The Great Peter and his house
Vologda is a small town founded in the 12th century.Vologda is located on the river of the same name . At the moment, about 300 thousand people live in the town.The history of the town began in 1147. At the end of the 17th – beginning of the 18th century , the Great Peter I repeatedly came to Vologda. Peter the Great built ships in Vologda to deliver cargo from Arkhangelsk. From here, in 1702, the Vologda flotilla began its route to Noteburg. Peter the Great led the siege of the Swedish fortress of Shlisselburg. The victory over the Swedes opened the way for Russia to the Baltic Sea. With the advent of St. Petersburg, Vologda lost its former importance as an international trade center.In memory of Peter the Great, the house of the Dutch trader Goatman has been preserved in the city. The emperor stayed there. In the 17th century Vologda was an important trade center. For convenience, foreign merchants bought houses in a provincial town, seeking to locate their possessions closer to the pier. So did Johann Gutmann. It is known that since 1654 he was the Dutch consul for trade affairs in Russia. The guest house of Gutmanov belongs to the monuments of architecture of the 17th century. Similar structures were intended for secondary streets of the city. Once the Gutmans rescued Peter, who found himself in Holland without funds. For this, Peter the Great thanked them with a letter giving considerable privileges. The house is interesting as a place associated with the stay of Peter I in Vologda. In 1724, Peter and his wife Ekaterina Alekseevna were in Vologda for the last time. They stayed with the Gutmans for two days. The sovereign accompanied his wife to Moscow for the wedding. The owners of the house were changing. For a long time this house served as a warehouse.The one-story building with a checkered roof is still popular with local and foreign tourists.Not far from the museum building there is a historical monument – a cast-iron cannon, a cannon of the Peter the Great era, cast at the Shuisky Arms Factory in Karelia. This is one of the earliest Vologda monuments, installed at the Petrovsky House back in 1885. Today, the doors of the Peter I House-Museum are open to everyone who is interested in the era and personality of the first Russian emperor. It is popular with young and adult tourists. The main excursions of the museum are devoted to Peter's reformatory activities, the Northern War.