Statue

Peter the Great statue

Erection date: 30/5/2000

Inscription

{Side of left plinth:}
Peter the Great
Russian Czar, Peter the Great, arrived in England in January 1698 and stayed in Sir John Evelyn's house, Sayes Court in Deptford for four months. This monument is erected near the royal shipyard where Peter the Great studied the English science of shipbuilding. The monument is a gift from the Russian people and commemorates the visit of Peter the Great to this country in search of knowledge and experience.

{Rear of left plinth:}
Sculptor Mihail Chemiakin, USA.
Architect Viacheslav Bukhaev, Russia.

{Rear of right plinth:}
Скуаъптор михаиа шемякин (США)
Архитектор вяуесадв бухаев (Россия).

{Side of right plinth:}
ПЁТР ПЕРВЫЙ - ВЕЛИКИЙ
РОССИЙСКИЙ ЦАРЬ ПЁТР ВЕЛИКИЙ
ПРИЕХАЛ В АНГЛИЮ
В ЯНВАРЕ 1698 ГОДА
ПОЧТИ ЧЕТЫРЕ МЕСЯЦА ЖИЛ
В ДОМЕ СЭРА ДЖОНА ЭВЕЛИНА
"СЭЙС КОРТ" В ДЕТФОРДЕ
ПАМЯТНИК ВОЗДВИГНУТ
У БЫВШИХ КОРОЛЕВСКИХ ДОКОВ
ГДЕ ПЁТР ПЕРВЫЙ ИЗУЧАЛ НАУКУ
АНГЛИЙСКОГО КОРАБЛЕСТРОЕНИЯ
МОНУМЕНТ - ДАР РОССИЙСКОГО
НАРОДА В ПАМЯТЬ 300-ЛЕТИЯ
ВИЗИТА РУСКОГО ЦАРЯ
В ПОИСКАХ ЗНАНИЙ И ОПЫТА

Statue unveiled by Prince Michael of Kent, as Patron of the Peter the Great Tercentenary Committee.

The Russian inscription is on mottled marble which makes it difficult to distinguish between similar looking Russian characters. 2012: We did our best and published, but asked for corrections from anyone with the appropriate knowledge. 2018: Via Facebook, Dmitry Gurov sent us the correct text and we have gratefully inserted that, replacing our poor effort. Many thanks, Dmitry.

Site: Peter the Great statue (1 memorial)

SE8, Glaisher Street

To the left of the Czar's statue is an ornate chair or throne. To his right is a statue of a court dwarf holding a ship and a globe. (The original intention was to have several dwarfs baring their buttocks!). At the rear of both the plinths is a triangular panel containing six spheres, and at the rear of the dais are seven panels depicting food and drink.

May 2022: The Guardian reported that the sculptures had been damaged in an attempted theft. "UK relations with Russia and its leader have deteriorated sharply in the years since Putin sailed down the Thames in 2003 to visit the statue, accompanied by the Duke of York. The Kremlin has deleted a press release about the visit but it is still available on a web archive. Joel Coleman, Millennium Quay’s property manager, said: 'We can get it restored if we can find out who owns it. In the last resort I’ll call the Russians. As it was a gift from the Russian people, we can see if the Russian embassy will pay for it.' Greenwich Council said the statue was the responsibility of the developer, Fairview Homes, which owns the section of the Thames path where the statue stands." The would-be thieves were "filmed trying to lift off a squat caricature in bronze of Evelyn that flanks the larger sculpture of Peter."

That last comment is the first that we have heard that the little figure represents Evelyn.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Peter the Great statue

Subjects commemorated i

Sayes Court

Leased by John Evelyn from Charles II in 1663 and trashed by Peter the Great ...

Read More

John Evelyn

17th century diarist and garden designer. Born Wotton, Surrey. Through his 16...

Read More

Peter the Great

Born in Moscow as Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov. He was created joint czar with h...

Read More

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Peter the Great statue

Created by i

Viacheslav Bukhaev

Architect.  Member of the Russian Academy of Arts.

Read More

Mihail Chemiakin

Sculptor. He spent his early years in East Germany, where his father was serv...

Read More

Prince Michael Duke of Kent

Grandson of King George V and son of George, Duke of Kent. Born Michael Georg...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

6 Burlington Gardens - Galileo

6 Burlington Gardens - Galileo

W1, Burlington Gardens, 6

There are 22 statues on the façade of this building. Each is labelled with his (always 'his') surname. There are 12 at the top up against...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Robert Blake - Deptford Town Hall

Robert Blake - Deptford Town Hall

SE14, New Cross Road, Goldsmith's University of London

The 1905 building is by Lanchester, Stewart and Rickards. All the extensive decorative sculpture work is by Henry Poole and has a nautica...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Temple Bar - James I

Temple Bar - James I

EC4, Paternoster Square

We found the following at Discovering Dickens "An 18th-century account of it, from Harrison’s New and Universal History, Description and...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
George Peabody statue

George Peabody statue

EC4, Royal Exchange Buildings

Unveiled by the then Prince of Wales, unusually in the subject's lifetime. Too ill to attend the ceremony Peabody died 3 months later. At...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
Three Printers statue

Three Printers statue

EC2, Gresham Street, Goldsmiths’ Company garden

The rescue of this sculpture is given in Indie London.

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators

Previously viewed

National Gardens Scheme

National Gardens Scheme

Opens (mainly private) gardens to the public to raise money for charity. Grew out of a need to provide finances for retired district nurses.

Group, Benefactor, Gardens / Agriculture

1 memorial
Old Change

Old Change

City street dating from 1293. Its name derives from the King's Exchange, where the bullion was stored for making coins.

Place, Property

1 memorial
George Sparkes memorial

George Sparkes memorial

SW3, Chelsea Embankment

A modern plaque screwed to the west side of the plinth reads: "This plaque commemorates the completion of the refurbishment of this memor...

2 subjects commemorated, 2 creators