St Petersburg Second Day, 4 of 8 - Outdoor Garden The Peterhof Estate

Even in the Lower Garden the garden designers have used the hilly landscape areas to their advantage and have created gravity driven fountains and waterfalls. 

One particularly large tiled artificial waterfall with a gravity driven waterfall really attracts the attention of tourists because it is a piece of grand artwork as well as a water feature.itself. It is named "The Dragon Waterfalls" because it has 3 water dragon sculptures which spout water over the blue and white geometrical tiles of the waterfall- slide area. The waterfall ceramic tiles area is flanked on either side by graceful, marble statues of beautiful maidens in various poses. It is so unusual and a photographers shooting spot. I didn't find it beautiful, but garish! The graceful maidens looked out of place with the gargoil-type of sculpture of the three gruesome looking dragons. maybe that's the point of the artwork, but it was lost on me.

A liitle further on we came across a very unusual set of water fountains at the edge of the forest area. The fountains have been crafted to look like small pine trees growing on a small hill mound. However, these trees are man-made and when tourists venture near them they are showered by sensor-activated water jets and taken by surprise. What a novel idea!

After spending about an hour and a half exploring the beautiful gardens below the palace we headed back up the slope towards the Grand Cascade area where there was going to be a display of waterfalls and music.

Looking up from the lower garden as we had a wonderful view of the palace with its golden onion-domes, peach coloured palace walls and baroque architecture. 

As we approached the water fountain area we were surprised to see hundreds of people lined along the balustrade of the palace, down all the marble staircases that lead down the hillside slopes and crowded across the lawn areas below the cascade fountain area. It was difficult to find a viewing spot but we squeezed beside some fellow tourists and waited for the show to begin.

The Grand Cascade is the centre piece of the formal garden. It is a spectacular sight even without the water flowing. It boasts the world's largest system of fountains having 3 cascading waterfalls, 75 fountains, 138 water jets and more than 39 gilded statues stand glistening and adorning the waterfall areas of the Grand Cascade. 

Even more surprisingly, is the fact that the waterfalls and fountains flow without the use of pumps.  Water for the fountains comes from natural springs, collected in the upper gardens and supplied by a gravity-fed water system. The  water system is 22 km long and has been designed to use the natural slope on the terrain to supply sufficient water for the fountains and cascades of the estate and to keep them functioning up to 10 hours a day. 

We stood with  hundreds of tourists waiting for the water show to begin and as we waited dark clouds began to gather in the sky. They grew blacker and blacker but they didn't break and pour down upon us. Then suddenly, the  waterfalls and fountains began to flow. They bubbled at first and then they spurted spouts of water into the air at different heights . The golden statues glistened in the sun as the water tumbled over them and it was a spectacular sight to see. Then as an added surprise, a lion sculpture started shooting a 20 metre jet of water up into the sky.

It seemed incredibly unbelievable that such a splendidly spectacular water show was taking place without the use of any pumps but such is the engineering feat of Russian garden designers who harnessed the power of natural spring waters through a system of pipes that still function as well as they did when the water project was completed in 1724. 

Everyone stayed until the end of the show, madly clicking their cameras and 'oo-ing' and ar-ing' as the water jets, fountains and waterfalls ebbed and flowed and spouted and spirted water, high into the air. when it was all over we realiused that there was no music during the show! or was there? Yes there was because the water made its own music- the sound of 75 fountains, 138 water jets and 3 waterfalls is unique.

As we left The Peterhof Estate and headed for our coach the blackened clouds lowered and threatened to swallow up the Palace buildings which stood dazzling and majestic against the black backdrop of the stormy skies. 

What another fantastic experience and special tour we had just enjoyed at The Peterhof Estate but we still had 2 more places to visit and it was now almost 2pm. We ate a packed lunch on the coach (there was no time for a leisurely lunch like the one we had yesterday) as we were driven to yet another palace - one that was to be full of more surprises.