Saint Petersburg is quite literally a city of palaces. I had already visited Winter Palace which was as the official Tsar residence before the Bolshevik revolution, but there was one more palace I had always wanted to visit. Located by the sea, and inspired by Versailles, Peterhof (Peter's Court in German) was built in 1703 by Peter the Great. Around that time, Russia was at war with Sweden. Russian victory at the Battle of Polava in 1709 was a massive turning point, and to celebrate the Tsar dedicated Peterhof Palace to the victory over Karl XII.
I visited in late November, but the main reason I wanted to visit Peterhof was because of the beautiful lower Park. It is located in front of the Grand Palace and features 150 fountains and 4 waterways which channel out into the Gulf of Finland. I am standing here in the above photo. :)
