The main attraction of the lower and upper gardens is the Grand Palace which not so huge yet so elegant. There are more than a hundred gravity-fed fountains in the site and the most famous one would be the Grand Cascades Fountains located at the Upper Gardens. Built in the Baroque style (1714–28), it was reconstructed and expanded by Rastrelli from the mid-1740s to the mid-1750s. The Upper Garden’s magnificent style includes a grotto, 64 fountains and two cascading staircases which lead to an enormous semicircular basin that contains a giant statue of Samson wrestling with a lion. Tuvolkov designed a channel that was cut from the hills above to supply sufficient pressure for the Samson Water fountain. This statue, symbolizing the military glory of Russia, is a copy of the original statue by Mikhail I. Kozlovsky, which was carried off by the Nazis during World War II. During Peter the Great’s time, there were only three ponds that were used for aquaculture and irrigation that also holds water from the natural springs on site creating a pressure for the fountains below.

This is where you find fountains with creative designs and quite unusual. Some of these fountains are designed to intentionally soak visitors and tourists, “bluff” they call it. Some of them would automatically activate when someone approaches. Some fountains are designed as umbrellas with circular bench set around the stem but would suddenly drop a curtain of its water from the rim when someone sits down.

The lower garden is elegantly designed in a French style. Many magnificent water fountains are found here too, and the most famous and the nicest design is “The Sun” wherein the disk radiating water jets from its edge creates a sun’s rays. Plus, the whole structure rotates about a vertical axis so that the direction in which the "sun" faces is constantly changing.

There used to be tall trees that has grown but was recently trimmed down to give the gardens their original look. Among the entire fountain, the Grand Cascade is the first one to be noticed right away. This very large cascade is notable for being surrounded by dozens of gilded statues and smaller water spouts. It had a secret tunnel behind the grotto which existed during Peter the Great’s time already.

Want to visit beautiful outdoor fountains in the Pacific Northwest? Then Portland Oregon is the place to go.