The day before, it had been snowing all day. In the morning, the snowfall subsided, and blue gaps appeared in the grey sky. I decided to go for a walk in the park: what could be better than a walk through the park alleys just after the snowfall, when the air is clear and clean?
I realized that the implementation of my plan would bear little resemblance to my expectations when I stepped out of the railway station building at Peterhof station. The blue had vanished without a trace from the solid grey clouds above my head, and rare snowflakes began to slowly swirl in the air. I thought that a walk in the snowfall was not a bad thing, either, and I resolutely moved forward to the park.
On the way to the Great Peterhof Palace, I noticed that the renovation of the old Adjutant's house had not yet been completed. As I recall from my previous visits to Peterhof, this building used to be painted yellow, which had long since peeled off. The walls had acquired a stunning, unique texture, but the house looked shabby and sad, the need for a soon-to-be-repaired house was obvious.
The wooden house for adjutants and other officers was built in the 1830s in the Classical style by the architect I. Charlemagne. In the 20th century a part of the house was occupied by the offices of the Peterhof Museum, the other half was used for residential flats. The information on the stand next to the house said that in the future the whole building would be turned over to museum services.
Soon I reached the Great Peterhof Palace. The palace was built on a natural high ground at the beginning of the 18th century. In front of the south façade of the palace is an upper garden, this garden is now closed for comprehensive restoration. On the other side of the palace is the lower park. I was going to walk down the stairs along the Grand Cascade fountain into this park, but I first walked along the palace façade to admire the views.
Construction of the Grand Palace of Peterhof began in 1715. It took three years to erect the central part of the building, and the halls were used for receptions and ceremonies. Soon it became necessary to enlarge the area of the building, and the side galleries were added. The final shape of the Palace was created in the mid 18th century, when the original premises were reconstructed in the same style by the architect Rastrelli. He kept some of the historical premises as relics and built them into the new, large and luxurious palace.
The central part of the big palace is only three storeys high, the side galleries and wings are even lower, they are only one or two storeys high, and the adjective "big" in the name of the palace may seem unjustified, but it is entirely fair and reflects the architectural techniques and habits of the time. The palace is indeed vast, its façade stretching 300 metres along the terrace. The client didn't consider it necessary to save money on the plot of land for the building, so the building grew not upwards, but wider.
From the Great Peterhof Palace, the Bolshoi Cascade fountain comes down. The Bolshoi Cascade fountain is a complex hydraulic system of terraces, grottos, arches and stairs, decorated with sculptures and bas-reliefs. In winter most of the fountains and statues of Peterhof are covered with protective covers, but the bronze gilded statues of the Grand Cascade continue to sparkle even on gray winter days.
Water from the fountains collects in a short canal and flows into the Gulf of Finland. The photos show a clear white space on the horizon - that's sea ice. The boundary between the sky and the ice is hard to see in this weather. In the winter the water ends up in the fountain as snow, and workers have to sweep this frozen water away by hand so it doesn't damage the fountain's mechanisms.
It was a long walk in the park and I had to divide the story into parts. I decided to end the first part of my story at this point - here I walk down the steps to the lower park. Next I'm going to walk around the park, and look at the other palaces and fountains of Peterhof.
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| Smartphone | Xiaomi Redmi 3 |
| Location | Peterhof, Saint Petersburg, Russia |
This is my entry for the #BeautifulSunday challenge by 
