Peterhof was a grand residence containing a series of palaces and gardens laid out on the orders of Peter the Great and sometimes called the
"Russian Versailles". It is located about twenty kilometers west and six kilometers south of St. Petersburg, overlooking the Gulf of
Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea.

In 1714 Peter began construction of the Monplaisir ("my pleasure") Palace based on his own sketches of the palace that he wanted close to the
shoreline. This was Peter's Summer Palace that he would use on his way coming and going from Europe through the harbor at Kronstadt.
Later he expanded his plans to include a vaster royal château of palaces and gardens further inland on the model of Versailles.
Construction was completed in 1725.

Peter the Great or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov ruled Russia from 7 May 1682 until his death on 8 February 1725, jointly ruling before
1696 with his weak and sickly half-brother, Ivan V. Peter carried out a policy of "Westernization" and expansion that transformed the
Tsardom of Russia into the Russian Empire, a major European power.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peterhof
and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_the_Great