ST. PETERSBURG. 



339 



Palace, contains a collection of 12,000 original designs, 200,000 prints, and a 

 magnificent picture gallery with specimens by most of the great masters, a 

 complete series of the Flemish, and a unique collection of the Russian school. 

 But its chief glory consists in the remains of the finest period of Hellenic art 

 and the Scythian antiquities from the south of Russia, elsewhere absolutely 

 unrivalled. Its library includes, amongst other treasures, the rare autograijhic 



Kg 179.— The Imi'Erial Palace of Peterhof, nfar St. Petersburcx. 



collections of Voltaire, D'Alembert, and Diderot. The picture gallery of the Fine 

 Arts Academy is richer even than that of the Hermitage in works of the Russian 

 school. 



The environs are adorned by some fine retreats, parks, and pleasure grounds, 

 conspicuous amongst which is Peterhof, on the south side of the bay separating 

 Kronstadt from the mouths of the Neva— a sort of Versailles, laid out in 

 plantations, flower beds, fountains, and terraces descending in flights of steps to 



