Peterhof is an immensely luxurious and beautifully preserved Imperial estate, founded in 1710 by Peter the Great on the shore of the Gulf of Finland (Baltic Sea). It combines several ornate palaces, a number of beautifully landscaped parks and a dazzling array of magnificent statues and fountains, lending it the epithet «The Russian Versailles».
Peterhof derives its name from the German for «Peter’s Yard» or «Peter’s Home». Note, that between 1944 and the early 1990s the town was called Petrodvorets, the Russian equivalent of Peterhof, and some guidebooks might still refer to it as that.
