces and fountains. An attempt was made to dismantle and bury the fountain sculptures, but three quarters, including all of the largest ones, remained in place.
On 23 September 1941 German troops captured Peterhof. Two weeks later, on 5 October 1941, Soviet troops tried to recapture the town and block the highway by naval landing. 510 marines of the Soviet Baltic Fleet landed on the beach of the neighboring park of Alexandria but faced a heavy fire from the Germans. The commander of the operation was killed, all landing troops became disorganised, one landing craft was sunk and another one missed. Despite Soviet attempts to cover the landing forces by coastal artillery from Kronstadt, they were quickly suspended because of lack of connection with the landing troops. Evacuation attempts also failed due to heavy German artillery shelling (only one marine was picked up from the water). The Peterhof landing operation failed and all landing troops were cut off from the shore and surrounded. Some of them reached the Lower Gardens and fought until the bitter end, including hand-to-hand combat. The last pockets of resistance were destroyed on 7 October. Several dozen German Shepherd dogs were released into the gardens to find the hiding marines. Many of the wounded marines were mauled to death and several were captured.
The occupying forces of the German Army largely destroyed Peterhof. Many of the fountains were destroyed, and the palace was partially exploded and left to burn. Restoration work began almost immediately after the end of the war and continues to this day. The Lower Park was reopened to the public in 1945.
The name was changed to "Petrodvorets" ("Peter's Palace") in 1944 as a result of wartime anti-German sentiment and propaganda, but the original name was restored in 1997 by the post-Soviet government of Russia.
The "purpose" of Peterhof was as a celebration and claim to access to the Baltic (while simultaneously, Peter the Great was also expanding on the Black Sea littoral).
Petergof known as Petrodvorets from 1944 to 1997, is a municipal town in Petrodvortsovy District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, located on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland.
The town hosts one of two campuses of Saint Petersburg State University and the Petrodvorets Watch Factory, one of the leading Russian watch manufactures. A series of palaces and gardens, laid out on the orders of Peter the Great and sometimes called the "Russian Versailles", is also situated there. The palace-ensemble along with the city center is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
St. Petersburg State University
Besides the downtown campus, certain Saint Petersburg State University's schools and departments are located in Petergof:
Graduate School of Management's campus in Mikhailovka (under reconstruction)
Faculty of Biology and Soil Studies' research center in Sergievka (Leuchtenberg Palace)
Petrodvorets Complex including four faculties:
Applied Mathematics and Control Processes
Chemistry
Mathematics and Mechanics
Physics
seven research institutes:
Astronomy
Chemistry
Computational Mathematics and Control Processes
Laser Research
Mathematics and Mechanics
Radiophysics
Physics
as well as 12 dormitories and a number of infrastructure objects.
The Petrodvorets Complex dates back to 1960s when it was decided[by whom?] to copy best international practices and to construct a brand-new suburban campus for the University, which had a crucial need for new premises. However, the idea was said to be widely opposed by the faculty, who did not want to commute two hours a day, and as few as four faculties relocated to Petergof.
In the 1990s the number of students from other regions fell significantly, and the University sold many of its downtown dormitories. When the trend reversed, the need for housing made the University administration accommodate most students in Petergof, even those studying in downtown faculties, which has created certain tensions. Still, the idea of a suburban campus seems to be persistent, as the Government of the Russian Federation has decided to hand over the Mikhailovka estate to the University to reconstruct it and house the Graduate School of Management's campus.
Due to the extensive presence of research facilities, mainly belonging to St. Petersburg State University, Petergof was named a naukograd in 2005.
Petrodvorets Watch Factory
Russia's oldest factory was founded by Peter the Great in 1721 first as a lapidary plant to help in the construction of the Peterhof Palaces but also other Palaces in St. Petersburg. It started to produce equipment and parts for the watch industry in the 1920s. After World War II, the factory started to produce complete watches under the brand name Pobeda and from 1961 under the brand Raketa. in 1985 the factory had 7500 employees and was producing 5 million mechanical watches per year. Today, it is the last watch factory in Russia producing its own movements from A to Z, though the production is much smaller than it used to be.
Transportation
The town is served by three railway stations (Novy Petergof, Stary Petergof, and Universitet). The palaces of Peterhof are accessible by sea via hydrofoils based near the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. The palace is also accessed by road. Public transit and private van services make trips from Saint Petersburg.
The Upper Gardens are accessible, but entry to the Lower Gardens requires the purchase of tickets (not included in the boat fee for visitors arriving by hydrofoil). The palaces and grotto are accessible only as part of guided tours.
Local government
Petergof is a municipal entity - an intracity territory of the federal city of St. Petersburg. Local self-government is carried out on the basis of the charter, which was adopted by the resolution of the municipal council of the municipal formation of the city of Petergof dated 5 November 2008 No. 54-n.
The current body of local self-government - the Municipal Council - has been operating since 1998. As a result of the elections on 14 September 2014, a new composition of the fifth convocation was elected (out of 19 deputies: 18 from United Russia and 1 from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation).
The head of the municipal district of Petergof (since 2019) is deputy of the Municipal Council Alexander Shifman.
The executive body of local self-government is the local administration, headed by Tatyana Yegorova.
Sister cities
Germany Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Germany
France Le Blanc-Mesnil, France
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of roughly 5.6 million residents as of 2021, with more than 6.4 million people living in the metropolitan area. Saint Petersburg is the fourth-most populous city in Europe, the most populous city on the Baltic Sea, and the world's northernmost city of more than 1 million residents. As Russia's Imperial capital, and a historically strategic port, it is governed as a federal city.
The city was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on 27 May 1703 on the site of a captured Swedish fortress, and was named after the apostle Saint Peter. In Russia, Saint Petersburg is historically and culturally associated with the birth of the Russian Empire and Russia's entry into modern history as a European great power. It served as a capital of the Tsardom of Russia, and the subsequent Russian Empire, from 1712 to 1918 (being replaced by Moscow for a short period of time between 1728 and 1730). After the October Revolution in 1917, the Bolsheviks moved their government to Moscow. The city was renamed Leningrad after Lenin's death in 1924. In June 1991, only a few months before the Belovezha Accords and the dissolution of the USSR, voters supported restoring the city's original appellation in a city-wide referendum.
As Russia's cultural centre, Saint Petersburg received over 15 million tourists in 2018. It is considered an important economic, scientific, and tourism centre of Russia and Europe. In modern times, the city has the nickname of being "the Northern Capital of Russia" and is home to notable federal government bodies such as the Constitutional Court of Russia and the Heraldic Council of the President of the Russian Federation. It is also a seat for the National Library of Russia and a planned location for the Supreme Court of Russia, as well as the home to the headquarters of the Russian Navy, and the Western Military District of the Russian Armed Forces. The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Saint Petersburg is home to the Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world, the Lakhta Center, the tallest skyscraper in Europe, and was one of the host cities of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euro 2020.
Russia or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the largest country in the world by area, extending across eleven time zones. It shares land boundaries with fourteen countries. It is the world's ninth-most populous country and Europe's most populous country. The country's capital as well as its largest city is Moscow. Saint Petersburg is Russia's second-largest city and cultural capital. Other major urban areas in the country include Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Chelyabinsk, Krasnoyarsk, Kazan, Krasnodar and Rostov-on-Don.
The East Slavs emerged as a recognised group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries CE. The first East Slavic state, Kievan Rus', arose in the 9th century, and in 988, it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire. Rus' ultimately disintegrated, with the Grand Duchy of Moscow growing to become the Tsardom of Russia. By the early 18th century, Russia had vastly expanded through conquest, annexation, and the efforts of Russian explorers, developing into the Russian Empire, which remains the third-largest empire in history. However, with the Russian Revolution in 1917, Russia's monarchic rule was abolished and eventually replaced by the Russian SFSR—the world's first constitutionally socialist state. Following the Russian Civil War, the Russian SFSR established the Soviet Union with three other Soviet republics, within which it was the largest and principal constituent. At the expense of millions of lives, the Soviet Union underwent rapid industrialisation in the 1930s and later played a decisive role for the Allies in World War II by leading large-scale efforts on the Eastern Front. With the onset of the Cold War, it competed with the United States for global ideological influence. The Soviet era of the 20th century saw some of the most significant Russian technological achievements, including the first human-made satellite and the first human expedition into outer space.
In 1991, the Russian SFSR emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as the independent Russian Federation. A new constitution was adopted, which established a federal semi-presidential system. Since the turn of the century, Russia's political system has been dominated by Vladimir Putin, under whom the country has experienced democratic backsliding and a shift towards authoritarianism. Russia has been militarily involved in a number of conflicts in former Soviet states and other countries, including its war with Georgia in 2008 and annexation of Crimea in 2014 from neighbouring Ukraine, followed by the further annexation of four other regions in 2022 during an ongoing invasion.
Internationally, Russia ranks among the lowest in measurements of democracy, human rights and freedom of the press; the country also has high levels of perceived corruption. The Russian economy ranks 11th by nominal GDP, relying heavily on its abundant natural resources, and 68th by GDP per capita. Its mineral and energy sources are the world's largest, and its figures for oil production and natural gas production rank highly globally. Russia possesses the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons and has the third-highest military expenditure. The country is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council; a member state of the G20, SCO, BRICS, APEC, OSCE, and WTO; and the leading member state of post-Soviet organisations such as CIS, CSTO, and EAEU/EEU. Russia is home to 30 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
RFS Amur Class Repair Ship PM-30 (Project 304/III), built in Szczecin, Poland in 1982, rests at the Kronstadt military seaport on Kotlin Island, off Saint Petersburg, in the Gulf of Finland.
Kotlin is a Russian island, located near the head of the Gulf of Finland, 20 mi (32 km) west of St Petersburg in the Baltic Sea.
The fortified town of Kronstadt is the main settlement on the island. Kotlin (kettle) Island serves as a gateway to Spb and as such has been the site of several military engagements over the centuries.
The town of Kronstadt was founded by Peter the Great, who took the island of Kotlin from the Swedes in 1703. It was the site of the 'Kronstadt rebellion' in March of 1921 which resulted in over 11,000 casualties. Before and for many years after the rebellion, Kronstadt was the base for the Russian Baltic Fleet and the main port for St Petersburg.
Until 2010 it was only possible to access Kotlin Island by boat (during the summer months), but then a road was opened atop the St Petersburg dam which connects the northern & southern shores of the Gulf of Finland. Most winters the island is ice-bound for up to five months and therefore possible accessible on foot from the mainland.
Back to the building:
At least two wooden churches of St Vladimir were on this site prior to this cathedral being built in 1875-79 and it now has a capacity for over 500 people. The Soviets closed it to the public in 1931 and it was used as a warehouse until being returned to the Orthodox church community in 1990. It was restored in 2000-2001 and the cupola domes were reconstructed using galvanised steel.
Urban planners never seem to consider photographers and it is difficult to find a position to capture a side view of the cathedral (probably why I have never seen another photo of the side of this cathedral). I had to sit in the middle of a large bush to take this shot!
Moored at the Kronstadt military seaport on Kotlin Island near Saint Petersburg in Russia, I think these are a pair of Petrushka Class (Project SK-620 Drakon) Training Vessels, but I would certainly appreciate any advice one way or the other, as I cannot find anything about this class of vessel with these particular pennant numbers.
Probably a pair of Petrushka Class (Project SK-620 Drakon) Training Vessels, pennant numbers 305 and 306, built at Wisla, Gdansk, Poland 1978-1984.
To their front is RFS Kilo Class diesel-electric submarine VYBORG 469 – B227 (Project 877 Paltus (Halibut)).
Moored at the Kronstadt military seaport on Kotlin Island near Saint Petersburg in Russia, Muna Class (Project 1823) Seagoing Armament Transport ship VTR-92.
Muna Class (Project 1823) Seagoing Armament Transport VTR-92, built at the Nikolaev, Nakhodka, Khabarovsk Shipyard, in the 1960’s.
#droidconUK. Skills Matter Presents Droidcon London 2016, Thursday, 27th - Friday, 28th October at Business Design Centre, London, skillsmatter.com/conferences/7411-droidcon-london-2016. Images copyright www.edtelling.com
#droidconUK. Skills Matter Presents Droidcon London 2016, Thursday, 27th - Friday, 28th October at Business Design Centre, London, skillsmatter.com/conferences/7411-droidcon-london-2016. Images copyright www.edtelling.com
#droidconUK. Skills Matter Presents Droidcon London 2016, Thursday, 27th - Friday, 28th October at Business Design Centre, London, skillsmatter.com/conferences/7411-droidcon-london-2016. Images copyright www.edtelling.com
#droidconUK. Skills Matter Presents Droidcon London 2016, Thursday, 27th - Friday, 28th October at Business Design Centre, London, skillsmatter.com/conferences/7411-droidcon-london-2016. Images copyright www.edtelling.com
#droidconUK. Skills Matter Presents Droidcon London 2016, Thursday, 27th - Friday, 28th October at Business Design Centre, London, skillsmatter.com/conferences/7411-droidcon-london-2016. Images copyright www.edtelling.com
#droidconUK. Skills Matter Presents Droidcon London 2016, Thursday, 27th - Friday, 28th October at Business Design Centre, London, skillsmatter.com/conferences/7411-droidcon-london-2016. Images copyright www.edtelling.com
The 14,000 tonne container vessel Lantau Arrow, registered in Majuro in the Marshall Islands, passes through the narrow channel out of Saint Petersburg in Russia, as it makes its way Fort Kronshlot and the Kronstadt military seaport on Kotlin Island and into the Gulf of Finland.
We visited this Palace on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, about 25 km west of the city centre. Peter the Great had it built in the early 1700s to be closer to his naval base on Kotlin Island. There are a series of palaces on the property. The first one, called Monplaisir, was built on the shore of the Gulf of Finland within sight of Kotlin Island. It was rather modest, but it was Peter's favorite summer residence for a good part of his life. Monplaisir is the only palace built by Peter the Great that maintains its 18th century character. It is open to the public, but unfortunately, we didn't see it.
Our visit to Peterhof focused mainly on the gardens surrounding the larger royal palace seen here in the background. What most visitors want to see at Peterhof are the fountains that have been compared to those at Versailles. The most spectacular of these is this one called the Samson Fountain, which features Samson, the superstrong biblical character, at the center (see next).
The Peterhof Palace is a series of palaces and gardens located in Petergof, Saint Petersburg, Russia, commissioned by Peter the Great as a direct response to the Palace of Versailles by Louis XIV of France. Originally intending it in 1709 for country habitation, Peter the Great sought to expand the property as a result of his visit to the French royal court in 1717, inspiring the nickname of "The Russian Versailles". The architect between 1714 and 1728 was Domenico Trezzini, and the style he employed became the foundation for the Petrine Baroque style favored throughout Saint Petersburg. Also in 1714, Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond, likely chosen due to his previous collaborations with Versailles landscaper André Le Nôtre, designed the gardens. Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli completed an expansion from 1747 to 1756 for Elizabeth of Russia. The palace-ensemble along with the city center is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Construction
The end of the Great Northern War resulted in the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, ceding much of the Swedish Empire's claim to the Baltic Sea to the rising Tsardom of Russia. Peter the Great already began construction of his new capital St Petersburg in 1703 after successfully capturing Swedish provinces on the eastern coast. This strategic location allowed Russian access to the Baltic Sea through the Neva River that flowed to the Gulf of Finland. The island of Kotlin and its fortress Kronstadt west of St Petersburg provided a gateway and commercial harbor access owing to the shallowness of water closer to the city.
Throughout the early 18th century, Peter the Great built and expanded the Peterhof Palace complex as a part of his goal to modernize and westernize Russia.
Monplaisir Palace (1714–1723)
In 1714, Peter began construction of the Monplaisir Palace (French: "my delight") based on his own sketches. He "сhalked out not only the site but also the inside layout, some elements of the decorative finish, etc". Based in a Dutch style, this was Peter's summer retreat (not to be confused with his Summer Palace) that he would use on his way coming and going from Europe through the harbour at Kronstadt. On the walls of this seacoast palace hung hundreds of paintings that Peter brought from Europe and allowed to weather Russian winters and the dampness of the sea without heat. In the seaward corner of his Monplaisir Palace, Peter made his Maritime Study, from which he could see Kronstadt Island to the left and St. Petersburg to the right. Later, he expanded his plans to include a vaster royal château of palaces and gardens further inland, on the model of Versailles which would become Peterhof Palace. The initial design of the palace and its garden was done by the French architect Jean-Baptiste Le Blond.
Layout
The dominant natural feature of Peterhof is a 16-m-high bluff lying less than 100 m from the shore. The so-called Lower Gardens (Nizhny Sad), at 1.02 km2 comprising the better part of Peterhof's land area, are confined between this bluff and the shore, stretching east and west for roughly 200 m. The majority of Peterhof's fountains are contained here, as are several small palaces and outbuildings. East of the Lower Gardens lies the Alexandria Park with 19th-century Gothic Revival structures such as the Kapella.
Atop the bluff, near the middle of the Lower Gardens, stands the Grand Palace (Bolshoi Dvorets). Behind (south) of it are the comparatively small Upper Gardens (Verhnyy Sad). Upon the bluff's face below the palace is the Grand Cascade (Bolshoi Kaskad). This and the Grand Palace are the centrepiece of the entire complex. At its foot begins the Sea Channel (Morskoi Kanal), one of the most extensive waterworks of the Baroque period, which bisects the Lower Gardens.
The Grand Cascade and Samson Fountain
The Grand Cascade is modelled on one constructed for Louis XIV at his Château de Marly, which is likewise memorialised in one of the park's outbuildings.
At the centre of the cascade is an artificial grotto with two stories, faced inside and out with hewn brown stone. It currently contains a modest museum of the fountains' history.
The fountains of the Grand Cascade are located below the grotto and on either side of it. There are 64 fountains. Their waters flow into a semicircular pool, the terminus of the fountain-lined Sea Channel. In the 1730s, the large Samson Fountain was placed in this pool. It depicts the moment when Samson tears open the jaws of a lion, representing Russia's victory over Sweden in the Great Northern War, and is doubly symbolic. The lion is an element of the Swedish coat of arms, and one of the great victories of the war was won on St Sampson's Day. From the lion's mouth shoots a 20-metre (66 ft)-high vertical jet of water, the highest in all of Peterhof. This masterpiece by Mikhail Kozlovsky was looted by the invading Germans during the Second World War; see History below. A replica of the statue was installed in 1947.
Perhaps the greatest technological achievement of Peterhof is that all of the fountains operate without the use of pumps. Water is supplied from natural springs and collects in reservoirs in the Upper Gardens. The elevation difference creates the pressure that drives most of the fountains of the Lower Gardens, including the Grand Cascade.
The Lower Gardens
The expanse of the Lower Gardens is designed in the formal style of French formal gardens of the 17th century. Although many trees are overgrown, in recent years the formal clipping along the many allees has resumed in order to restore the original appearance of the garden. The many fountains located here exhibit an unusual degree of creativity.
The same bluff that provides a setting for the Grand Cascade houses two other, very different cascades. West of the Grand Palace is the Golden Mountain (Золотая Гора), decorated with marble statuary that contrasts with the riotous gilded figures of the Grand Cascade. To the east is the Chess Mountain (Шахматная Гора), a broad chute whose surface is tiled black and white like a chessboard. The most prominently positioned fountains of Peterhof are 'Adam' and 'Eve'.
The Grand Palace
The largest of Peterhof's palaces looks imposing when seen from the Lower or Upper Gardens, but in fact it is quite narrow and not overly large.
The Chesma Hall is decorated with twelve large paintings of the Battle of Chesma, a stunning naval victory of the Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774. These were painted between 1771 and 1773 by the German artist Jacob Philipp Hackert. His first renderings of the great battle scenes were criticised by witnesses as not showing realistically the effect of exploding ships — the flying timbers, great flames, smoke, and fireballs.
The East and West Chinese Cabinets were decorated between 1766 and 1769 to exhibit objects of decorative art imported from the East. The walls were decorated with imitation Oriental patterns by Russian craftsmen, and hung with Chinese landscape paintings in yellow and black lacquer. Another room, positioned at the centre of the palace, bears the name of the Picture Hall.
Other features
The Grand Palace is not the only historic royal building in Peterhof. The palaces of Monplaisir and Marli, as well as the pavilion known as the 'Hermitage', were all raised during the initial construction of Peterhof during the reign of Peter the Great.
History
1705–1755
In the early 1700s, the original Peterhof appeared quite different from today. Many of the fountains had not yet been installed and the entire Alexandrine Park and Upper Gardens did not exist. What is now the Upper Gardens was used to grow vegetables, and its ponds, then numbering only three, for fish. The Samson Fountain and its massive pedestal had not yet been installed in the Sea Channel, and the channel itself was used as a grand marine entrance into the complex.
Perhaps the most important change augmenting Peter's design was the elevation of the Grand Palace to central status and prominence. The Grand Palace was originally called simply 'Upper', and was hardly larger than any of the other structures of the complex. The addition of wings, undertaken between 1745 and 1755, was one of the many projects commissioned from the Italian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli by Elizabeth of Russia. Likewise, the Grand Cascade was more sparsely decorated when initially built.
1941–modern day
Peterhof, like Tsarskoye Selo, was captured by German troops in 1941 and held until 1944. In the few months that elapsed between the German invasion of the Soviet Union and the appearance of the German Army, employees were only able to save a portion of the treasures of the palaces and fountains. An attempt was made to dismantle and bury the fountain sculptures, but three quarters, including all of the largest ones, remained in place.
On 23 September 1941 German troops captured Peterhof. Two weeks later, on 5 October 1941, Soviet troops tried to recapture the town and block the highway by naval landing. 510 marines of the Soviet Baltic Fleet landed on the beach of the neighboring park of Alexandria but faced a heavy fire from the Germans. The commander of the operation was killed, all landing troops became disorganised, one landing craft was sunk and another one missed. Despite Soviet attempts to cover the landing forces by coastal artillery from Kronstadt, they were quickly suspended because of lack of connection with the landing troops. Evacuation attempts also failed due to heavy German artillery shelling (only one marine was picked up from the water). The Peterhof landing operation failed and all landing troops were cut off from the shore and surrounded. Some of them reached the Lower Gardens and fought until the bitter end, including hand-to-hand combat. The last pockets of resistance were destroyed on 7 October. Several dozen German Shepherd dogs were released into the gardens to find the hiding marines. Many of the wounded marines were mauled to death and several were captured.
The occupying forces of the German Army largely destroyed Peterhof. Many of the fountains were destroyed, and the palace was partially exploded and left to burn. Restoration work began almost immediately after the end of the war and continues to this day. The Lower Park was reopened to the public in 1945.
The name was changed to "Petrodvorets" ("Peter's Palace") in 1944 as a result of wartime anti-German sentiment and propaganda, but the original name was restored in 1997 by the post-Soviet government of Russia.
The "purpose" of Peterhof was as a celebration and claim to access to the Baltic (while simultaneously, Peter the Great was also expanding on the Black Sea littoral).
Petergof known as Petrodvorets from 1944 to 1997, is a municipal town in Petrodvortsovy District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, located on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland.
The town hosts one of two campuses of Saint Petersburg State University and the Petrodvorets Watch Factory, one of the leading Russian watch manufactures. A series of palaces and gardens, laid out on the orders of Peter the Great and sometimes called the "Russian Versailles", is also situated there. The palace-ensemble along with the city center is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
St. Petersburg State University
Besides the downtown campus, certain Saint Petersburg State University's schools and departments are located in Petergof:
Graduate School of Management's campus in Mikhailovka (under reconstruction)
Faculty of Biology and Soil Studies' research center in Sergievka (Leuchtenberg Palace)
Petrodvorets Complex including four faculties:
Applied Mathematics and Control Processes
Chemistry
Mathematics and Mechanics
Physics
seven research institutes:
Astronomy
Chemistry
Computational Mathematics and Control Processes
Laser Research
Mathematics and Mechanics
Radiophysics
Physics
as well as 12 dormitories and a number of infrastructure objects.
The Petrodvorets Complex dates back to 1960s when it was decided[by whom?] to copy best international practices and to construct a brand-new suburban campus for the University, which had a crucial need for new premises. However, the idea was said to be widely opposed by the faculty, who did not want to commute two hours a day, and as few as four faculties relocated to Petergof.
In the 1990s the number of students from other regions fell significantly, and the University sold many of its downtown dormitories. When the trend reversed, the need for housing made the University administration accommodate most students in Petergof, even those studying in downtown faculties, which has created certain tensions. Still, the idea of a suburban campus seems to be persistent, as the Government of the Russian Federation has decided to hand over the Mikhailovka estate to the University to reconstruct it and house the Graduate School of Management's campus.
Due to the extensive presence of research facilities, mainly belonging to St. Petersburg State University, Petergof was named a naukograd in 2005.
Petrodvorets Watch Factory
Russia's oldest factory was founded by Peter the Great in 1721 first as a lapidary plant to help in the construction of the Peterhof Palaces but also other Palaces in St. Petersburg. It started to produce equipment and parts for the watch industry in the 1920s. After World War II, the factory started to produce complete watches under the brand name Pobeda and from 1961 under the brand Raketa. in 1985 the factory had 7500 employees and was producing 5 million mechanical watches per year. Today, it is the last watch factory in Russia producing its own movements from A to Z, though the production is much smaller than it used to be.
Transportation
The town is served by three railway stations (Novy Petergof, Stary Petergof, and Universitet). The palaces of Peterhof are accessible by sea via hydrofoils based near the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. The palace is also accessed by road. Public transit and private van services make trips from Saint Petersburg.
The Upper Gardens are accessible, but entry to the Lower Gardens requires the purchase of tickets (not included in the boat fee for visitors arriving by hydrofoil). The palaces and grotto are accessible only as part of guided tours.
Local government
Petergof is a municipal entity - an intracity territory of the federal city of St. Petersburg. Local self-government is carried out on the basis of the charter, which was adopted by the resolution of the municipal council of the municipal formation of the city of Petergof dated 5 November 2008 No. 54-n.
The current body of local self-government - the Municipal Council - has been operating since 1998. As a result of the elections on 14 September 2014, a new composition of the fifth convocation was elected (out of 19 deputies: 18 from United Russia and 1 from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation).
The head of the municipal district of Petergof (since 2019) is deputy of the Municipal Council Alexander Shifman.
The executive body of local self-government is the local administration, headed by Tatyana Yegorova.
Sister cities
Germany Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Germany
France Le Blanc-Mesnil, France
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of roughly 5.6 million residents as of 2021, with more than 6.4 million people living in the metropolitan area. Saint Petersburg is the fourth-most populous city in Europe, the most populous city on the Baltic Sea, and the world's northernmost city of more than 1 million residents. As Russia's Imperial capital, and a historically strategic port, it is governed as a federal city.
The city was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on 27 May 1703 on the site of a captured Swedish fortress, and was named after the apostle Saint Peter. In Russia, Saint Petersburg is historically and culturally associated with the birth of the Russian Empire and Russia's entry into modern history as a European great power. It served as a capital of the Tsardom of Russia, and the subsequent Russian Empire, from 1712 to 1918 (being replaced by Moscow for a short period of time between 1728 and 1730). After the October Revolution in 1917, the Bolsheviks moved their government to Moscow. The city was renamed Leningrad after Lenin's death in 1924. In June 1991, only a few months before the Belovezha Accords and the dissolution of the USSR, voters supported restoring the city's original appellation in a city-wide referendum.
As Russia's cultural centre, Saint Petersburg received over 15 million tourists in 2018. It is considered an important economic, scientific, and tourism centre of Russia and Europe. In modern times, the city has the nickname of being "the Northern Capital of Russia" and is home to notable federal government bodies such as the Constitutional Court of Russia and the Heraldic Council of the President of the Russian Federation. It is also a seat for the National Library of Russia and a planned location for the Supreme Court of Russia, as well as the home to the headquarters of the Russian Navy, and the Western Military District of the Russian Armed Forces. The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Saint Petersburg is home to the Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world, the Lakhta Center, the tallest skyscraper in Europe, and was one of the host cities of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euro 2020.
Russia or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the largest country in the world by area, extending across eleven time zones. It shares land boundaries with fourteen countries. It is the world's ninth-most populous country and Europe's most populous country. The country's capital as well as its largest city is Moscow. Saint Petersburg is Russia's second-largest city and cultural capital. Other major urban areas in the country include Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Chelyabinsk, Krasnoyarsk, Kazan, Krasnodar and Rostov-on-Don.
The East Slavs emerged as a recognised group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries CE. The first East Slavic state, Kievan Rus', arose in the 9th century, and in 988, it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire. Rus' ultimately disintegrated, with the Grand Duchy of Moscow growing to become the Tsardom of Russia. By the early 18th century, Russia had vastly expanded through conquest, annexation, and the efforts of Russian explorers, developing into the Russian Empire, which remains the third-largest empire in history. However, with the Russian Revolution in 1917, Russia's monarchic rule was abolished and eventually replaced by the Russian SFSR—the world's first constitutionally socialist state. Following the Russian Civil War, the Russian SFSR established the Soviet Union with three other Soviet republics, within which it was the largest and principal constituent. At the expense of millions of lives, the Soviet Union underwent rapid industrialisation in the 1930s and later played a decisive role for the Allies in World War II by leading large-scale efforts on the Eastern Front. With the onset of the Cold War, it competed with the United States for global ideological influence. The Soviet era of the 20th century saw some of the most significant Russian technological achievements, including the first human-made satellite and the first human expedition into outer space.
In 1991, the Russian SFSR emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as the independent Russian Federation. A new constitution was adopted, which established a federal semi-presidential system. Since the turn of the century, Russia's political system has been dominated by Vladimir Putin, under whom the country has experienced democratic backsliding and a shift towards authoritarianism. Russia has been militarily involved in a number of conflicts in former Soviet states and other countries, including its war with Georgia in 2008 and annexation of Crimea in 2014 from neighbouring Ukraine, followed by the further annexation of four other regions in 2022 during an ongoing invasion.
Internationally, Russia ranks among the lowest in measurements of democracy, human rights and freedom of the press; the country also has high levels of perceived corruption. The Russian economy ranks 11th by nominal GDP, relying heavily on its abundant natural resources, and 68th by GDP per capita. Its mineral and energy sources are the world's largest, and its figures for oil production and natural gas production rank highly globally. Russia possesses the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons and has the third-highest military expenditure. The country is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council; a member state of the G20, SCO, BRICS, APEC, OSCE, and WTO; and the leading member state of post-Soviet organisations such as CIS, CSTO, and EAEU/EEU. Russia is home to 30 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Built in 1948 as a T43 Class seagoing minesweeper, pennant number T-44, she was renumbered to MT-44 in 1966, to OS-191 in 197, and converted to a training ship and finally renumbered to UTS-142 in 1971. It is this number she carried to the end, as she now settles into the waters of the Kronstadt military seaport on Kotlin Island, off Saint Petersburg, in the Gulf of Finland.
The Peterhof Palace is a series of palaces and gardens located in Petergof, Saint Petersburg, Russia, commissioned by Peter the Great as a direct response to the Palace of Versailles by Louis XIV of France. Originally intending it in 1709 for country habitation, Peter the Great sought to expand the property as a result of his visit to the French royal court in 1717, inspiring the nickname of "The Russian Versailles". The architect between 1714 and 1728 was Domenico Trezzini, and the style he employed became the foundation for the Petrine Baroque style favored throughout Saint Petersburg. Also in 1714, Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond, likely chosen due to his previous collaborations with Versailles landscaper André Le Nôtre, designed the gardens. Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli completed an expansion from 1747 to 1756 for Elizabeth of Russia. The palace-ensemble along with the city center is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Construction
The end of the Great Northern War resulted in the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, ceding much of the Swedish Empire's claim to the Baltic Sea to the rising Tsardom of Russia. Peter the Great already began construction of his new capital St Petersburg in 1703 after successfully capturing Swedish provinces on the eastern coast. This strategic location allowed Russian access to the Baltic Sea through the Neva River that flowed to the Gulf of Finland. The island of Kotlin and its fortress Kronstadt west of St Petersburg provided a gateway and commercial harbor access owing to the shallowness of water closer to the city.
Throughout the early 18th century, Peter the Great built and expanded the Peterhof Palace complex as a part of his goal to modernize and westernize Russia.
Monplaisir Palace (1714–1723)
In 1714, Peter began construction of the Monplaisir Palace (French: "my delight") based on his own sketches. He "сhalked out not only the site but also the inside layout, some elements of the decorative finish, etc". Based in a Dutch style, this was Peter's summer retreat (not to be confused with his Summer Palace) that he would use on his way coming and going from Europe through the harbour at Kronstadt. On the walls of this seacoast palace hung hundreds of paintings that Peter brought from Europe and allowed to weather Russian winters and the dampness of the sea without heat. In the seaward corner of his Monplaisir Palace, Peter made his Maritime Study, from which he could see Kronstadt Island to the left and St. Petersburg to the right. Later, he expanded his plans to include a vaster royal château of palaces and gardens further inland, on the model of Versailles which would become Peterhof Palace. The initial design of the palace and its garden was done by the French architect Jean-Baptiste Le Blond.
Layout
The dominant natural feature of Peterhof is a 16-m-high bluff lying less than 100 m from the shore. The so-called Lower Gardens (Nizhny Sad), at 1.02 km2 comprising the better part of Peterhof's land area, are confined between this bluff and the shore, stretching east and west for roughly 200 m. The majority of Peterhof's fountains are contained here, as are several small palaces and outbuildings. East of the Lower Gardens lies the Alexandria Park with 19th-century Gothic Revival structures such as the Kapella.
Atop the bluff, near the middle of the Lower Gardens, stands the Grand Palace (Bolshoi Dvorets). Behind (south) of it are the comparatively small Upper Gardens (Verhnyy Sad). Upon the bluff's face below the palace is the Grand Cascade (Bolshoi Kaskad). This and the Grand Palace are the centrepiece of the entire complex. At its foot begins the Sea Channel (Morskoi Kanal), one of the most extensive waterworks of the Baroque period, which bisects the Lower Gardens.
The Grand Cascade and Samson Fountain
The Grand Cascade is modelled on one constructed for Louis XIV at his Château de Marly, which is likewise memorialised in one of the park's outbuildings.
At the centre of the cascade is an artificial grotto with two stories, faced inside and out with hewn brown stone. It currently contains a modest museum of the fountains' history.
The fountains of the Grand Cascade are located below the grotto and on either side of it. There are 64 fountains. Their waters flow into a semicircular pool, the terminus of the fountain-lined Sea Channel. In the 1730s, the large Samson Fountain was placed in this pool. It depicts the moment when Samson tears open the jaws of a lion, representing Russia's victory over Sweden in the Great Northern War, and is doubly symbolic. The lion is an element of the Swedish coat of arms, and one of the great victories of the war was won on St Sampson's Day. From the lion's mouth shoots a 20-metre (66 ft)-high vertical jet of water, the highest in all of Peterhof. This masterpiece by Mikhail Kozlovsky was looted by the invading Germans during the Second World War; see History below. A replica of the statue was installed in 1947.
Perhaps the greatest technological achievement of Peterhof is that all of the fountains operate without the use of pumps. Water is supplied from natural springs and collects in reservoirs in the Upper Gardens. The elevation difference creates the pressure that drives most of the fountains of the Lower Gardens, including the Grand Cascade.
The Lower Gardens
The expanse of the Lower Gardens is designed in the formal style of French formal gardens of the 17th century. Although many trees are overgrown, in recent years the formal clipping along the many allees has resumed in order to restore the original appearance of the garden. The many fountains located here exhibit an unusual degree of creativity.
The same bluff that provides a setting for the Grand Cascade houses two other, very different cascades. West of the Grand Palace is the Golden Mountain (Золотая Гора), decorated with marble statuary that contrasts with the riotous gilded figures of the Grand Cascade. To the east is the Chess Mountain (Шахматная Гора), a broad chute whose surface is tiled black and white like a chessboard. The most prominently positioned fountains of Peterhof are 'Adam' and 'Eve'.
The Grand Palace
The largest of Peterhof's palaces looks imposing when seen from the Lower or Upper Gardens, but in fact it is quite narrow and not overly large.
The Chesma Hall is decorated with twelve large paintings of the Battle of Chesma, a stunning naval victory of the Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774. These were painted between 1771 and 1773 by the German artist Jacob Philipp Hackert. His first renderings of the great battle scenes were criticised by witnesses as not showing realistically the effect of exploding ships — the flying timbers, great flames, smoke, and fireballs.
The East and West Chinese Cabinets were decorated between 1766 and 1769 to exhibit objects of decorative art imported from the East. The walls were decorated with imitation Oriental patterns by Russian craftsmen, and hung with Chinese landscape paintings in yellow and black lacquer. Another room, positioned at the centre of the palace, bears the name of the Picture Hall.
Other features
The Grand Palace is not the only historic royal building in Peterhof. The palaces of Monplaisir and Marli, as well as the pavilion known as the 'Hermitage', were all raised during the initial construction of Peterhof during the reign of Peter the Great.
History
1705–1755
In the early 1700s, the original Peterhof appeared quite different from today. Many of the fountains had not yet been installed and the entire Alexandrine Park and Upper Gardens did not exist. What is now the Upper Gardens was used to grow vegetables, and its ponds, then numbering only three, for fish. The Samson Fountain and its massive pedestal had not yet been installed in the Sea Channel, and the channel itself was used as a grand marine entrance into the complex.
Perhaps the most important change augmenting Peter's design was the elevation of the Grand Palace to central status and prominence. The Grand Palace was originally called simply 'Upper', and was hardly larger than any of the other structures of the complex. The addition of wings, undertaken between 1745 and 1755, was one of the many projects commissioned from the Italian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli by Elizabeth of Russia. Likewise, the Grand Cascade was more sparsely decorated when initially built.
1941–modern day
Peterhof, like Tsarskoye Selo, was captured by German troops in 1941 and held until 1944. In the few months that elapsed between the German invasion of the Soviet Union and the appearance of the German Army, employees were only able to save a portion of the treasures of the palaces and fountains. An attempt was made to dismantle and bury the fountain sculptures, but three quarters, including all of the largest ones, remained in place.
On 23 September 1941 German troops captured Peterhof. Two weeks later, on 5 October 1941, Soviet troops tried to recapture the town and block the highway by naval landing. 510 marines of the Soviet Baltic Fleet landed on the beach of the neighboring park of Alexandria but faced a heavy fire from the Germans. The commander of the operation was killed, all landing troops became disorganised, one landing craft was sunk and another one missed. Despite Soviet attempts to cover the landing forces by coastal artillery from Kronstadt, they were quickly suspended because of lack of connection with the landing troops. Evacuation attempts also failed due to heavy German artillery shelling (only one marine was picked up from the water). The Peterhof landing operation failed and all landing troops were cut off from the shore and surrounded. Some of them reached the Lower Gardens and fought until the bitter end, including hand-to-hand combat. The last pockets of resistance were destroyed on 7 October. Several dozen German Shepherd dogs were released into the gardens to find the hiding marines. Many of the wounded marines were mauled to death and several were captured.
The occupying forces of the German Army largely destroyed Peterhof. Many of the fountains were destroyed, and the palace was partially exploded and left to burn. Restoration work began almost immediately after the end of the war and continues to this day. The Lower Park was reopened to the public in 1945.
The name was changed to "Petrodvorets" ("Peter's Palace") in 1944 as a result of wartime anti-German sentiment and propaganda, but the original name was restored in 1997 by the post-Soviet government of Russia.
The "purpose" of Peterhof was as a celebration and claim to access to the Baltic (while simultaneously, Peter the Great was also expanding on the Black Sea littoral).
Petergof known as Petrodvorets from 1944 to 1997, is a municipal town in Petrodvortsovy District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, located on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland.
The town hosts one of two campuses of Saint Petersburg State University and the Petrodvorets Watch Factory, one of the leading Russian watch manufactures. A series of palaces and gardens, laid out on the orders of Peter the Great and sometimes called the "Russian Versailles", is also situated there. The palace-ensemble along with the city center is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
St. Petersburg State University
Besides the downtown campus, certain Saint Petersburg State University's schools and departments are located in Petergof:
Graduate School of Management's campus in Mikhailovka (under reconstruction)
Faculty of Biology and Soil Studies' research center in Sergievka (Leuchtenberg Palace)
Petrodvorets Complex including four faculties:
Applied Mathematics and Control Processes
Chemistry
Mathematics and Mechanics
Physics
seven research institutes:
Astronomy
Chemistry
Computational Mathematics and Control Processes
Laser Research
Mathematics and Mechanics
Radiophysics
Physics
as well as 12 dormitories and a number of infrastructure objects.
The Petrodvorets Complex dates back to 1960s when it was decided[by whom?] to copy best international practices and to construct a brand-new suburban campus for the University, which had a crucial need for new premises. However, the idea was said to be widely opposed by the faculty, who did not want to commute two hours a day, and as few as four faculties relocated to Petergof.
In the 1990s the number of students from other regions fell significantly, and the University sold many of its downtown dormitories. When the trend reversed, the need for housing made the University administration accommodate most students in Petergof, even those studying in downtown faculties, which has created certain tensions. Still, the idea of a suburban campus seems to be persistent, as the Government of the Russian Federation has decided to hand over the Mikhailovka estate to the University to reconstruct it and house the Graduate School of Management's campus.
Due to the extensive presence of research facilities, mainly belonging to St. Petersburg State University, Petergof was named a naukograd in 2005.
Petrodvorets Watch Factory
Russia's oldest factory was founded by Peter the Great in 1721 first as a lapidary plant to help in the construction of the Peterhof Palaces but also other Palaces in St. Petersburg. It started to produce equipment and parts for the watch industry in the 1920s. After World War II, the factory started to produce complete watches under the brand name Pobeda and from 1961 under the brand Raketa. in 1985 the factory had 7500 employees and was producing 5 million mechanical watches per year. Today, it is the last watch factory in Russia producing its own movements from A to Z, though the production is much smaller than it used to be.
Transportation
The town is served by three railway stations (Novy Petergof, Stary Petergof, and Universitet). The palaces of Peterhof are accessible by sea via hydrofoils based near the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. The palace is also accessed by road. Public transit and private van services make trips from Saint Petersburg.
The Upper Gardens are accessible, but entry to the Lower Gardens requires the purchase of tickets (not included in the boat fee for visitors arriving by hydrofoil). The palaces and grotto are accessible only as part of guided tours.
Local government
Petergof is a municipal entity - an intracity territory of the federal city of St. Petersburg. Local self-government is carried out on the basis of the charter, which was adopted by the resolution of the municipal council of the municipal formation of the city of Petergof dated 5 November 2008 No. 54-n.
The current body of local self-government - the Municipal Council - has been operating since 1998. As a result of the elections on 14 September 2014, a new composition of the fifth convocation was elected (out of 19 deputies: 18 from United Russia and 1 from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation).
The head of the municipal district of Petergof (since 2019) is deputy of the Municipal Council Alexander Shifman.
The executive body of local self-government is the local administration, headed by Tatyana Yegorova.
Sister cities
Germany Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Germany
France Le Blanc-Mesnil, France
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of roughly 5.6 million residents as of 2021, with more than 6.4 million people living in the metropolitan area. Saint Petersburg is the fourth-most populous city in Europe, the most populous city on the Baltic Sea, and the world's northernmost city of more than 1 million residents. As Russia's Imperial capital, and a historically strategic port, it is governed as a federal city.
The city was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on 27 May 1703 on the site of a captured Swedish fortress, and was named after the apostle Saint Peter. In Russia, Saint Petersburg is historically and culturally associated with the birth of the Russian Empire and Russia's entry into modern history as a European great power. It served as a capital of the Tsardom of Russia, and the subsequent Russian Empire, from 1712 to 1918 (being replaced by Moscow for a short period of time between 1728 and 1730). After the October Revolution in 1917, the Bolsheviks moved their government to Moscow. The city was renamed Leningrad after Lenin's death in 1924. In June 1991, only a few months before the Belovezha Accords and the dissolution of the USSR, voters supported restoring the city's original appellation in a city-wide referendum.
As Russia's cultural centre, Saint Petersburg received over 15 million tourists in 2018. It is considered an important economic, scientific, and tourism centre of Russia and Europe. In modern times, the city has the nickname of being "the Northern Capital of Russia" and is home to notable federal government bodies such as the Constitutional Court of Russia and the Heraldic Council of the President of the Russian Federation. It is also a seat for the National Library of Russia and a planned location for the Supreme Court of Russia, as well as the home to the headquarters of the Russian Navy, and the Western Military District of the Russian Armed Forces. The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Saint Petersburg is home to the Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world, the Lakhta Center, the tallest skyscraper in Europe, and was one of the host cities of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euro 2020.
Russia or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the largest country in the world by area, extending across eleven time zones. It shares land boundaries with fourteen countries. It is the world's ninth-most populous country and Europe's most populous country. The country's capital as well as its largest city is Moscow. Saint Petersburg is Russia's second-largest city and cultural capital. Other major urban areas in the country include Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Chelyabinsk, Krasnoyarsk, Kazan, Krasnodar and Rostov-on-Don.
The East Slavs emerged as a recognised group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries CE. The first East Slavic state, Kievan Rus', arose in the 9th century, and in 988, it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire. Rus' ultimately disintegrated, with the Grand Duchy of Moscow growing to become the Tsardom of Russia. By the early 18th century, Russia had vastly expanded through conquest, annexation, and the efforts of Russian explorers, developing into the Russian Empire, which remains the third-largest empire in history. However, with the Russian Revolution in 1917, Russia's monarchic rule was abolished and eventually replaced by the Russian SFSR—the world's first constitutionally socialist state. Following the Russian Civil War, the Russian SFSR established the Soviet Union with three other Soviet republics, within which it was the largest and principal constituent. At the expense of millions of lives, the Soviet Union underwent rapid industrialisation in the 1930s and later played a decisive role for the Allies in World War II by leading large-scale efforts on the Eastern Front. With the onset of the Cold War, it competed with the United States for global ideological influence. The Soviet era of the 20th century saw some of the most significant Russian technological achievements, including the first human-made satellite and the first human expedition into outer space.
In 1991, the Russian SFSR emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as the independent Russian Federation. A new constitution was adopted, which established a federal semi-presidential system. Since the turn of the century, Russia's political system has been dominated by Vladimir Putin, under whom the country has experienced democratic backsliding and a shift towards authoritarianism. Russia has been militarily involved in a number of conflicts in former Soviet states and other countries, including its war with Georgia in 2008 and annexation of Crimea in 2014 from neighbouring Ukraine, followed by the further annexation of four other regions in 2022 during an ongoing invasion.
Internationally, Russia ranks among the lowest in measurements of democracy, human rights and freedom of the press; the country also has high levels of perceived corruption. The Russian economy ranks 11th by nominal GDP, relying heavily on its abundant natural resources, and 68th by GDP per capita. Its mineral and energy sources are the world's largest, and its figures for oil production and natural gas production rank highly globally. Russia possesses the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons and has the third-highest military expenditure. The country is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council; a member state of the G20, SCO, BRICS, APEC, OSCE, and WTO; and the leading member state of post-Soviet organisations such as CIS, CSTO, and EAEU/EEU. Russia is home to 30 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The Peterhof Palace is a series of palaces and gardens located in Petergof, Saint Petersburg, Russia, commissioned by Peter the Great as a direct response to the Palace of Versailles by Louis XIV of France. Originally intending it in 1709 for country habitation, Peter the Great sought to expand the property as a result of his visit to the French royal court in 1717, inspiring the nickname of "The Russian Versailles". The architect between 1714 and 1728 was Domenico Trezzini, and the style he employed became the foundation for the Petrine Baroque style favored throughout Saint Petersburg. Also in 1714, Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond, likely chosen due to his previous collaborations with Versailles landscaper André Le Nôtre, designed the gardens. Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli completed an expansion from 1747 to 1756 for Elizabeth of Russia. The palace-ensemble along with the city center is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Construction
The end of the Great Northern War resulted in the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, ceding much of the Swedish Empire's claim to the Baltic Sea to the rising Tsardom of Russia. Peter the Great already began construction of his new capital St Petersburg in 1703 after successfully capturing Swedish provinces on the eastern coast. This strategic location allowed Russian access to the Baltic Sea through the Neva River that flowed to the Gulf of Finland. The island of Kotlin and its fortress Kronstadt west of St Petersburg provided a gateway and commercial harbor access owing to the shallowness of water closer to the city.
Throughout the early 18th century, Peter the Great built and expanded the Peterhof Palace complex as a part of his goal to modernize and westernize Russia.
Monplaisir Palace (1714–1723)
In 1714, Peter began construction of the Monplaisir Palace (French: "my delight") based on his own sketches. He "сhalked out not only the site but also the inside layout, some elements of the decorative finish, etc". Based in a Dutch style, this was Peter's summer retreat (not to be confused with his Summer Palace) that he would use on his way coming and going from Europe through the harbour at Kronstadt. On the walls of this seacoast palace hung hundreds of paintings that Peter brought from Europe and allowed to weather Russian winters and the dampness of the sea without heat. In the seaward corner of his Monplaisir Palace, Peter made his Maritime Study, from which he could see Kronstadt Island to the left and St. Petersburg to the right. Later, he expanded his plans to include a vaster royal château of palaces and gardens further inland, on the model of Versailles which would become Peterhof Palace. The initial design of the palace and its garden was done by the French architect Jean-Baptiste Le Blond.
Layout
The dominant natural feature of Peterhof is a 16-m-high bluff lying less than 100 m from the shore. The so-called Lower Gardens (Nizhny Sad), at 1.02 km2 comprising the better part of Peterhof's land area, are confined between this bluff and the shore, stretching east and west for roughly 200 m. The majority of Peterhof's fountains are contained here, as are several small palaces and outbuildings. East of the Lower Gardens lies the Alexandria Park with 19th-century Gothic Revival structures such as the Kapella.
Atop the bluff, near the middle of the Lower Gardens, stands the Grand Palace (Bolshoi Dvorets). Behind (south) of it are the comparatively small Upper Gardens (Verhnyy Sad). Upon the bluff's face below the palace is the Grand Cascade (Bolshoi Kaskad). This and the Grand Palace are the centrepiece of the entire complex. At its foot begins the Sea Channel (Morskoi Kanal), one of the most extensive waterworks of the Baroque period, which bisects the Lower Gardens.
The Grand Cascade and Samson Fountain
The Grand Cascade is modelled on one constructed for Louis XIV at his Château de Marly, which is likewise memorialised in one of the park's outbuildings.
At the centre of the cascade is an artificial grotto with two stories, faced inside and out with hewn brown stone. It currently contains a modest museum of the fountains' history.
The fountains of the Grand Cascade are located below the grotto and on either side of it. There are 64 fountains. Their waters flow into a semicircular pool, the terminus of the fountain-lined Sea Channel. In the 1730s, the large Samson Fountain was placed in this pool. It depicts the moment when Samson tears open the jaws of a lion, representing Russia's victory over Sweden in the Great Northern War, and is doubly symbolic. The lion is an element of the Swedish coat of arms, and one of the great victories of the war was won on St Sampson's Day. From the lion's mouth shoots a 20-metre (66 ft)-high vertical jet of water, the highest in all of Peterhof. This masterpiece by Mikhail Kozlovsky was looted by the invading Germans during the Second World War; see History below. A replica of the statue was installed in 1947.
Perhaps the greatest technological achievement of Peterhof is that all of the fountains operate without the use of pumps. Water is supplied from natural springs and collects in reservoirs in the Upper Gardens. The elevation difference creates the pressure that drives most of the fountains of the Lower Gardens, including the Grand Cascade.
The Lower Gardens
The expanse of the Lower Gardens is designed in the formal style of French formal gardens of the 17th century. Although many trees are overgrown, in recent years the formal clipping along the many allees has resumed in order to restore the original appearance of the garden. The many fountains located here exhibit an unusual degree of creativity.
The same bluff that provides a setting for the Grand Cascade houses two other, very different cascades. West of the Grand Palace is the Golden Mountain (Золотая Гора), decorated with marble statuary that contrasts with the riotous gilded figures of the Grand Cascade. To the east is the Chess Mountain (Шахматная Гора), a broad chute whose surface is tiled black and white like a chessboard. The most prominently positioned fountains of Peterhof are 'Adam' and 'Eve'.
The Grand Palace
The largest of Peterhof's palaces looks imposing when seen from the Lower or Upper Gardens, but in fact it is quite narrow and not overly large.
The Chesma Hall is decorated with twelve large paintings of the Battle of Chesma, a stunning naval victory of the Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774. These were painted between 1771 and 1773 by the German artist Jacob Philipp Hackert. His first renderings of the great battle scenes were criticised by witnesses as not showing realistically the effect of exploding ships — the flying timbers, great flames, smoke, and fireballs.
The East and West Chinese Cabinets were decorated between 1766 and 1769 to exhibit objects of decorative art imported from the East. The walls were decorated with imitation Oriental patterns by Russian craftsmen, and hung with Chinese landscape paintings in yellow and black lacquer. Another room, positioned at the centre of the palace, bears the name of the Picture Hall.
Other features
The Grand Palace is not the only historic royal building in Peterhof. The palaces of Monplaisir and Marli, as well as the pavilion known as the 'Hermitage', were all raised during the initial construction of Peterhof during the reign of Peter the Great.
History
1705–1755
In the early 1700s, the original Peterhof appeared quite different from today. Many of the fountains had not yet been installed and the entire Alexandrine Park and Upper Gardens did not exist. What is now the Upper Gardens was used to grow vegetables, and its ponds, then numbering only three, for fish. The Samson Fountain and its massive pedestal had not yet been installed in the Sea Channel, and the channel itself was used as a grand marine entrance into the complex.
Perhaps the most important change augmenting Peter's design was the elevation of the Grand Palace to central status and prominence. The Grand Palace was originally called simply 'Upper', and was hardly larger than any of the other structures of the complex. The addition of wings, undertaken between 1745 and 1755, was one of the many projects commissioned from the Italian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli by Elizabeth of Russia. Likewise, the Grand Cascade was more sparsely decorated when initially built.
1941–modern day
Peterhof, like Tsarskoye Selo, was captured by German troops in 1941 and held until 1944. In the few months that elapsed between the German invasion of the Soviet Union and the appearance of the German Army, employees were only able to save a portion of the treasures of the palaces and fountains. An attempt was made to dismantle and bury the fountain sculptures, but three quarters, including all of the largest ones, remained in place.
On 23 September 1941 German troops captured Peterhof. Two weeks later, on 5 October 1941, Soviet troops tried to recapture the town and block the highway by naval landing. 510 marines of the Soviet Baltic Fleet landed on the beach of the neighboring park of Alexandria but faced a heavy fire from the Germans. The commander of the operation was killed, all landing troops became disorganised, one landing craft was sunk and another one missed. Despite Soviet attempts to cover the landing forces by coastal artillery from Kronstadt, they were quickly suspended because of lack of connection with the landing troops. Evacuation attempts also failed due to heavy German artillery shelling (only one marine was picked up from the water). The Peterhof landing operation failed and all landing troops were cut off from the shore and surrounded. Some of them reached the Lower Gardens and fought until the bitter end, including hand-to-hand combat. The last pockets of resistance were destroyed on 7 October. Several dozen German Shepherd dogs were released into the gardens to find the hiding marines. Many of the wounded marines were mauled to death and several were captured.
The occupying forces of the German Army largely destroyed Peterhof. Many of the fountains were destroyed, and the palace was partially exploded and left to burn. Restoration work began almost immediately after the end of the war and continues to this day. The Lower Park was reopened to the public in 1945.
The name was changed to "Petrodvorets" ("Peter's Palace") in 1944 as a result of wartime anti-German sentiment and propaganda, but the original name was restored in 1997 by the post-Soviet government of Russia.
The "purpose" of Peterhof was as a celebration and claim to access to the Baltic (while simultaneously, Peter the Great was also expanding on the Black Sea littoral).
Petergof known as Petrodvorets from 1944 to 1997, is a municipal town in Petrodvortsovy District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, located on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland.
The town hosts one of two campuses of Saint Petersburg State University and the Petrodvorets Watch Factory, one of the leading Russian watch manufactures. A series of palaces and gardens, laid out on the orders of Peter the Great and sometimes called the "Russian Versailles", is also situated there. The palace-ensemble along with the city center is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
St. Petersburg State University
Besides the downtown campus, certain Saint Petersburg State University's schools and departments are located in Petergof:
Graduate School of Management's campus in Mikhailovka (under reconstruction)
Faculty of Biology and Soil Studies' research center in Sergievka (Leuchtenberg Palace)
Petrodvorets Complex including four faculties:
Applied Mathematics and Control Processes
Chemistry
Mathematics and Mechanics
Physics
seven research institutes:
Astronomy
Chemistry
Computational Mathematics and Control Processes
Laser Research
Mathematics and Mechanics
Radiophysics
Physics
as well as 12 dormitories and a number of infrastructure objects.
The Petrodvorets Complex dates back to 1960s when it was decided[by whom?] to copy best international practices and to construct a brand-new suburban campus for the University, which had a crucial need for new premises. However, the idea was said to be widely opposed by the faculty, who did not want to commute two hours a day, and as few as four faculties relocated to Petergof.
In the 1990s the number of students from other regions fell significantly, and the University sold many of its downtown dormitories. When the trend reversed, the need for housing made the University administration accommodate most students in Petergof, even those studying in downtown faculties, which has created certain tensions. Still, the idea of a suburban campus seems to be persistent, as the Government of the Russian Federation has decided to hand over the Mikhailovka estate to the University to reconstruct it and house the Graduate School of Management's campus.
Due to the extensive presence of research facilities, mainly belonging to St. Petersburg State University, Petergof was named a naukograd in 2005.
Petrodvorets Watch Factory
Russia's oldest factory was founded by Peter the Great in 1721 first as a lapidary plant to help in the construction of the Peterhof Palaces but also other Palaces in St. Petersburg. It started to produce equipment and parts for the watch industry in the 1920s. After World War II, the factory started to produce complete watches under the brand name Pobeda and from 1961 under the brand Raketa. in 1985 the factory had 7500 employees and was producing 5 million mechanical watches per year. Today, it is the last watch factory in Russia producing its own movements from A to Z, though the production is much smaller than it used to be.
Transportation
The town is served by three railway stations (Novy Petergof, Stary Petergof, and Universitet). The palaces of Peterhof are accessible by sea via hydrofoils based near the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. The palace is also accessed by road. Public transit and private van services make trips from Saint Petersburg.
The Upper Gardens are accessible, but entry to the Lower Gardens requires the purchase of tickets (not included in the boat fee for visitors arriving by hydrofoil). The palaces and grotto are accessible only as part of guided tours.
Local government
Petergof is a municipal entity - an intracity territory of the federal city of St. Petersburg. Local self-government is carried out on the basis of the charter, which was adopted by the resolution of the municipal council of the municipal formation of the city of Petergof dated 5 November 2008 No. 54-n.
The current body of local self-government - the Municipal Council - has been operating since 1998. As a result of the elections on 14 September 2014, a new composition of the fifth convocation was elected (out of 19 deputies: 18 from United Russia and 1 from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation).
The head of the municipal district of Petergof (since 2019) is deputy of the Municipal Council Alexander Shifman.
The executive body of local self-government is the local administration, headed by Tatyana Yegorova.
Sister cities
Germany Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Germany
France Le Blanc-Mesnil, France
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of roughly 5.6 million residents as of 2021, with more than 6.4 million people living in the metropolitan area. Saint Petersburg is the fourth-most populous city in Europe, the most populous city on the Baltic Sea, and the world's northernmost city of more than 1 million residents. As Russia's Imperial capital, and a historically strategic port, it is governed as a federal city.
The city was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on 27 May 1703 on the site of a captured Swedish fortress, and was named after the apostle Saint Peter. In Russia, Saint Petersburg is historically and culturally associated with the birth of the Russian Empire and Russia's entry into modern history as a European great power. It served as a capital of the Tsardom of Russia, and the subsequent Russian Empire, from 1712 to 1918 (being replaced by Moscow for a short period of time between 1728 and 1730). After the October Revolution in 1917, the Bolsheviks moved their government to Moscow. The city was renamed Leningrad after Lenin's death in 1924. In June 1991, only a few months before the Belovezha Accords and the dissolution of the USSR, voters supported restoring the city's original appellation in a city-wide referendum.
As Russia's cultural centre, Saint Petersburg received over 15 million tourists in 2018. It is considered an important economic, scientific, and tourism centre of Russia and Europe. In modern times, the city has the nickname of being "the Northern Capital of Russia" and is home to notable federal government bodies such as the Constitutional Court of Russia and the Heraldic Council of the President of the Russian Federation. It is also a seat for the National Library of Russia and a planned location for the Supreme Court of Russia, as well as the home to the headquarters of the Russian Navy, and the Western Military District of the Russian Armed Forces. The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Saint Petersburg is home to the Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world, the Lakhta Center, the tallest skyscraper in Europe, and was one of the host cities of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euro 2020.
Russia or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the largest country in the world by area, extending across eleven time zones. It shares land boundaries with fourteen countries. It is the world's ninth-most populous country and Europe's most populous country. The country's capital as well as its largest city is Moscow. Saint Petersburg is Russia's second-largest city and cultural capital. Other major urban areas in the country include Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Chelyabinsk, Krasnoyarsk, Kazan, Krasnodar and Rostov-on-Don.
The East Slavs emerged as a recognised group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries CE. The first East Slavic state, Kievan Rus', arose in the 9th century, and in 988, it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire. Rus' ultimately disintegrated, with the Grand Duchy of Moscow growing to become the Tsardom of Russia. By the early 18th century, Russia had vastly expanded through conquest, annexation, and the efforts of Russian explorers, developing into the Russian Empire, which remains the third-largest empire in history. However, with the Russian Revolution in 1917, Russia's monarchic rule was abolished and eventually replaced by the Russian SFSR—the world's first constitutionally socialist state. Following the Russian Civil War, the Russian SFSR established the Soviet Union with three other Soviet republics, within which it was the largest and principal constituent. At the expense of millions of lives, the Soviet Union underwent rapid industrialisation in the 1930s and later played a decisive role for the Allies in World War II by leading large-scale efforts on the Eastern Front. With the onset of the Cold War, it competed with the United States for global ideological influence. The Soviet era of the 20th century saw some of the most significant Russian technological achievements, including the first human-made satellite and the first human expedition into outer space.
In 1991, the Russian SFSR emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as the independent Russian Federation. A new constitution was adopted, which established a federal semi-presidential system. Since the turn of the century, Russia's political system has been dominated by Vladimir Putin, under whom the country has experienced democratic backsliding and a shift towards authoritarianism. Russia has been militarily involved in a number of conflicts in former Soviet states and other countries, including its war with Georgia in 2008 and annexation of Crimea in 2014 from neighbouring Ukraine, followed by the further annexation of four other regions in 2022 during an ongoing invasion.
Internationally, Russia ranks among the lowest in measurements of democracy, human rights and freedom of the press; the country also has high levels of perceived corruption. The Russian economy ranks 11th by nominal GDP, relying heavily on its abundant natural resources, and 68th by GDP per capita. Its mineral and energy sources are the world's largest, and its figures for oil production and natural gas production rank highly globally. Russia possesses the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons and has the third-highest military expenditure. The country is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council; a member state of the G20, SCO, BRICS, APEC, OSCE, and WTO; and the leading member state of post-Soviet organisations such as CIS, CSTO, and EAEU/EEU. Russia is home to 30 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Format: Fotonegativ
Film: Agfa 4x4 Isopan ISS
Dato / Date: 21. Oktober 1964 kl. 14:00
Fotograf / Photographer Fritz Digre (1897 – 1992)
Sted / Place: Pir II, Trondheim
Oppdatert / Update: 22.03.2018 [Merknad om krysseren Murmansks forlis i Finnmark 1994]
Wikipedia: «Murmansk» (1955)
Wikipedia: Kotlin-class destroyer
Wikipedia: Nordflåten
Eier / Owner Institution: Trondheim byarkiv, The Municipal Archives of Trondheim
Arkivreferanse / Archive reference: Tor.H43.B81.F29955
Merknad:
På vei til opphugging i India i 1994 endte «Murmansk» opp som skipsvrak ved Norskekysten ved Sørvær i Hasvik kommune, Finnmark. Det tok hele 18 år og 360 millioner kroner å få ryddet opp etter forliset av «Murmansk».
Trønder-Avisa 15.10.1964 s. 1:
Sovjetiske krigsskip i Trondheim
I dagene 17. til 21. oktober får Trondheim besøk av to fartøyer fra den sovjetiske ishavsflåten, får NTB opplyst i Forsvarsdepartementet. Det dreier seg om krysseren "Murmansk" og torpedojageren "Nasjotjsjsivij" som tilsammen har en besetning på mellom 1300 og 1400 mann.
Sjefen for den sovjetiske ishavsflåten, viseadmiral Z. M. Lobov følger med fartøyene til Norge.
Det er forutsetningen at et gjenbesøk fra den norske marine skal finne sted i Sovjetunionen, antakelig i juli måned 1965.
Adresseavisen 16.10.1964 s. 11:
Omfattende program i Trøndelag under russernes offisielle flåtebesøk
Konserter, fotballkamp, dans og barneselskap - En rekke kransnedleggelser i Trondheim, Verdal og Ekne
Et omfattende program er satt opp for det offisielle sovjetiske flåtebesøk i Trondheim fra lørdag 17. oktober til onsdag 21., når sjefen for russernes Nordflåte, viseadmiral S. M. Lobov kommer med den 15 000 tonn store krysseren "Murmansk" og den 3000 ton store jageren "Nastojtsjiv". Skipssjefer er kommandør A. I. Boldizev og kommandørkaptein V. V. Boltsov, og norsk forbindelsesoffiser blir kommandørkaptein A. Stang.
Den russiske ambassadør med forsvarsattasje og marineattasje kommer opp fra Oslo for anledningen.
Ialt har fartøyene 1350 mann ombord. Før fartøyene legger til kai utveksles nasjonal salutt på 21 skudd med Kristiansten festning. Fartøyene legger til ved Pir II klokken 10, og umiddelbart etter gir viseadmiral Lobov pressekonferanse ombord på "Murmansk", hvor han har reist sitt kommandotegn. Deretter avlegger han visitter hos Sovjetunionens ambassadør på Britannia Hotel, sjefen for Sjøforsvarskommando Trøndelag, Trondheims ordfører, sjefen for DKT og fylkesmannen i Sør-Trøndelag. Skipssjefene avlegger visitter hos SKT-sjefen, politimester og havnefogd. Deretter avlegges gjenvisitter ombord.
Under oppholdet vil mannskaper og befal fra fartøyene bli vist omkring i Trondheim - på sightseeing, museumsbesøk m.v. Lørdag kl. 13 vil et sovjetisk musikkorps gi konsert i Tordenskioldparken.
Søndag kl. 9 vil viseadmiral Lobov legge ned krans på minnesmerket over falne nordmenn på Domkirkegården og ca. kl. 10 ved det russiske krigsmonumentet på Lademoen kirkegård.
Samme dag vil ca. 80 befal og menige dra til Ekne, hvor det ca. kl. 10.30 blir kransenedleggelse ved krigsmonumentet i Falstadskogen. Ca. kl. 11 gjentas seremonien ved krigsgravene på Verdalsøra. Deretter - ca. kl. 13 - vil Levanger og Verdal kommuner gi en lunsj på Verdal hotell for de russiske gjester.
Søndag holdes også et barneselskap på krysseren, for barn fra barnehjem i Trondheim og nærmeste omegn. Om kvelden gir Nordflåtens sang- og danseensemble konsert og opptreden i Nidarøhallen, og så fortsettes med dans til et russisk orkester og "The Vikings". Om formiddagen vil sovjetisk marinepersonell være innbudt til å overvære semifinalen Rosenborg-Vålerengen på Lerkendal stadion, og mandag vil gjestene vise hva de kan i en fotballkamp på Stadion mot et lag fra Trondheim. Bispehaugen skoles musikkorps underholder.
Sjefen for Nordflåten drar enten mandag eller tirsdag til Oslo, hvor et eget program avvikles, og onsdag returnerer han med følge til Trondheim.
Ellers omfatter programmet bl.a. besøk tirsdag ved de maritime skoler ved en del sovjetisk personell, og kl. 16 onsdag forlater fartøyene Trondheim.
For publikum vil fartøyene være åpne for besøk søndag og mandag i tiden kl. 14.00 til kl. 16.00.
Unge offiserer
Nordflåtens kommandant, viseadmiral S. M. Lobov er av bondeslekt, født i 1913 i Moskva-distriktet. Han fullførte i 1937 den høyere sjøkrigsskole og har hatt en rekke verv i flåten til han i 1963 ble sjef for Nordflåten. Viseadmiral Lobov har bl.a. seks ordener av Sovjetunionen.
Krysseren "Murmansk"s kommandant, kommandør A. I. Boldizev er født i 1924 i Volgadistriktet og avsluttet i 1946 den høyere sjømilitøre utdannelse. I 1959 ble han sjef for krysseren.
Jageren "Nastojtsjivij"s kommandant, kommandørkaptein V. V. Boltsjov er født i 1926 i Kalinindistriktet, av bondefamilie. Han fullførte i 1949 den høyere sjømilitære utdannelse. Han ble sjef for jageren i 1959.
Adresseavisen 19.10.1964 s. 7:
Dundrende åpning av det sovjetrussiske flåtebesøk i Trondheim
De fleste av de 1200 mannskapene har ikke tidligere vært i fremmed havn
Bresjnev-portrettet allerede på plass i salongen
Sønderrivende kanondrønn fikk Trondheim til å beve lørdag morgen, og mange snappet forskrekket etter pusten da vi sånn i forbifarten nevnte at deler av den sovjetrussiske krigsflåte lå på høyde med Munkholmen. Umiddelbart etter den uhyggelige kanonaden, skal det ha vært hørt en svarsalutt fra Kristiansten festning. Enkelte vil kanskje la seg friste til å trekke visse konklusjoner av den uskyldige styrkeprøven i lyd, men faktum var jo at rabalderet var startskuddet for et fem dagers offisielt sovjetrussisk flåtebesøk i Trondheim. Krysseren "Murmansk" og jageren "Nastojtsjivyi" med tilsammen 1200 mann ombord klappet til Pir II ved 10-tiden i nærvær av et forbausende stort antall nysgjerrige trøndere. På kaien sto også representanter for den norske marine, pressen og den sovjetrussiske ambassade i Oslo.
På en pressekonferanse ombord i "Murmansk" lørdag formiddag, kunne sjefen for den sovjetrussiske Nordflåten, viseadmiral S. M. Lobov, opplyse at dette er det første sovjet-russiske flåtebesøk i Trondheim etter krigen. De to båtene forlot Murmansk den 14. oktober og skal tilbake dit etter visitten i Trondheim. (I salongen hang store farveportretter av Marx, Lenin og den nye partisekretær Leonid Bresjnev!).
Viseadmiralen overbragte hilsener til det norske folk fra det sovjet-russiske marinefolket og uttrykte sin glede over å få avlegge besøk i dette fredselskende land hvor man for 20 år siden samarbeidet for å kaste de fascistiske erobrere på sjøen. Viseadmiral Lobov satte også særlig stor pris på det praktfulle været i Trondheim og gledet seg til å hilse på befolkningen og besøke våre severdigheter.
I løpet av den korte tiden som var avsatt til spørsmål, opplyste viseadmiralen at han personlig hadde vært på flåtebesøk i Bergen i 1956 og 1958. Det var sannsynlig at norske marinefartøyer ville komme på gjenvisitt i Sovjet en gang til neste år. Mannskapene ombord i de to krigsfartøyene har aldri tidligere vært i fremmed havn. Den alminnelige verneplikten for marinens folk varer i fire år, og de rekrutteres fra alle kanter av landet. Den mer tekniske beskrivelse av båtene, kunne vi sikkert finne lett tilgjengelig hos bokhandlerne i land, mente han. Krysseren er på 1400 tonn. Lignende båter bygges ikke mer. I dag brukes de mest som et slags paradefartøy.
Viseadmiral Lobov er gammel krigsveteran med en rekke høye ordener og medaljer. Han er av bondeslekt og avsluttet sin marineutdannelse i 1937. I 1963 ble han utnevnt til øverstkommanderende for Nordflåten. Kommandør på "Murmansk" er kaptein A. I. Boldyrjev. Sjef ombord i jageren er kaptein V. V. Bojtsov. Begge disse kapteiner har fått sin marineutdannelse etter krigen.
Pressekonferansen ble avsluttet i meget gemyttlige former hvor man forgjeves forsøkte å komme på språkelig bølgelengde ved hjelp av vodka og pertentlig oppskårede cocktailsnitter. Adresseavisens medarbeider forlot selskapet for å følge viseadmiralens oppfordring om å bese skipet, men det førte nesten til nervøst sammenbrudd for den vaktmann som åpenbart var satt til å geleide oss til landgangen. Med et fortvilt "please" lot han oss forstå at vi måtte gå den brede vei mot landgangen.
Var det mange nysgjerrige trøndere på kaien, var det ikke færre nysgjerrige ombord. Mannskapene stimlet sammen langs rekken og fotograferte ivrig det lille de kunne se på Pir II. Sovjetisk fjernsyn og presse var også ivrig med på notene. Særlig var fjernsynsfotografen arbeidssom med et kamera som til sine tider overdøvet både viseadmiralen og tolken. En medarbeider i Pravda var også ombord. Det var tydelig at man bar i sinne å lage mye informasjonsstoff om Trondheim og omegn under flåtebesøket.
Ved ankomsten lørdag morgen spilte Forsvarets Distriktsmusikkorps og et korps ombord i "Murmansk". Det sovjet-russiske marinekorpset spilte også en times tid i Tordenskioldparken.
D.
Adresseavisen 22.10.1964 s. 3:
Slutt på vellykket flåtebesøk
Det sovjetrussiske flåtebesøket ble igår avsluttet i den samme gode ånd som har hersket under hele besøket. Kl. 16 forlot fartøyene Trondheim med kurs for Murmansk, mens Forsvarets Distriktsmusikkorps Trøndelag og et korps på krysseren "Murmansk" utvekslet fedrelandssanger.
Under en avsluttende lunsj ombord uttrykte viseadmiral S. M. Lobov mannskapenes takk for et strålende opphold i Trondheim. I samtaler i Oslo hadde viseadmiralen overfor forsvarsministeren og sjefen for Sjøforsvaret gitt uttrykk for den hjertelige mottagelse i Trondheim, hvor tusener hadde sett fartøyene og de sovjetrussiske gaster hadde fått sett mye av byen og trøndernes levemåte. Den varme velkomst var gledelig - og noe uventet, - og viseadmiralen takket hjertelig for den, idet han utbragte en skål for Hans Majestet Kong Olav V - "som vi sier på russisk, bånnski", sa viseadmiralen.
Generalmajor Paus takket viseadmiralen og hans offiserer for den store gjestfrihet de hadde vist under oppholdet, med håp om at de hadde fått et varig og riktig bilde av forholdene på et fremmed sted, og at det vil bidra til å styrke den gjensidige respekt og forståelse mellom våre folk.
Viseadmiralen overrakte deretter gaver til kommandør Stenrød, ordfører Sagør, generalmajor Paus og forbindelsesoffiseren, kommandørkaptein Stang. Til slutt takket ordfører Sagør for gavene og for et populært besøk, med kompliment til de sovjetrussiske mannskaper for god opptreden i land.
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