Peterhof

Peterhof, a town of Russia, in the government of St Petersburg, 18 m. W. of the capital, on the south coast of the Gulf of Finland. It was founded in 1711 and has grown up round the palace built by Peter the Great in 1720; pop., 11,300. Peterhof is almost exclusively a residential town, but gem-cutting and the manufacture of agricultural implements are carried on. The palace has undergone alterations and additions, e.g. by Catharine II., but retains a distinct Petrine stamp. It is built on a height 50 ft. above the sea, and contains portraits of the Russian imperial family and other pictures. A statue of Peter the Great was set up near the palace in 1883, and one of Francis I. of France in 1896, a gift from the town of Havre to, Nicholas II. Peterhof is connected with Oranienbaum on the west and with Stryelna on the east by series of gardens and villas.