Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Peter abandoned his wooden cabin for a modest Dutch-style townhouse across the
miralty, a bustling shipyard was assembling his new navy. Impatient to develop a
commercial port, Peter offered a generous reward to the first three ships to drop an-
chor at the new town docks. The presence of so many foreigners gave the crude
swampy settlement a more cosmopolitan feel than the poshest parlours of Moscow.
In 1712 the tsar officially declared St Petersburg to be the capital. Inspired by the
Vatican's crossed keys to paradise, he adopted a city coat of arms that presented
crossed anchors topped with an imperial crown. Peter demanded the rest of Russia's
ruling elite join him, or else. He said Pieter Burkh was the place they ought to be, so
they packed up their carriages and moved to the Baltic Sea. The tsar's royal court, the
imperial senate and foreign embassies were relocated. Fearing Peter's wrath, Mo-
scow's old aristocratic families reluctantly began to arrive. Apprehension turned to
appal. To them Peter's paradise was a peaty hell. They were ordered to bring their
own stones to the party, with which to build elegant mansions and in which to start
behaving like Westerners, complete with beardless faces and German dress.
When Peter died of gangrene in 1725, at the age of 52, some thought they might get
the chance to abandon his creation, but they were wrong. The wilful spirit of Peter the
Great continued to possess the city and bedevil its inhabitants. Within less than a hun-
dred years of its improbable inception, a new magnificent capital would stand on the
edge of Europe.
IMPERIAL CAPITAL
Peter the Great's Heirs
By the end of the 18th century St Petersburg would take its place among Europe's
grand cities. But in the years immediately following Peter's death, the fate of the Balt-
ic bastion was still uncertain.
While Peter's plans for his imperial capital were clear, those for his personal legacy
were murky. His eldest son and heir apparent, Alexey, was estranged from his father
early on, suspected of plotting against him later, and eventually tortured to death in
the Peter and Paul Fortress. The evidence for treachery was flimsy. On his death bed,
Peter tried to dictate a last will, but could not name an heir before his demise. His
