The Monument to Peter I

7. The Monument to Peter I

Arch. F. Volkov, A. Mikhaylov, art. K.-B. Rastrclli, I. Terebenev, V. Demut-Malinovskiy (1745-1747)

In 1716, emperor Peter the Great commissioned the Italian sculptor Carlo Bartolomeo Rastrelli, father of his favorite architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli, to design an equestrian statue in commemoration of the Russian victories over Sweden in the Great Northern War. Rastrelli worked for eight years with a model of the monument before it was approved by the emperor in 1724. But as the emperor died the following year, work halted and the sculpture»s casting was only completed after the sculptor»s death, by 1747,only to remain in a local warehouse,and not to be erected until 53 years later. In the meantime, Catherine the Great had ordered another monument in memory of her predecessor Peter the Great - the Bronze Horseman, the most famous statue of Peter the Great in St Petersburg. At the base of the Bronze Horseman, Catherine even linked her name with Peter the Great, an expression of Catherine»s attitude toward her predecessor and her view of her own place in the line of great Russian rulers. Catherine, who, having gained her position through a palace coup, had no legal claim to the throne, was anxious to appear as Peter»s rightful heir.

Only in 1800, during the reign of emperor Paul I, was the Monument to Peter I finally erected. It was placed on a pedestal faced with green, red and white-shaded Finnish marble that is decorated with bas-reliefs depicting scenes of two Russian victories over Sweden during the Great Northern War, the Battle of Poltava and the Battle of Hangö, and also an allegorical composition with trophies. The Russian victories at Poltava and near Hangö, Finland helped Russia become the dominant power in the north of the continent. Peter the Great led his troops to both victories.

By order of emperor Paul I, the inscription «To Great Grandfather from Great Grandson» (Прадеду - правнук) was made on the pedestal, a subtle but obvious mockery of the Latin «Petro Primo Catherina Secunda», the pompous dedication by Catherine the Great on the Bronze Horseman.

During the World War II, the equestrian statue of Peter I was removed from its pedestal and sheltered from the 900-day German siege of the city. In 1945, the statue was restored and returned to its pedestal.

8. (9) Mikhaylovskiy Castle (Engineer»s Castle)

(The Branch of The State Russian Museum)

Arch. V. Bazhenov, V. Brenna (1797-1808)

MIKHAILOVSKY CASTLE (ENGINEERS» CASTLE)

This building was designed by the Russian architect Vasily Bazhenov and was used as the personal residence of Czar Paul I. The original layout reflected his great fear of being assassinated (see thumbnail sketch on page 8). In Paul»s day, water surrounded the building on all four sides. Drawbridges offered access during the day, but they were raised at night to prevent entrance by would-be murderers. Twenty bronze cannon looked out onto the city from within the palace grounds to defend the czar.

Alas! His paranoia proved to be well-founded, but his preventive steps failed to measure up to the task. After living here only forty days, Paul was strangled as part of a court intrigue involving his son, the future Alexander I.

Paul»s murder occurred in March 1801. The castle remained vacant after his death for nearly twenty years. In 1819, a school for military engineers opened here. Reportedly, young cadets occasionally saw the ghost of Paul prowling the corridors of the castle.

The cadets numbered among their ranks the young Feodor Dostoevsky. The future writer studied literature, history, drawing, and architecture here. Long into the night, he would remain awake reading in his second floor room, which looked out onto the Fontanka River. A year after his graduation in 1844, Dostoevsky left the engineers to concentrate on writing.

Before you move on, you may wish to walk around to the southern facade of the castle to see the first monument erected in the city to the memory of Peter the Great. Paul I ordered its construction. Sculpted by Carlo Rastrelli, the father of the architect who designed the Winter Palace, it bears the following inscription: «To Grandfather — from Grandson.»

10. The Cathedral of Christ»s Resurrection

(The Church on Spilled Blood)

Arch. A. Parland (1883-1907), Naberezhnaya kanala Griboedova, 2a.

The church of the savior on spilt blood

If you look to the south and west from the Field of Mars, you can see the distinctive cupolas of the Church of the Savior on Spilt Blood, your last stop of the day. From the southern end of the Field of Mars, cross the street, turn right, and follow the embankment of the Moika River. Walk until you reach a signal crossing. Turn left, cross the bridge which spans the Moika and continue along until you come upon the church.

On this spot, on March 1, 1881, a terrorist bomb mortally wounded Czar Alexander II. As a memorial to him, the royal family paid for the church»s construction. Built between 1883-1907, it stylistically borrows from Russian church architecture of the 16th and 17th centuries. In particular, it resembles St. Basil»s Cathedral, located on Red Square in Moscow. In the future, this church will house a museum of Russian mosaics.

This ends the second section of your tour of some of the best-known sites in St. Petersburg. Again, we»re delighted you took the opportunity to take a closer look at our city and we hope that your schedule will allow you to enjoy still more of what it has to offer.

To return to Nevsky Avenue, simply walk north following the Griboyedov Canal, which passes alongside the facade of the church. You will soon emerge onto the location where the first tour began — next to the House of Books.

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