VWP4+8C Petrodvortsovy District, Saint Petersburg, Russia
In the western part of the Lower Park, right by the slope, between the Lion Cascade and the Grand Palace, lies the Sand Pond. It was dug in 1724 to create a new granite cascade, but the work was never completed. At that time, the pond acquired the name "Sand." Only in 1738 was it decided to improve the reservoir. The pond was deepened, the banks were tidied up, and in 1740 a huge, brightly painted wooden sculpture "resembling a whale-fish" with water spouting from its head was placed in its center. Around it, fantastic lead sea bulls emerged from the water.
The reservoir containing the fountain was designed by architect Miketti according to the idea of Peter I, who wished to replicate the Versailles fountain "Neptune" and create an artificial mountain "Parnassus" on the slope. However, the reservoir, dug and surrounded by a dam between 1724 and 1727 under the supervision of hydraulic engineer Tuvolkov, stood without decoration for sixteen years. Only in 1739–1740 was the Sand, or Sterlyazhiy Pond—as the reservoir was called—decorated according to the design of architects Blank and Davydov with large sculptures "with water spouting from the mouth and head," made following Osner’s model. In the center stood a seven-meter-tall carved wooden fairy-tale "Whale-fish," flanked by lead "sea bulls," cast in Saint Petersburg by Lukovnikov and chased by Kulomzin. The lacquer master Brumkorst painted the sculptures, giving the fountain’s decoration an even more picturesque character.
By the end of the 18th century, the sculptures had lost their shine, and in their place, master Strelnikov installed a menagerie-type fountain: a water column rose from the pond’s surface, surrounded by four gilded dolphins. In the mid-19th century, the fountain was dismantled. In 1963, during the park’s restoration after the destruction of the Great Patriotic War, the fountain was recreated based on 19th-century drawings. A metal sphere was balanced and rotated on the fountain’s jet.
Despite changes in its sculptural decoration, the fountain’s original name "Whale" has been preserved to this day.
Sources:
https://peterhofmuseum.ru/objects/peterhof/fontan_kitoviy
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Фонтан_«Китовый»
