Completing the composition of the Meadow Park, on the highest point of the Peterhof surroundings – Babigon Hill – stands the building of the Belvedere Palace. From the upper gallery of the Belvedere, endless views of the surroundings and the Gulf of Finland open up. The pavilion was erected on the site of the previously existing Rural Prikaz House – essentially a small wooden palace in the "Russian" style.

The garden with a rectangular-radial layout, laid out in front of this house in the 1840s, was preserved during the construction of the Belvedere.

The Belvedere Palace (from Italian "beautiful view") was built on a massive granite foundation at the highest point of the Babigon Heights of Meadow Park in Peterhof by order of Nicholas I for his wife Alexandra Feodorovna. The Emperor personally drew a sketch of the future palace, the construction of which he entrusted to his court architect Stakenschneider.

With its architecture, this compact two-story building resembles an ancient Greek temple. The construction of the palace-pavilion was delayed due to the Crimean War (1853–1856), as military actions hindered the delivery of marble columns from Italy. The building was fully completed only after the death of Emperor Nicholas I.

In plan, the building is a rectangle. The first floor is designed as a high plinth, the second is surrounded on all sides by a colonnade. This technique is characteristic of ancient Greek temple architecture. Such buildings, as if "winged" by columns, are called "peripteral."

The main facade of the Belvedere, opening onto the expanses of the park, is decorated with a portico of four caryatids bearing the immense weight of a mighty cornice. From here, an external staircase with a balustrade and statues descends down the slope of Babigon Hill. From the portico, there is a wonderful view: endless fields and meadows stretch far away, and the smooth surface of lakes glistens.

From the memoirs of Alexander Benois:

"The first of the three Babigon hills is adorned with the Belvedere Palace, its colonnade of bluish marble rising high above the entire area. And here the picnic tradition demanded a stop, and again everyone, except the old ladies, scattered across the garden terraces, where there stood bronze horses just like those decorating the Anichkov Bridge.

And from above, from the balcony of the Belvedere, there opened in all directions a famous and truly amazing view — not some dull Finnish landscape, but the most genuine Russian one, with gentle shadows of clouds gliding over softly rolling fields, with multicolored golden cornfields, green meadows, and dark forests. Towards Peterhof, behind the trees, the Gothic tower of the 'father’s' station stuck out, and the domes of the Grand Palace gleamed, and far beyond the horizon, a bright star in a lilac haze shone — the dome of St. Isaac's...".

On the sides of the building in 1856, two galvanoplastic groups by Klodt, "Horse Tamers," were installed on high pedestals. Copies of the sculptures from the Anichkov Bridge were made by galvanoplastic method by the artist Hamburger. Two of the four horses — the ones with a man taming the horse — were installed. During the war years, the sculptures disappeared without a trace. According to legend, they are buried somewhere on the Babigon Heights along with the sculpture of Nile.

The architect enriched the building’s color palette by placing bases and capitals of white marble on the dark gray columns. The light marble makes the columns visually lighter and more elegant, while the dark granite vividly stands out against the light plastered walls.

Inside the Belvedere, large halls are designed on the first and second floors, as well as several smaller rooms. The hall on the first floor is decorated with ten Italian marble columns. The interior decoration includes stucco and painting.

The portico of the front facade is supported by caryatids made of Serdobol granite, the work of Terebenev; granite steps lead down from the portico to the garden. The caryatids have withstood the test of time and still adorn the palace.

According to the project developed by architect Stakenschneider, the "Antinous" statue along with three statues ("Apollino," "Bacchus," "Medici Venus") from the Grand Hall of the Tauride Palace were used in 1856 to decorate the external ceremonial staircase of the Peterhof Belvedere pavilion in Meadow Park.

They were moved to the Lower Park of Peterhof before the war. The statue "Medici Venus" decorates the main cascade.

The sculpture "Antinous" — in 1937 it was installed in the Lower Park at the beginning of the Montplezir Alley, on the side of the square in front of the "Chess Mountain" cascade. The Lower Park of Peterhof also features two more replicas: a marble statue of "Antinous" in the Chinese Garden and a gilded bronze statue on the western staircase of the Grand Cascade.

The sculpture "Apollino" — in 1937 was installed in the Lower Park at the beginning of the Montplezir Alley, on the side of the square in front of the "Chess Mountain" cascade.

The sculpture "Bacchus" — in March 1930 the statue was removed from the Belvedere and installed in the Marlinsky section. On May 28, 1949, it was moved to Montplezir Alley and placed on the lawn near the western Aviary in place of the statue "Tusnelda," lost during the war.

The surviving vases that decorated the palace fence were moved to the Olgin Pavilion.

In front of the portico on a pedestal stood an artistic bronze group, a gift to Emperor Nicholas I in 1854 from the King of Prussia. This was moved in 1857 from the decoration of Tsaritsyn Island — "The Hunter Overcome by a Leopard" by Franz, by order of Emperor Alexander II. This group consists of three figures: a half-lying Scythian, a leopard that has sunk its claws into the Scythian, and a dog that has grabbed the leopard’s ear and is pulling it aside. It also disappeared during wartime, like all bronze sculptures. It is believed that this group, sent during the Eastern War of 1854-1856, had a contemporary allegorical meaning: the Scythian represents Russia; the leopard, Austria; and the dog (a symbol of loyalty), the friendly attitude of Prussia towards Russia. Below is a photograph of the same sculpture from a German castle.

Russian writer Grigorovich took Dumas in the 1850s to see the Belvedere.

"We again sat in the drozhki, finished the tour of the islands, and ordered to be taken to the Belvedere. The Belvedere is the last creation of Emperor Nicholas; with his almighty hand he mixed bronze and granite as another mixes plaster and brick. Unfortunately, it is presented in a style that inspires more thought of power than of taste. Raised on a small hill near the village of Baby-Gony — Babi-Goni [Babigon]; I clarify the possible etymology of its name — the Belvedere compared to it is almost as huge.

Emperor Nicholas in the uniform of a simple soldier, the Empress and the Grand Duchesses in the clothes of simple peasants, came there to drink tea and admire the panorama opening all the way to the sea. Another imitation — Petit Trianon. From there, the imperial family saw, to the left as far as possible, Old Peterhof — the village of Dutch fishermen, between Old Peterhof and the Belvedere — the Sappers’ field, and, casting glances along this line to the right — Pulkovo, the observatory built by Bryullov, the artist’s brother. The observatory and the Belvedere are separated by a 10-league valley. Between Old Peterhof and Pulkovo, beyond the 10-league-wide gulf, the bluish silhouette of Finland is visible, emphasized by a straight horizon line. Then, when the gaze returns from the gulf to the Belvedere, the domes of St. Petersburg are noticed on the right, and among them St. Isaac’s shines with gold; on the left, a large English park; straight ahead — New Peterhof and, finally, a field dotted with ruins sent from Greece by King Otto. Poor ruins expelled from Attica, and they look as sad as Ovid, exiled to the Thracians!"

(Dumas A. From Paris to Astrakhan. Fresh impressions from a trip to Russia)

After the death of Nicholas I, the palace was used as a hunting and picnic lodge. In the Belvedere Palace, a love affair unfolded between the 48-year-old Emperor Alexander II and the very young Princess Ekaterina Dolgorukova. During a meeting in this palace on a wonderful July evening in 1866, Alexander told Ekaterina, who had become his beloved, that he now considered her his wife forever: "Today, alas, I am not free, but at the first opportunity I will marry you, from now on I consider you my wife before God, and I will never leave you." Since then, the lovers’ meetings often took place in the Belvedere. Everything was very complicated. But after 14 years, Alexander II fulfilled the promise given to Ekaterina.

After the revolutionary events of 1917, the palace housed the "sanatorium of the Academy of Arts." Georgy Ivanov, who visited it, wrote in the story "Carmencita": "Fauns and bathers sadly looked with white eyes at the bright northern sky. However, it was recommended to admire these statues from afar. If you come close — one had a poorly stubbed cigarette butt in its mouth, another had Zaporizhian mustaches added, and a third did not satisfy, apparently, some resting proletarian aesthete with the conventionality of the depiction, and with the help of red and blue pencils briskly drew on it everything it lacked for complete naturalness."

In 1927, the Belvedere pavilion became the center of military maneuvers. The maneuvers were based on exercises to drive the enemy off the "height" (Babiy Gon), using both artillery and aviation.

After that, until the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Belvedere stood abandoned. Here is what architect Terentyev wrote in his report dated March 14, 1936, to the management of the Peterhof museums: "The bronze groups of youths taming horses need restoration, as in many places they have bullet holes from those who practiced shooting."

The building damaged during the Great Patriotic War was restored in 1953–1954 by architect Krasovsky and in the 1980s by architect Sevastyanov.

Currently, the Belvedere premises house a hotel, and banquets and corporate events are held there.

Sources:

https://xn--c1acndtdamdoc1ib.xn--p1ai/kuda-shodit/mesta/dvorets-belveder/

http://peterhoflugovoy.ru/history_04