St Petersburg sits on the seas of the Gulf of Finland, part of the Baltic sea. This combined with its northerly latitude means that the weather here is mostly cloudy, grey and wet. Sadly our day at the Versailles of the north, Peterhof is marred by such weather. Nonetheless if there was no golden sunlight outside the dazzling gold leaf that adorns the interior more than makes up for it.
Commissioned by Peter the Great and added to by successive rulers it was unashamedly modelled on Versailles just outside France and the lavish interiors and outside fountains set in beautiful gardens mirror the original. Tragically this place was a casualty of WW2. During the siege of Leningrad German troops occupied Peterhof. As they were forced to retreat, the Nazis, in an act of cultural vandalism blew up the palace leaving it a wrecked shell. Fortunately, before the siege the Russians spirited away all of its precious contents. Now it is rebuilt and restored back to its opulent glory.
Fifty years on and the new tsar(ina) Catherine the Great tires of Peterhof. What to do? Build your own version a few miles away. This palace, Tsarskoe Selo, does allow photography inside.
