PETERHOF, a town of European Russia, in the government of St Petersburg, and 18 miles west of the capital, on the south coast of the Gulf of Finland, has grown up round the palace built by Peter the Great in 1711, was constituted a district town in 1848, and has increased its population from 7647 in 1866 to 14,298 in 1881. It is almost exclusively a residential town, but is garrisoned by a cavalry regiment and has the military schools lodged in its barracks for six weeks in the summer. The palace, which is still occupied by the imperial family during part of the summer, has undergone alterations and additions, but retains a distinct Petrine stamp. It is built on a height 60 feet above the sea. The gardens, which owe their magnificence to Alexander I. and Nicholas I., are laid out in the Versailles style, with elaborate water-works. From the “Marly” summer-house Peter I. loved to watch his fleet beneath the Cronstadt batteries, and in that of “Mon-plaisir” he died. It was at Peterhof that the empress Alexandra used to celebrate her birthday by fêtes at which more than 100,000 persons were present. Peterhof is connected with Oranienbaum on the west and with Strelma on the east by an uninterrupted series of gardens and villas.