Peter I Monument

One day, walking around the palace at Izmailovo, in the Linen Yard, Peter found an old English boat of boyar Nikita Romanov. By order of Peter, the boat ‘St. Nicholas’ was renovated, and the sixteen-year-old Tsar made one of his first voyages along Izmailovo Island and along the Yauza River on it. This small episode from Peter’s life tsar turned out to be crucial for the history of the whole country. From this small ship, later nicknamed the ‘grandfather of the Russian fleet’, the glorious history of Russian naval victories begins. You can see the model of this boat in the permanent exhibition ‘Izmailovo – a XVII century Royal Patrimony’.

On June 15, 1998, a monument to Peter the Great was erected on Izmailovo Island. Its authors were sculptor Lev Kerbel and architect Georgy Lebedev.

The monument is a full-height sculpture of Peter I standing on a granite column with a double-headed eagle and the inscription: ‘Peter the Great’. The reformer tsar is not depicted as an Emperor but more like a sailor. He wears a simple outfit: a shirt, a cape and knee-high boots. His foot rests on a coil of ship rope, his hand touches the anchor. Lev Kerbel depicted the hero inspired; he looks into the distance, as if striving for discoveries and innovations lying ahead of him.