Monument to Peter I at the Mikhailovsky Castle

The monument to Peter I stands in front of the southern entrance to the Mikhailovsky Castle. It was being created for almost 100 years.

Italian sculptor Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli made a model of the monument during the lifetime of Peter I, but the sculpture was cast only in 1747. The figure of Peter the Great is dressed in military armor. With his left hand, the king holds the reins of the horse; the right squeezes the baton of the commander. The horse under the emperor is fashioned from the stallion with the female name of Lisette.

Only in 1800, the monument was put on a pedestal, which was made according to the drawing of Fedor Volkov. The granite pedestal is faced with Olonets marble and is decorated with two bronze bas-reliefs - «Poltava battle» and «Battle of Gangut». By the order of Emperor Paul I the inscription «Great-grandfather - great-grandson.» was made on the pedestal.

According to St. Petersburg legend, if you make a wish and touch the bas-relief depicting the Gangut battle, then it will come true.