Erection date: 30/5/2000
{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.
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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
