Lower Park is a fan-shaped landscape between the Grand Palace and the Gulf of Finland. Marly Palace and Monplaisir are in the corners. The Sea Canal flows down the center. The 253 acre garden accessible by walkways was designed by architect Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond. Le Bond was a protégé of André Le Nôtre who created the gardens at the Palace of Versailles. There are three hillside cascades. In the eastern section is Chessboard Hill. Water spews from the mouths of dragons and falls down four checkerboard platforms before empting into a grotto. Along the staircases are marble sculptures of mythological deities.
