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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.
#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
CAPTION ON THE BACK OF THE PHOTO
A Soviet KOTLIN-CLASS (Russian SPOKOYNYY destroyers (projects 56, 56K) photographed from a Sea King helicopter from the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Blake in the North Sea
#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
428-GX-USN 1149094: Cold War, Soviet Ships. A Soviet Krupny class guided missile armed destroyer, a Soviet Kotlin Sam class guided missile armed destroyer and the U.S. Navy escort ship USS Sample (DE 1048) in the waters off the coast of Hawaii. The Soviet ships were units of a Soviet Task Group that cruised through the Hawaiian waters from September 13 to 15, 1971. Photograph released September 14, 1971. U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. (2016/05/03).
#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 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.
Микрорайон у дамбы без названия, только с номером. Есть еще 16-й квартал ближе к самому Кронштадту. На самом деле райончик достаточно уютный -- в этих домах вроде давали квартиры строителям дамбы.
A quarter by the dam with a number for a name. There is also a Quarter 16, closer to Kronstadt proper. Actually this seems like a nice enough neighborhood, with residents being mostly construction workers who built the Kronstadt dam.
The dam is a huge structure connecting Kotlin Island with both north and south shores of the Finnish Bay. Its primary purpose is to shield St. Petersburg from the floods common on the Baltic, which devastated the city several times in its history. The construction started in Soviet era, back in 1970s, and was completed only in 2011 (the northern part was fine long before that, but the southern part, with an underwater tunnel below the main waterway, was very tricky). The dam provided the final segment of the Ring Motorway of St. Petersburg, a high-quality freeway with 2 to 4 lanes in each direction, and thus connected Kronstadt, which used to be accessibly only be ferry, to the mainland.
Вид на форт Кроншлот.
Кроншлот — старейший из фортов Кронштадта. В начале XVIII века по приказу императора Петра Великого в водах Финского залива близ острова Котлин выросла неприступная крепость в форме десятигранника. Она служила надежной защитой от вражеских войск в годы Северной войны.
View of the Fort of Kronshlot.
Kronshlot is the oldest of Kronstadt's FORTS. At the beginning of the XVIII century by order of Emperor Peter the Great in the waters of the Gulf of Finland near Kotlin island grew impregnable fortress in the form of a decahedron. It served as a reliable protection against enemy troops during the Northern war.
Soviet SAM Kotlin DDG that we encountered in the Mediterranean in 1983 during our transit to Beirut as part of MEDITERRANEAN AMPHIBIOUS READY GROUP (MARG) 2-83. I believe this is the Nakhodchivyy.
Soviet SAM Kotlin DDG that we encountered in the Mediterranean in 1983 during our transit to Beirut as part of MEDITERRANEAN AMPHIBIOUS READY GROUP (MARG) 2-83. I believe this is the Nakhodchivyy.
#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
Launched on 27 November 1953, commissioned 30 September 1955 and decommissioned on 30 July 1987.
At North Blyth for scrapping.
#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
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#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
Soviet SAM Kotlin DDG that we encountered in the Mediterranean in 1983 during our transit to Beirut as part of MEDITERRANEAN AMPHIBIOUS READY GROUP (MARG) 2-83. I believe this is the Nakhodchivyy.
#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
Лес сам по себе смотрится немного мрачновато тоже. Остров в ширину здесь менее километра; вдали просвечивает море.
The woods themselves also look a bit creepy here. The island is less than a kilometer wide here; the sea can be visible beyond the trees.
#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