Upper Garden
Peter's former vegetable garden. The Neptune Fountain was bought in Nuremberg.
The formal garden in front of the Grand Palace began as a vegetable garden: under Peter the Great, vegetables for the tsar's kitchen were grown here. In 1714 the tsar himself made the first sketches of the layout and ordered small canals to be dug to drain the water. The ponds and covered green alleys were completed in 1724–1725. The main decoration is the Neptune Fountain. Its sculptures were cast in Nuremberg back in the mid-17th century, but the fountain never worked there. More than a hundred years later it was bought by the future emperor Paul I and brought to Peterhof. So the German fountain, which never worked in its homeland, has been playing here for more than two centuries.
Walks in Peterhof / Day trips
🏝️ Island villas and the five-domed cathedral
The Upper Garden with the German "Neptune", the quiet Colonist Park, the Pompeian villa and the Neapolitan tower on the islands, and the cathedral reflected in the pond.
☔ A rainy day: two intimate museums
When it pours: the playing card museum and the Benois family museum, with the Upper Garden nearby. You can take a bus and stay dry.
🥾 All of Peterhof in a day: from west to east
A big hike for those who love walking: from Sobstvennaya Dacha through the entire Lower Park, the Colonist Islands and the cathedral — to the Cottage Palace in Alexandria. Return by bus or taxi.