Address: Peterhof, Lower Park
Coordinates: 59 ° 53'03.0 "N 29 ° 55'00.6" E
Content:
Two picturesque fountains adorn the spacious square in the eastern part of the Lower Park. Due to the fact that the powerful water cannons of Peterhof look like the fountains in front of St. Peter's in the capital of Italy, they are called "Roman".
View of the fountains from the Chess Mountain cascade
The history of fountains
Two fountains were built in 1939, when Peterhof already had many other “water extravaganzas”. The architects Johann Blank and Ivan Davydov were involved in the design of the new water cannons, and the pipes for the fountains were laid under the supervision of an experienced hydraulic engineer Paul Sualem. At first, water was allowed here from a small reservoir dug on the mountain. However, the jets were not powerful enough, so a new pipeline from the Red Pond was laid to the water cannons. Absolutely symmetrical fountains were built of wood and sheathed with lead sheets, and the pools for them were built from Pudot limestone tuff and Putilovsky sandstone.
The wooden parts quickly deteriorated, so in 1763 Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli proposed to rebuild them and install them on more durable stone pedestals. To make wooden water cannons resemble marble ones, they were painted "like a stone". In addition, the paired fountains were moved 8 m north of Shakhmatnaya Gora and placed on the axis of Berezovaya Alley, which connects the square of the Shakhmatnaya Gora cascade with the Marly palace complex.
View of the fountains from Berezovaya Alley
The reconstruction of the fountains did not end there. At the end of the 18th century, under the supervision of the chief architect of Peterhof, Franz Petrovich Bauer, the twin fountains were made of brick and granite, faced with marble, and the old wooden parts were replaced with lead ones.
During the Great Patriotic War, the outskirts of St. Petersburg were in the zone of German occupation. The Nazis ruled here for about two years, and when the territory was liberated, almost all the fountains of Peterhof were destroyed. At Roman fountains, pipelines were blown up, marble cladding and stone basins were mutilated.
The restoration of the lost in Peterhof was carried out for many years. However, the Roman fountains were among the first to be restored. The audience was able to admire the high jets already in 1949.
Fountains today
Paired water cannons are designed as two-tiered fountains, traditional for the 17th-18th centuries, and are installed in the center of shallow pools. The lower part of the water cannons are marble pedestals, richly decorated with gilded mascarons, flower garlands, scallops, shells and laurel wreaths. The drawings for the fountain decorations were created in 1817 by the famous monumental sculptor Ivan Petrovich Martos.
Above the pedestals are two flattened stone bowls. From the center of the upper bowl, a powerful jet rushes upward with a noise, reaching a height of 10 m. When the water falls down, it breaks against the edges of the stone bowls. Flowing down to the surface of the pools, water jets create beautiful foaming curtains, behind which gilded decorations can be seen.
From the south of the paired fountains you can see picturesque flower parterres. They were defeated in the 18th century by the Dutchman Bernhard (Boris Ivanovich) Fock. The talented master served at the Russian court and for many years served as the chief gardener of Peterhof. The flower beds are arranged below the garden paths, and their shape is exactly the same as the shape of the fountain pools. This type of lawn is called bulengreen.
View of one of the fountains
The pools are surrounded by terracotta-colored walking paths. Small benches are set around them. Visitors to the Lower Park can always sit down and, while resting, admire the cascades of fountain jets. In addition to flowers, lawns are decorated with neatly trimmed pyramidal thuja. And from the north side, the trees of the shady park come close to the fountain complex.
Roman fountains are located in the Lower Park. This part of the palace and park ensemble is available for tourists from 9.00 to 21.00, and on holidays - until 20.00. To enter the Lower Park, you need to buy a ticket. In summer, the water in the fountains is run every day from 10.00 to 20.45.
