Peterhof State Museum Reserve

The first documented record of Peterhof refers to the year 1705, when it was called in the Dutch manner as «Piterhof» – «Peter’s courtyard». The area of its parks created in the XVIII-XIX centuries is about 1000 hectares and includes the Lower park, the Upper Garden, Alexandria and the Islands. The specific character of the terrain made it possible to lay out parks at 2 levels. Starting from the period of its foundation by Peter the Great Peterhof served as an official summer residence for the Romanovs. The creation of a unique fountain system made it possible to decorate parks of Peterhof with more than 150 fountains. At different times more than 10 palaces and a large number of elegant garden pavilions have been put up at Peterhof, including the Grand Petehof Palace, the Monplaisir Palace, the Marly and Hermitage pavilions.During World War II, the German occupiers barbarously destroyed the palaces and the park. The reconstruction began from the first days of the liberation. And today, this nature and man-made masterpiece welcomes the guests, impressing and surprising them, just like before. In 1990, the architecture and park ensemble «Peterhof» was included in the world’s list of intangible cultural heritage of UNESCO, and was recognized in 2008, as one of the seven wonders of Russia.