Samson Fountain, Peterhof

The Samson Fountain in the Lower Park of Peterhof is located in front of the Grand Cascade in a semicircular bowl-shaped pond, from which the Samsonovsky Canal begins. The central sculptural group on a three-meter-high rock depicts a hero tearing open the mouth of a lion that has settled on its hind legs, from which a 20-meter-high jet of water erupts. The monument was installed in 1735 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Battle of Poltava, and its image refers to Peter I's victory over Sweden. The original lead statue, cast by Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli, was hidden in 1941, but the participants of the evacuation died, and the bronze sculpture recreated in 1947 was restored in 2010–2011.