Peter I in Nizhniy Novgorod: a frame of history
«Reasoning is above all virtues because every virtue without reason is empty», this is one of the wise sayings of Peter I. This is truly so, because Peter I tried to show a true example of virtue to his people with all his deeds and thoughts.His passion for traveling attracted him to conquer unknown horizons, to visit the most remote corners of his vast Homeland.By the will of fate and the events of his time, Peter I found himself in Nizhny Novgorod when he made a military campaign to Azov. The thing that needs to be said, Peter Alekseevich stayed at the house of the merchant Yefim Chatygin. In 1890, the first historical museum in Nizhny Novgorod, named Petrovskiy, was organized in this house. In my opinion, the creation of the historical museum helped not only to strengthen the ties of the epochs, but also became the beginning of a more detailed study of Peter's personality and his influence on the development of Nizhny Novgorod during visits. 27 years later, on May 26, in 1722, in the morning, Nizhny Novgorod’s residents stood by the river waiting for the arrival of Emperor Peter I in the city, and everyone wanted to look at the amazing tsar and the magnificent caravan. During this visit, the tsar was met by Bishop Pitirim, Intendant Potemkin and Governor Rzhevskiy. The circumstances of Peter I's visit to Nizhny Novgorod in May 1722 are quite understandable: the city was not only on the route of the tsar during his journey tothe Caspian Sea, but also was the main rear base of the Russian army, providing it with equipment and provisions. Therefore, Peter I wished to personally inspect the preparation for a military campaign. Unfortunately, the sources covering the stay of Peter I in Nizhny Novgorod on May 27-30, 1722, are few. Among them, a Travel journal of 1722, a reply from Archimandrite Filaret of the Makaryevsky Zheltovodsk Monastery and a record of the New Nizhny Novgorod Chronicler. The travel journal of 1722 reports that Peter I arrived in Nizhny Novgorod on May 26 "at 8 o'clock in the afternoon." The next morning he looked at the ships that are made for the campaign. the Tsar was dissatisfied with the design of these buildings, which did not allow them to go to sea» And he ordered to establish a shipyard in Nizhny Novgorod and to build sea vessels on the Volga, because this city stands in the middle of the great river and at the mouth of the Oka, and therefore trade flows from everywhere to it, as if to the center, and secondly, through these rivers to establish Russian trade with the rich Indian regions there."… And the day before, on April 18, 1722, Peter I signed a decree specifically for the indigenous Volga: "So that the ships from the Bottom, which go to the bottom, be all such that they are suitable for the sea, like Evers and new Romanovs, and so that this board is given to the particular shipyard." According to the historian Solovyov S. M., the goals and objectives pursued by the emperor were correct and noble, but, unfortunately, he did not take into account the Volga shallow water in the mezen, and therefore all his decrees on the construction of naval vessels here had to remain on paper. And only in January in 1723, Peter the Great, realizing his mistake, gave permission to build large Volga vessels at the discretion of industrialists. One of the important events was that on May 30, Peter the Great celebrated his 50th anniversary, which coincided with the celebration of the 500th anniversary of Nizhny Novgorod. All that day cannon fire was heard in Nizhny Novgorod. The Sovereign listened to the liturgy in the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Saviour, where he himself sang in the choir with the choristers and read "The Apostle". After mass, he went down to Minin's tomb and, bowing to the ground, said: "Here is the true deliverer of Russia." In conclusion, I would like to emphasize thatalthough Peter I's visits to Nizhny Novgorod lasted a week. The term is short, but the tsar's stay made a significant contribution to the development of Nizhny Novgorod, giving impetus to the creation of shipbuilding and river navigation. The former Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, Valery Shantsev, decided to erect a bronze figure of the emperor opposite the Kremlin's Conception Tower. So he showed the townspeople what contribution Peter I made to the development of Nizhny Novgorod. Shantsev timed the opening of the monument to the 300th anniversary of the Nizhny Novgorod province.