The Emperor's Palace on the bay

Emperor Peter the Great was passionately in love with everything to do with the sea. He loved traveling by sea, and he loved naval ships so much that he studied shipbuilding in detail. It is extremely rare for emperors to be so passionate about a project that they would take carpentry tools into their own hands and learn the business from the very beginning, from the work of an apprentice! The emperor laid out the new capital at the point where the Neva River flows into the Gulf of Finland for general political reasons. But the bonus was the possibility of sea travel on the bay.

Several imperial residences with magnificent palaces and beautiful parks were built on the shores of the bay, but most of these architectural and landscaping masterpieces date back to later times. At the time of Peter the Great the sea shores were deserted, only fishing villages enlivened the landscape. Therefore, several small palaces were hastily built near convenient harbors especially for the emperor. Traditionally, all of the emperor's houses are called palaces, although they were often smaller buildings. Some of these old palaces have survived to our time, others have disappeared without a trace.

The Monplaisir Palace began to be built in 1714. Emperor Peter I chose the place for the palace so that the sea surface could be seen from the windows. He personally drew several sketches of the future palace and passed these sketches to the architects so that the new palace would meet his expectations as much as possible. Monplaisir became Peter the Great's favorite palace. He often visited this palace, organized receptions and assemblies here. The palace was planned, built and decorated with great care and became a masterpiece of the Peter the Great Baroque style.

Now in the Monplaisir Palace there is a museum, but the work of this museum is seasonal. In winter the palace is closed. In summer, the Lower Park of Peterhof is a noisy place with a huge number of visitors. Along the alleys of the park are a continuous succession of groups of tourists, guides compete with each other in the colorfulness of the story of historical events, families with children hurry to sit comfortably near the fountains-jokes. But in winter this park is quiet and not crowded. The fountains do not work in winter, most of the museums are closed, and the statues are sheltered from the weather in protective cases.

The windows and doors of the Monplaisir Palace are shuttered, and only one window is lit. This must be the location of the guard post. The warm yellow light barely shines through the glass, like the light of a candle or a kerosene lamp. I step out onto the terrace that overlooks the bay. In summer I can see the waves of the sea from this terrace, but in winter I see only the flat surface of ice all the way to the horizon. In a small ice hole near the shore I notice a few ducks. It seems that these ducks have decided that the climate is good enough for them and there is enough food to eat, so they don't need to fly to warmer climes.

The icy wind from the bay immediately starts looking for a way to climb under my jacket and get to know me better. It's cold to stand still, but I don't want to give up the bay views right away. I choose an alley in the park that runs along the shore of the bay to continue my walk. Looking back, I see the Monplaisir Palace once again, but it is already beginning to fade into the winter landscape.