Turns out that Peter really was Great

August 26 & September 2, 2012

St. Petersburg, Russian Federation

On these days, I took tours that happened to both cover the Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral where I learned a great deal more about the life of Peter the Great.

You can’t go ten feet in St. Petersburg without hearing about Peter the Great, and for good reason.  After all, the city is named after St. Peter, but let’s be honest: if the Czar’s name would have been Paul, then the city would have been named after that apostle instead.

So, why is he called Peter the Great.  Well, first off, let’s talk about his stature.

The man stood well over six feet tall when the norm at the time was about 5’6.’’  This literally made Peter the Great a giant amongst men.  This statue is an artistic rendering of him in his later years.

He also had a large personality.  When he would throw parties, if he didn’t like you, it was said that he would order you to drink the punishment cup.  It was a giant chalice of vodka.  Peter liked his enemies to be vomiting drunk.

As large and as “fun” as Peter might have been, perhaps the best reason for naming him “the Great” was his consistent dedication to learning everything about everything, and then implementing it into his country.

He often put his life of luxury aside for his intellectual persuits.

Inside this building, is the log cabin that he built where he preferred to stay.

This is one of the doors.  The mark on the right shows you how tall Peter stood.  It's his own house.  No, I don't know why he didn't build himself taller doors.

This bust gives you a better indication of what he looked like.  This room is dedicated to Peter’s nautical pursuits and holds a little boat that he built.

Parenthetical

On September 2nd, one of our stops was Menshikov’s Palace.  This guy was one of Peter’s friends, and yes, I know that I’ve already admitted that I’m over all the palaces of St. Petersburg, but there were a few things that I noticed here that I thought were pretty cool.

First of all, here is Menshikov.  When I think of a Russian, this is not the visual that comes to mind.  To me this guy looks Spanish.  But then again, this was a long time ago, long before the soviets were even an idea.

I like this picture because it captures something as simple as a rail, and yet it was designed to include P’s for Peter, and M for Menshikov, and an A for, I don’t remember, probably an Aleksi, Alexsander, or Anatoly.

Roman Letters instead of Cyrillic?  Curious.

And this piece of awesomeness is included because it reminds me of Monty Python.

<Squish>

Here’s Menshikov again.  Seriously, are we in Russia or the Pirates of the Caribbean?

Speaking of pirates, here we have a replica of the famous ship,
The Flying Dutchman.

Yo ho, yo ho!

 This ship is located on the way to the Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral. 

It's now a Restaurant.

As well as a Gym.

Now back to Peter the Great.  Let’s go inside the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

The Peter and Paul Cathedral houses the remains of all the Russian Czars and the final family that was assassinated together during the creation of the Soviet Union.

And here is the big man himself.

Peter the Great: current photo.

The story of the last Czar’s family is quite sad.  The soviets captured them, and then made them dress up for a photo shoot.  However, they were met with guns instead of cameras.  The entire family was killed, even the children.  The location of the burial of their bones was a soviet secret until several years ago.  The bones were dug up, and a DNA test was performed to confirm their authenticity.  And guess who is the closest living relative to that Russian dynasty?  The Duke of Edinburgh.

All of the remains that were found are now inside this room.  Most of them are in that white thing on the left, but I think I remember them saying that the children are inside that pedestal in the back.

  Remember the animated film Anastasia?  There was a legend that the girl Anastasia had escaped the soviets and somehow survived, but sadly this is not true.  Here’s her name up on the wall.  She is in this room with all of the others.

Anastasia

 

As cool as all that may or may not be, here is my favorite reason to visit the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

Here's a video I took of the Russian quintet that performed for us.  As pretty as the tenor voice is, listen for the full rich sound of the Russian bass.

Lastly, here is my little friend.  He’d always be sleeping on one of the chairs in the Cathedral, and he has absolutely no fear of humans.  I learned this as I stepped right up to his face and took this picture.  He is probably the most photographed cat in all of Russia.  Perhaps the world.