The start of the fountain water conduit
From here the water flows by gravity to the fountains of the Lower Park.
The most unusual thing about Peterhof is not the fountains but what feeds them. There are no pumps: water is collected on the Ropsha heights and comes here by gravity through canals, ponds and pipes, on the principle of communicating vessels. Peter gave the first order for a pond for the Grand Cascade on 15 November 1715. Le Blond proposed ingenious water-lifting machines, but the tsar, returning from abroad, ordered ponds simply to be dug. Later the engineer Vasily Tuvolkov ran a canal from the Ropsha springs more than 20 kilometres long. The conduit still works, but it has had a chronic problem since the 19th century: different parts of the system are subordinate to different departments, and it is difficult to look after it as a whole.
Walks in Peterhof / Day trips
💧 Where the water flows from: Lugovoy Park and Babigon
A long walk south through deserted parks: the start of the fountain water conduit, the ruins of the Rose Pavilion, meadows with ponds and the "temple on a podium" on Babigon Hill. You can take a bus back.