Short answers, pulled from the story.
Peter the Great commissioned Peterhof Palace as a direct response to the Palace of Versailles built by Louis XIV of France. After visiting the French royal court in 1717, Peter sought to build a rival complex on Russian soil, earning Peterhof the nickname "The Russian Versailles."
Domenico Trezzini was the chief architect from 1714 to 1728, and his work became the foundation of the Petrine Baroque style. Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond designed the gardens in 1714, and Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli completed a major expansion for Elizabeth of Russia between 1747 and 1756.
The fountains at Peterhof are powered entirely by gravity. Water from natural springs collects in reservoirs in the Upper Gardens, and the elevation difference between those reservoirs and the Lower Gardens below the bluff generates the pressure that drives all the fountains, including the 64 fountains of the Grand Cascade.
The Samson Fountain depicts Samson tearing open the jaws of a lion, representing Russia's victory over Sweden in the Great Northern War. The lion is a symbol from the Swedish coat of arms, and one of the war's major victories was won on St Sampson's Day. The fountain shoots a 20-metre vertical jet of water, the highest in Peterhof.
German troops captured Peterhof on the 23rd of September 1941 and held it until 1944. The occupying forces partially exploded the Grand Palace, looted the Samson Fountain, and destroyed many fountains. A Soviet naval landing of 510 marines attempted to retake the town on the 5th of October 1941 but failed with heavy losses. The Lower Park was reopened in 1945 and a replica Samson Fountain was installed in 1947.
The complex was renamed Petrodvorets, meaning "Peter's Palace," in 1944 due to wartime anti-German sentiment, as the name "Peterhof" derives from German meaning "Peter's Court." The post-Soviet Russian government restored the original name in 1997.