Asia RUSSIA Россия ST PETERSBURG Санкт-Петербург . Petrodvorets Petergof Петерго́ф Peterhof The Peterhof Palace (an emulation of early modern Dutch "Piterhof", meaning "Peter's Court") is located in Petergof, Saint Petersburg, 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. 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. Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli completed an expansion from 1747 to 1756 for Elizabeth of Russia. The Peterhof Palace is a series of palaces and gardens designed by the Versailles landscaper Andre Le Notre. 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 dominant natural feature of Peterhof is a sixteen-metre-high bluff lying less than a hundred metres from the shore. Petrodvorets, june 2014. Petrodvorets, june 2014. Atop the bluff, near the middle of the Lower Gardens, stands the Grand Palace (Bolshoi Dvorets). The so-called Lower Gardens (Nizhny Sad), comprising the better part of Peterhof's land area, are confined between this bluff and the shore, stretching east and west for roughly 200 metres. The majority of Peterhof's fountains are contained here, as are several small palaces and outbuildings. Petrodvorets, june 2014. Petrodvorets, june 2014. 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. The Grand Cascade is modelled on one constructed for Louis XIV at his Chateau de Marly, which is likewise memorialised in one of the park's outbuildings. Waters flow into a semicircular pool, the terminus of the fountain-lined Sea Channel. 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. Petrodvorets, june 2014. Petrodvorets, june 2014. Petrodvorets, june 2014. Petrodvorets, june 2014. Petrodvorets, june 2014. Petrodvorets, june 2014. Petrodvorets, june 2014. Petrodvorets, june 2014. Petrodvorets, june 2014. Petrodvorets, june 2014. Petrodvorets, june 2014. Petrodvorets, june 2014. Petrodvorets, june 2014. Way to St.Petersburg, Russia june 2014. Way to St.Petersburg, Russia june 2014. Way to St.Petersburg, Russia june 2014.