Grand Cascade and the Samson Fountain

The cascade at the foot of the Grand Palace in Peterhof was set running in 1723 and carries 64 fountains along with more than two hundred bronze statues and reliefs spread over its two stairways and the grotto. At the centre of the basin stands Samson Tearing Open the Lion's Jaws, an allegory of the victory at Poltava, and the present figure was cast in 1947 to replace the one lost during the war. Water arrives by gravity along a canal from the springs at Ropsha, and there are no pumps anywhere in the system.

On the map