The Sun Fountain in Peterhof

The magnificent fountains of Peterhof are famous not only for their extraordinary beauty, but also for a wide variety of both architectural and engineering ideas. One of the most interesting fountains in the park is undoubtedly the Sun fountain.

The fountain is located in the southern part of the Lower Park, near the Monplaisir Palace. In the time of Peter the First, there was a Menagerie - a menagerie. In the pond surrounding the fountain, sturgeons brought here from the Volga were bred, swans, geese and ducks slid along its water surface.

The fountain was built in 1721 by Nicolas Micheltti with the active participation of the emperor. Fifty years later, the design of the fountain was significantly redesigned by the architect Yuri Felten and it has acquired a familiar look to us today. At the base of the fountain, a turbine is installed, which under the pressure of water rotates a bronze column topped with gilded discs. From the holes in the disks, as if the sun's rays hit thin water jets in all directions.