Monplaisir Palace in the Lower Gardens, Peterhof Palace av leonyaakov

Sitting in the eastern corner of the Lower Park, right on the shoreline of the Gulf of Finland, Monplaisir resembles a Dutch Colonial mansion, with its high gabled roof over the central corpus and narrow rectangular windows to keep out the wintry north wind. Monplaisir was completed by 1723, and became Peter's preferred retreat, where he entertained only his closest friends and advisers. The rooms inside are almost entirely paneled in oak, and contain an interesting collection of 17th century art, much of which comes from Peter's own collection.