The Destruction and the Rise of the New Peterhof Palace

From the reign of Peter the Great, the developments in the Peterhof Palace was continued by the Tsars until the time of Nicholas II, known to be as the Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias. The reign of Nicholas II was the last one due to the Revolutionary attacks by the Nazi troops that abdicated.

His reign saw Imperial Russia go from being one of the foremost great powers of the world to an economic and military disaster. As head of state, he approved the Russian mobilization of August 1914 which marked the first fatal step into World War I and thus into the demise of the Romanov dynasty.

Before the attacks that took place in 1941, Peterhof’s ground and palaces became a museum where anyone was free to come by and see the place. It was a property of the state and a historical site until the World War II. Curators of the Soviet museum tried to save the artworks, statues and fountains by burying them to the ground. All of their efforts were useless and many Russian soldiers died defending Peterhof. Nazi troops destroyed, burnt, vandalized and demolished the once-beautiful and a great empire. The Nazis occupied the land for 3 years from 1941 to 1944, leaving cruel traces of violent and barbaric damage all throughout Peterhof. Thousands of priceless works of Russian Art were destroyed and antique pieces that are centuries old were vanished in one instant.

When the war ended, the Herculean task of reconstructing Peterhof was undertaken by the ravaged nation. Germany sponsored most of the money used for the reconstruction of Peterhof as part of war reparations. Peterhof opened its doors once again in 1952, though there were still a lot of work to be done. Reconstruction has been slow at times, with attention paid to precise detail. The fountains began working in 1996 for the first time since the war. Visitors from all over the world came to visit the new Peterhof Palace.

From Peterhof the name was changed to Petrodvorets. The Grand Palace (Bolshoi Dvorets) dominates the estate. Similar in scale to Catherine's Palace in Pushkin, it is filled with lavish rooms and galleries. Most of the palace was built during Elizabeth's time. After Elizabeth, most of the emperors and empresses used the palace for functions and official purposes, choosing to live elsewhere. After 60 years later, Peterhof is preserved at the height of its glory with tended gardens and replicas of the statues that were looted or destroyed.

Peterhof is a great manifestation of Peter the Great’s passion for the sea and the water symbolized by water wall fountains are all found in the Peterhof Palace . Peterhof is a true wonder and one of a kind magnificent spot that draws millions of people to the edge of the Baltic Sea.