Legends about Peter I in Karelia
Peter the Great visited Karelia, wonderful land of endless forests and blue lakes, at least 7 times in his life. For all the time spent in our land, the Tsar, if I may say, had woken up Karelia with his reforms and changes. Such a significant figure in our history could not but leave a lot of myths and tales behind.There are many legends around Peter's stay in Karelia. One of them says that in the village Sumposad there is a boat, made on metal nails, which, was created by Peter I himself. Visiting this place, you can find this boat in the local museum.According to another myth, upon arrival in the village named Nyukhcha, the Tsar demanded a hut where no one older than him lived. Locals were surprised and decided to take him to the house, where a young family lived. A baby was crying inside. Then Peter said: “Here he is, older than me. He can order me, but I can’t order him!” The Tsar liked the child and became his godfather.A frequent place of stay of Peter the Great in the 20s, where even several palaces were built, was the martial waters. The legend says that a factory worker Ivan Ryabojev, who suffered from heartache, discovered a non-freezing spring, which brought him relief: “he drank for three days in a row and was healed”. After this he was released from any works or taxes on the copper-smelting plants by Peter I himself for his find.People say, that when the Tsar enjoyed his stay in Martial waters, he drank 20 or even 30 glasses of medicinal mineral water and sometimes even mixed it with local liqueurs. Those are probably just myths, but who really knows now.Peter Alekseevich indeed turned our lives upside down and created a lot of mystery around our land. So, it is our mission to unravel hidden secrets of our history and do not forget about our founder.