Often referred to as the Russian Versailles, Peterhof Palace is a series of palaces and gardens, commissioned by Peter the Great, located in a town named Peterhof, 18 miles from St Petersburg, on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland. The site of the palace, on a 55 feet (16 m) high cliff, overlooking Kotlin Island, was selected by Peter 1705 as a landing for ships that would take him on state excursions to Europe. By that time, St Petersburg was already founded by Peter the Great on 27 May 1703 on the site of a captured Swedish fortress. However, many of its buildings were under construction, and the country was engaged in the Great Northern War against Sweden.

When the war ended with the defeat of Sweden, leaving Russia as the new dominant power in the Baltic region and as a new major force in European politics, Peter began constructing his dream palace, the Monplaisir Palace, meaning my delight in 1714, based on his own sketches. Initially, the palace and its gardens were designed by the French architect Jean-Baptiste Le Blond, and subsequently modified and developed by JF Braunstein and Niccolo Michetti, who turned it into a Baroque-structure that still stands near the shore as one of the most revered relics of the state history. Completed in 1723 it reflects the influence of Dutch architecture of the 18th century, and is often referred to as the Dutch House. The Galleries and rooms of the place are decorated with the paintings of West-European artists of the 17th and the 18th centuries, procured by Peter, and an Eastern corner was created to accommodate a large collection of Chinese porcelain.

In his life-time, Peter the Great also completed a massive amount of work around the palace, which included the landscaping of the Lower Park, the digging of the Sea Canal, building of the Marly Palace, a charming baroque mansion, located in the western half of the Lower Park, and most of the Hermitages. He expanded his plans to include an extensive series of royal palaces and gardens further inland, on the model of Palace of Versailles, which would later become the Peterhof Palace.

However, the developmental activities, including the new constructions, were suspended after the death of Peter the Great in 1725, and Peterhof was almost abandoned. But it started again in 1740 when Elizabeth of Russia, the daughter of Peter, took the throne and commissioned Bartolomeo Rastrelli to build a regal palace .It was a challenging task for the architect as Elizabeth wanted to preserve the original building and some other features of her father’s palace as a memory. However, the task was brilliantly implemented as Rastrelli widened the wings, added one more floor, and reconstructed the interior with baroque-style luxury. Later, during the reign of Catherine the Great, several halls were redecorated by YM Velten and JB Vallin de la Mothe, and in 1846 eight rooms in the eastern wing were reconstructed on the eve of the wedding of Grand Duchess Olga, the daughter of Nicholas I, by architect A Stackenschneider.

The majestic palace is equipped with about 30 halls, all stretched out one after another into the suite of rooms. While the ceiling paintings, glorifying Empress Elizabeth, allegorically represented as the goddess of spring, the walls are painted in tempera in a floral pattern. The first chamber of the gala suit includes the Dancing Hall or Merchant Hall.

Enriched with its classically decorated interior and preferred by Catherine the Great, the Chesma Hall was named after the Chesma Battle of 1770, in which the Russian Navy vanquished the Turkey Navy in the Aegean Sea. The walls of the hall are decorated with twelve large paintings of the battle by the German artist JP Hackert who was commissioned by Catherine to immortalize the win in the battle.

The Throne Room, also dates back to Catherine the Great, was used for the official ceremonies, banquets, and balls. While the western wall of the hall is decorated with four paintings by Richard Peton depicting the Chesme battle, the eastern wall has a large equestrian portrait of Catherine the Great by V. Eriksen. Titled Procession towards Peterhof, the painting depicts Catherine in the uniform of the Semyonovsky Lifeguards regiment, riding astride, leading her loyal troops to Peterhof, and signifying the coup d’etat which has brought Catherine to the throne of the Russian empire in 1762. The throne chair stands right beneath the portrait.

The White Dining Room, mainly painted in white and also commissioned by Catherine the Great, is the last big gala room in the palace. The Western and Eastern Chinese Cabinets in the palace, decorated with imitation Oriental patterns by Russian craftsmen, and hung with Chinese landscape paintings in yellow and black lacquer, exhibit objects of decorative art imported from the East.

The Picture Hall, flanked by the Chinese Cabinets, which used to be the central point of the original palace of Peter the Great, is decorated with a series of 368 paintings, purchased in 1764 from the widow of the Italian artist P. Rotari, who died in St. Petersburg. The paintings, mostly of variously dressed women, differing in appearance and even age, yet most were drawn from a single model.

The Lower and the Upper Gardens of the Peterhof Palace contain several fountains, including the fascinating Grand Cascade, containing the Samson Fountain.