“Until now, the figure of this chubby man excites the minds of both historians and ordinary people. Until now, the question of who he was: the Great Russian Tsar-builder, or the demon who destroyed the old Russian World to please the insidious West, has not been resolved.
But in our film, scientist and researcher Vladimir Ivanov takes a different path and asks a seemingly meaningless question: "Was there a boy?" In the sense of what and who is hiding behind the historical character "Peter the First". Using specific examples, revealing amazing details unknown to most, Vladimir Ivanov shows us the true picture of that era, filled with betrayal, intrigue, deadly confrontation, and makes completely unexpected, even better to say, amazing conclusions …
Old Petersburg seems to many to be a dull and gloomy city, but not to native Petersburgers: they are devoted to it with all their soul and body, they honor its history, and from mouth to mouth they pass on all sorts of stories and legends that elevate Petersburg to the rank of the Mystical Capital of the World. Here are some of them, for example.
Bronze Horseman
The Bronze Horseman, a monument dedicated to Peter the Great, has become one of the symbols of St. Petersburg. From the day it was installed, it has been the subject of many myths and legends. Opponents of Peter himself and his reforms warned that the monument depicts the “horseman of the Apocalypse” bringing death and suffering to the city and all of Russia. Peter's supporters said that the monument symbolized the greatness and glory of the Russian Empire, and that Russia would remain so until the horseman left his pedestal.
By the way, the Bronze Horseman's pedestal is also legendary. As conceived by the sculptor Falcone, it should have been made in the form of a wave. A suitable stone was found near the village of Lakhta: a local holy fool allegedly pointed to the stone. Some historians find it possible that this is the very stone that Peter climbed more than once during the Northern War in order to better see the location of the troops.
The fame of the Bronze Horseman spread far beyond St. Petersburg. In one of the remote settlements, its own version of the appearance of the monument appeared. The version consisted in the fact that once Peter the Great was having fun by jumping on his horse from one bank of the Neva to the other. The first time he exclaimed: “All is God's and mine!” And jumped over the river. The second time I repeated: “Everything is God's and mine!”, And again the jump was successful. However, the third time the emperor mixed up the words, and said: "All mine and God's!" At that moment, God's punishment overtook him: he turned to stone and forever remained a monument to himself.
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Mikhailovsky castle
The Mikhailovsky Castle is one of the most mysterious places in St. Petersburg. It was built by order of Emperor Paul the First, but Paul lived in this castle for only 40 days, as he was killed by his own associates in his bedroom. Throughout his life, Paul was afraid of assassination attempts, and that is why, having refused to live in the official residence of the Russian monarchs, the Winter Palace, he wanted to build his own “safe” palace, surrounded by deep moats. However, it didn't help. After Paul's death, the castle turned into an abandoned and gloomy place, where visitors still see strange shadows and become witnesses of inexplicable phenomena.
One of the legends of the Mikhailovsky Castle explains in its own way its unusual color, unusual for Petersburg architecture. According to legend, once Paul was present at a ball, where his future favorite, Anna Lopukhina, was also. During one of the dances, she dropped her glove, and Paul, like a true knight, bent down to pick it up. Taking a closer look at the glove, he was surprised at its strange red brick color. The Emperor liked this shade so much that he immediately sent the glove to the architect of the Mikhailovsky Castle and ordered to take its color as a sample.
The castle brought Paul neither peace nor happiness. According to legend, the Emperor had a presentiment of his fate and on the last evening, leaving the table after supper, he whispered: “What will be, will not escape”.
After Paul's death, the castle was abandoned: the members of the imperial family did not want to live in it. To this day, the Mikhailovsky Castle remains one of the most mysterious places in St. Petersburg, attracting visitors who hope to penetrate the secrets of this place.
Peter-Pavel's Fortress
Half of the houses of modern St. Petersburg are located in anomalous zones. Moreover, 10% are located in the so-called "bad places". People knew about this for a long time, so there was a custom to carefully check the site before starting the construction of any building. The following method was used: where they were going to build something, they hung up pieces of raw meat. If it rotted, the house was not built.
There are entire districts in St. Petersburg, which were built on the site of former pagan sanctuaries. One of these places is the Peter and Paul Fortress.
Pavel Globa, astrologer: “The Peter and Paul Fortress was built on the site of an ancient pagan temple. Sacrifices were performed there. There is a legend that the very first sacrifice was made here by Peter I. Eagles were also circling over this place. Peter considered them messengers of otherworldly worlds, fed and guarded. He gave the order to build the Peter and Paul Fortress only after the eagles made two circles over this place."
Griboyedov Canal
Several years ago, a native Petersburg woman, Tatyana Syrchenko, editor of the St. Petersburg newspaper Anomaliya, got lost in the busiest and most crowded place in St. Petersburg - near the Griboyedov Canal. She needed to get from one side of the canal to the other, that is, it would take only five minutes to walk along the embankment. She walked first in one direction, then decided that she needed the other, then went back again. Tatyana walked along the embankment for a very, very long time and ended up in some unfamiliar places, but everywhere there were signs “Griboyedov's channel” - the woman seemed to be keeping the right direction. She never got where she needed to, and returned to the starting point.
Experts believe that a person can easily get lost if he falls through space. It can happen anywhere, with anyone, anytime.
Building of the Twelve Collegia
Residents of St. Petersburg often wonder why the building of the Twelve Collegiums was built not along the embankment of the Neva, but perpendicular to it. After all, it has always had great social significance and could become the compositional center of the University Embankment. There is a legend explaining this strange location of the building.
According to this legend, Peter the Great, forced to leave the St. Petersburg under construction, instructed his closest assistant, Alexander Menshikov, to monitor the construction of the Twelve Collegia. After reviewing the plan, Menshikov saw that the building, almost 400 meters long, according to the architect's plan, should be oriented with its facade on the Neva. He realized that in this case, on the embankment, which was considered the most fashionable part of the city, there would be no room for his own palace. Menshikov could not allow this. He certainly wanted to build his own mansion on the embankment, and the construction of the building of the Twelve Collegia clearly interfered with his plans. Then he ordered the construction of the Twelve Colleges, not along the embankment, but perpendicular to it, and in the vacant place he laid his own palace.
When Peter the First returned and saw how the building of the Twelve Colleges was located, he was furious. Construction work was already in full swing, and it was not possible to stop them. In anger, Peter even wanted to execute Menshikov, but then changed his mind, and the matter was limited to a large fine to the state treasury.
This legend about the building of the Twelve Colleges and its majestic neighbor - the Menshikov Palace raises doubts among many. Some historians point out that they wanted to orient the facade of the Twelve Collegia to the central square of the city, but later the layout of St. Petersburg was changed, and the building had already been built.
Smolensk cemetery
One of the most horrifying legends of the Smolensk cemetery (which, by the way, many scholars regard not as a legend, but as a historical fact) is the legend of forty priests buried alive. Soon after the revolution, priests from all over the city were arrested, brought to the Smolensk cemetery, lined up on the edge of a huge grave dug in advance and offered to either renounce the faith or lie down alive. All the priests chose martyrdom. They said that for another three days moans were heard from the grave, and the ground in this place was moving. Then a divine ray fell on the grave, and everything was quiet.
Now it is better to go to Smolenka at night and on weekdays: from the entrance deep into the cemetery, and then sharply to the left, there the cemetery will be quieter, maybe you will even meet a couple of ready … But, if you want maximum adventure, then turn right at the main entrance ….
Small avenue of Vasilievsky Island
Anna Sumarokova lives in a communal apartment located on the very last floor of an old building on Maly Prospekt on Vasilyevsky Island. Late at night she heard strange sounds in the corridor and went to see what was happening there. There she saw a small translucent figure. Anna Sumarokova says that this figure looked like a 7-year-old boy, only he was all black - arms, legs, face. The woman got scared and tried to close the door. But the boy put his hand between the door and the frame. Anna wanted to scream, but she could not make a sound. Then with the last of her strength she slammed the door into the corridor, and the ghost remained there.
Anna still did not understand why the black boy came to her. Researchers say ghosts are not uncommon in St. Petersburg. They believe that this phenomenon is associated with the massive loss of life during the construction of the city. These ghosts come to us to warn us, to protect us from troubles. Or vice versa….
The roof of the house number 4 on Gorokhovaya street
The leader of the Night Snipers rock group Diana Arbenina fell in love with Peter at first sight. She was not afraid to leave her parents, the university and move from her native Magadan to a completely unfamiliar city. But in order for Peter to accept it, he had to go through initiation - dedication. Petersburg friends told Diana that for this she needed to climb the most important roof of the city - the roof of house number 4 on Gorokhovaya Street.
Diana Arbenina, musician: “You secretly walk up the stairs, very quietly make your way to the top floor, and then go out to a small patch, from where you can see the whole city. It is very high there - you are on a par with St. Isaac's Cathedral. This roof is such a soulful place, it even became a place of pilgrimage for our fans. Because it is here, I believe, that the Night Snipers group began.
Now the singer is sure that the rooftops are the most mystical places in St. Petersburg, here all wishes come true. Immediately after this ascent to the St. Petersburg roof, Diana met Svetlana Surganova. This is how the Night Snipers group was born. In just two years, unknown girls conquered not only St. Petersburg, but the whole country. It is believed that this roof will never let evil people in.
Ghosts. Ghosts. Suicides. Dead
One of the most curious Petersburg ghosts appeared after October 1917 in the Kunstkamera. By order of the emperor, the skeleton of a man of enormous growth was exhibited there. After the October Revolution, some of the museum's exhibits, including the skull of a giant skeleton, disappeared somewhere. The museum keepers began to whisper that this very ghost was wandering the corridors of the museum at night. He's looking for his skull! Many employees of the Kunstkamera have repeatedly encountered this ghost, including the director Rudolf Its (now deceased).
However, someone, apparently, the skeleton wandering at night acted on the nerves, and the problem was solved in a rather original way: the skeleton was offered someone else's skull. The ghost liked this "souvenir", and he stopped wandering at night.
There are ghosts in the Peter and Paul Fortress. The souls of the five Decembrists, executed in the summer of 1826, also behave uneasily. Eyewitnesses tell of the groans coming from the place of execution, and of the vague outlines of five human figures.
Another famous ghost of Petersburg is the ghost of Peter the Great. According to legend, the emperor himself chose the place where the monument will stand. During one of the walks of Paul I, the ghost of Peter appeared to him in a hat and cloak. When they approached the Senate Square, Peter said: "Paul, goodbye, but you will see me here again."
Most of the ghosts were left behind by the era of Paul I. Apparently, this was facilitated by the fact that the emperor and his entourage were inclined to mystical interpretation of any event. And if the ghost of Peter I appears due to some social necessity, then the cast of Paul I materializes due to the personal characteristics of the most mystical and unpredictable emperor. For many years now, his spirit has been wandering in the Mikhailovsky Castle, still not finding peace.
The spirit of Rasputin lives in the famous house on Gorokhovaya. According to the inhabitants of the house, he not only does not bother anyone, but also "keeps order in the apartments." And only sometimes he allows himself a little hooliganism.
One of the most creepy ghosts of the St. Petersburg past is the ghost of Sophia Perovskaya. Once a year, in March, on the steep bridge of the Catherine Canal, the blurred outlines of a young woman with a white handkerchief in her hand appear, with which she signaled to the bombers.
The two-story mansion in Peski was considered among the surrounding residents as the “Suicide Club”. At night, groans and funeral music came from its windows.
The house on Bolshaya Dvoryanskaya Street also enjoyed a bad reputation. It was said that “disguised dead people” gathered in it, and in the dim light of the skulls, whose empty eye sockets burn with an unearthly light, they played cards, moreover, the windows, doors and gates of this house were always closed.
Malokhtinskoe cemetery
The Malokhtinskoye cemetery - the last refuge of sorcerers, alchemists and suicides - has long been famous for its bad reputation. Eyewitnesses say that here on white nights above the graves you can sometimes see a slowly moving greenish glow. At such a time, many contemplated the milky-white fog that had come from nowhere, as if enveloping tall grass with a veil, and in the air they clearly felt the smell of incense. But, sometimes more mysterious, and sometimes even terrible things happen here.
There are many myths and legends about the Malokhtinskoye cemetery. There is an interesting story about the appearance of the first cemetery advertisement. In 1898, an inscription appeared on the fence of one of the graves: “To the eternal memory of Lukerya Sidorova. The grate around the grave was made by the saddened husband of the deceased, a blacksmith who lives in Malaya Okhta and accepts orders for such works. I take it cheap and work conscientiously. Such a PR action on the part of the inconsolable spouse went down in history, it was indignantly condemned by the Petersburg newspaper on January 20, 1898.
In addition to such little curious facts about the Malokhtinskoye cemetery, there are several more interesting, but unverified legends.
For example, previously there was an opinion that not only Old Believers were buried on it, but also various "dashing people", such as alchemists and suicides, whom the Orthodox Church forbade for burial on the Holy Land. It was said that at night there are often heard terrible groans, knocking and grinding, and strange optical phenomena are seen in the form of glowing silhouettes and blue-white balls.
They say that at another St. Petersburg cemetery - Nikolskoye, in the early 70s, the monk Procopius lived. He hobbled around with evil spirits and healed the suffering with drugs prepared from the powder of the bones of the dead and even mixed with some kind of abomination. Once, according to those who knew the healer closely, the devil appeared to him and offered a deal - the elixir of immortality in exchange for the soul of a monk. The temptation was too great for a mortal, and Procopius signed his treaty. According to the agreement, the minister of the cult was to tie the sinner to the cross on Easter night, gouge out her eyes, cut off her tongue, and fill the church cup with flowing blood. All this he did with the girl of easy virtue, which, without much bothering, he picked up at the Moscow hotel.
Following this, Procopius had to curse the Almighty 666 times and drain the cup of blood before the heavenly body rose. But the monk did not have time - the rays of the sun flashed orange light. And the stinking corpse of the healer, strewn with myriads of small swarming worms, was found near the monstrously disfigured body of the confused. Eyewitnesses swear that the old man's right leg became a cat's. After that, a large black cat with a gray undercoat on the lower jaw began to be met at the cemetery. There were cases when he pounced on people and tried to gnaw through the throat of a person dumbfounded by surprise …
Alexander Nevsky Lavra
Another of the most mystical and mysterious places in St. Petersburg is the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. Erected at the beginning of the 18th century on the remains of an ancient pagan sanctuary, it has always been covered with a veil of mystery. It is dangerous to be in the laurel on white nights. Here you can meet representatives of the darkest abodes of the other world.
I must say that among the native Petersburgers there are many legends and beliefs associated with the laurel. They say that on a white night here you can encounter a ghost, who was dubbed "DRUNK gravedigger." Swaying like a tightly packed man, he wanders in a dirty mantle from one grave to another. If a belated passer-by meets on his way, he asks to treat him with vodka. God forbid, the unfortunate man will not have alcohol: the ghost then cuts him in half with a shovel!
This is the kind of devilry wandering around the city and in the minds of the townspeople. But our film is still not about that, and it is much more mysterious than all these fables put together …