The history of Peterhof from the reign of Peter the Great until today

One of the most amazing and beautiful European palace ensembles is located not far from Petersburg and is known as Peterhof. History briefly describes the creation of this amazing place. Let's try and we quickly walk through the most important stages of Peterhof's life.

A good place

The legend says that the place for this city was chosen by Peter I. In 1705 a small ship "Munker" landed on the shore of the Gulf of Finland 40 km from the St. Petersburg under construction. From here, the horizons of the Baltic Sea and the vast island were well seen, where at that time the construction of the formidable fortress Kronshlot was conducted. In 1708, the first mention of the wooden palace of Peter the Great constructed on the Popovskaya manor, which the tsar himself called "khoromtsy", appeared. Thus began the history of Peterhof.

Project of the main residence

In 1710, the first steps were taken to transform the Choirmish people into the luxurious palace ensemble of Peterhof. The story tells that after the victory over Sweden, Peter I made a trip to France. There he studied the layout of the brilliant French royal residences - Choisy, Trianon, Versailles. At the same time, special attention was paid to various technical solutions and details of the arrangement of parks and fountains.

In 1716, the king ordered from France the famous architect Alexander Leblon, appointing him the general architect of the future Peterhof. Many ideas were realized by Italian architects - Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli, Nicolo Michetti, masters of fountains - the Venetians Giuliano and Giovanni Barattini.

First discovery

Works on the erection of Peterhof were conducted with fantastic speed, and already in August 1725 its solemn opening took place. By this time, most of the fountains were operating, the Sea Canal was dug and the park was planned, and small palaces - Marly and Monplaisir - were also erected.

Honor to make the first layout of Peterhof fell MG Zemtsov - a famous Russian architect. Prior to that, there were no premises on the territory of the complex for the peasants who built it. Thanks to a clear layout, Peterhof received two additional buildings - for the state peasants , the Master's Corps was built, for the courtiers - Kavaler.

The granary factory, formed in 1725, was the first industrial facility that Peterhof received. The history of its occurrence is closely connected with the construction of this architectural masterpiece. The main task of the factory was the processing of stone, which was used to build palaces and architectural structures of the future city. By that time, work had already begun on erecting a water conduit, which was supposed to feed the fountains of Peterhof. The history of this powerful hydraulic structure began in the bed of the Ropsha River . It was her water that was supposed to provide all the fountains of the park ensemble with the name Peterhof.

The history of the palace in the XVII-XVIII centuries.

During the reign of Catherine I and Anna Ioannovna in Peterhof, the ideas and architectural improvements of Peter I were put into practice . When Elizabeth Petrovna ascended the throne, she invited the son of the famous Carlo Rastrelli, who by that time had already established himself as a brilliant architect. Francesco Rastrelli led the work on the reorganization of Peterhof. With it, the Upper Chambers were transformed, the Upper Garden was decorated. Also, a new Elizabeth Corps was erected, which organically entered the already equipped Peterhof.

The history is silent about any cardinal changes during the reign of Catherine II. All the transformations during this period were reduced to changes in the interior decoration of palaces and the renaming of the Elizabeth Corps into Catherine.

By the time of the ascent to the throne of Paul I, the architectural structures of Peterhof urgently needed major repairs, and cascades of fountains practically did not work. It took years of massive reconstruction of the entire palace complex. The scale of the work was so great that the final restoration of Peterhof was already at the beginning of the XIX century, when the son of Paul I - Alexander I.

Peterhof in the XIX century

By the beginning of the century in Peterhof village there were fifty houses of inhabitants and various non-residential buildings - stables, sheds and so on. Alexander I ordered to rebuild the most ugly buildings. Projects for new houses were developed by VP Stasov and others. The converted buildings served as barracks for several cavalry regiments.

Under Nicholas I the territory of Peterhof was expanded by purchasing land east of the Lower Park. Since 1826, the buildings of Peterhof are complemented by a two-story Cottage, which belonged to the wife of Nicholas I - Alexandra Feodorovna. Later, the Farmer's Palace was built and the Landscape Park was laid out.

The accession of Alexander II was marked by the opening of the railway, which connected St. Petersburg and Peterhof. The history of the palace complex until 1917 is the brilliant life of brilliant ladies and gentlemen, members of the royal family and Petersburg nobles.

Peterhof in the XX century

After the revolution, the entire palace and park ensemble was nationalized. In 1918, through its brilliant halls, the first tour of the workers was held. But the complete restoration of the destroyed ensemble took about 10 years. By 1926 the fountains of the lower park were reconstructed, and by 1930 the fountain pipelines were replaced and the overgrown Upper Garden was restored.

The Great Patriotic War did not spare Peterhof. Most of the exhibits were destroyed or stolen, and architectural structures turned into a heap of debris. After the liberation of Peterhof in 1944 immediately began repair and restoration work, which lasted about 30 years. Only in 1973 the palace and park complex was returned to its original form, and since then Peterhof has never tired of conquering the hearts of both Russians and foreign tourists.