VVQV+V3 Petrodvortsovy District, Saint Petersburg, Russia
The Garden of Bacchus in Peterhof was planned by Nicolo Michetti in the 1720s as part of the ensemble of the "Marli" palace in the western part of the Lower Park. Three paths connect it to the Garden of Venus, located between the Gulf of Finland and the Marlin Pond.
The boundary of the Garden of Bacchus is marked by four small fountains — “Tritons with Water Bells,” placed at equal distances along the alley parallel to the pond’s shore. The composition of these fountains is simple and clever. Leaning their fins on the bottom, the plump baby tritons hold round flat bowls with cylindrical caps above their heads. The jet, coming out of a tube embedded in the cap, meets a damper on its way and turns into a water bell. Merging along the edges of the bowl, the water covers the triton figure with a transparent veil in the form of a second bell. The Garden of Bacchus compositionally echoes the Garden of Venus: the axes of the transverse paths in the middle part of the Garden of Venus visually continue into the three transverse paths of the Garden of Bacchus. The wide central path, oriented towards the cascade, divides the Garden of Bacchus into symmetrical parts, which, in turn, also have a two-part structure. On the sides of the central path are the basin of the Menagerie Fountain and two oval platforms, each with a marble statue. In the 18th century, trellis galleries were located on the sides of the cascade at the foot of the slope; trellises were arranged around the perimeter of the platforms and along the sides of the alleys.
The center of the garden became a monument to the founder of Saint Petersburg, Peter I, who commissioned it from the famous sculptor Antokolsky. The statue was cast in Parisian workshops and was ready in 1874, but the ceremonial unveiling of the monument took place only 10 years later. The German occupiers took the statue away, but it was restored in 1957 based on a surviving plaster copy.
Sources:
http://win-petergof.narod.ru/Peterhof.doc/bahusgsden.htm
https://peterhofguide.ru/nizhniy-park/sad-bahusa
