PETERHOF 



with gilt domes. The Terrace, forty feet in 

 height, formed by the natural slope of ground 

 towards Neva Bay, commands a distant view of 

 the Finnish coast. 



A cascade rushes down in two branches over 

 six wide steps of coloured marble, into a large 

 basin, in the centre of which rises Samson, a 

 statue of bronze-gilt by Kozlooski, forcing open 

 the jaws of a lion from which a jet of water 

 shoots up to sixty-nine feet ; forty-five gilded 

 statues, vases and the like, are grouped around 

 the steps and basin. The space between the 

 palace and beach, 330 yards in width, is laid 

 out as a park with paths running through it, 

 and is skirted by lofty pine trees. Twenty- 

 two fountains, rising out of marble basins, 

 eleven on each side, fall into the central canal, 

 leading to the sea. Military bands play in the 

 park daily, and when the Court is in residence 

 the Imperial Orchestra gives concerts three 

 times weekly. There is a bronze statue of 

 Francis I on the Petersburgh road. The 

 Neptune Fountain within the park, executed 

 by Ritter and Schweiger, Nuremberg, 165260, 

 was acquired by Paul I in 1797. The state 



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