The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

ST. PETERSBURG. 339Palace, contains a collection of 12,000 original designs, 200,000 prints, and amagnificent picture gallery with specimens by most of the great masters, acomplete series of the Flemish, and a unique collection of the Russian school.But its chief glory consists in the remains of the finest period of Hellenic artand the Scythian antiquities from the south of Russia, elsewhere absolutelyunrivalled. Its library includes, amongst other treasures, the rare autographicFig. 179. The Imperial Palace of Petekhof, near St. Petersburo.collections of Voltaire, D'Alembert, and Diderot. The picture gallery of the FineArts Academy is richer even than that of the Hermitage in works of the Russianschool.The environs are adorned by some fine retreats, parks, and pleasure grounds,conspicuous amongst which is Peterhof, on the south side of the bay separatingKronstadt from the mouths of the Neva—a sort of Versailles, laid out inplantations, flower beds, fountains, and terraces descending in flights of steps to