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Monplaisir Palace Interior. Large Image >
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The Sun Fountain stands in the middle of a large pool close to the Monplaisir Palace grounds. It is shaped as a tall fluted pillar crowned with gilded disks, seventy-two thin jets radiating from the disk edges. A water-wheel inside the pedestal revolves the pillar with the disks. The water-wheel of the Pet-Dog Fountain drives around four swimming ducks and a small dog chasing them. Large Image >
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The sloping Chessboard Hill Cascade terminating the Monplaisir Avenue vista is the major water-display in the eastern section of the Lower Park. The water gushing out of the gaping jaws of three fantastic dragons guarding the door of the Upper Grotto runs down the terraces patterned with black and white squares. Marble statues of antique gods are set along wooden steps on both sides of the Cascade. Construction of the Cascade started at Peter the Great's time was completed by the architects I. Davydov and I. Blank in 1739. The multi-spray Roman Fountains similar in design to the fountains in St. Peter's Square in Rome decorate the parterres in front of the Chessboard Hill. Their massive bodies are faced with coloured marble and ornamented with gilded masks, garlands and wreaths. Large Image >
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The multi-spray Roman Fountains similar in design to the fountains in St. Peter's Square in Rome decorate the parterres in front of the Chessboard Hill. Their massive bodies are faced with coloured marble and ornamented with gilded masks, garlands and wreaths. Large Image >
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