Born in Moscow as Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov. He was created joint czar with his mentally disabled half-brother Ivan V, in 1682. In 1697 he set off for a tour of Europe, his Grand Embassy, in which he amassed knowledge of western technology.
In January 1698 he came to London to study shipbuilding. On arrival he lived first in 21 Norfolk Street (a lost street; it used to run between, and parallel to, Surrey Street and Arundel Street, to the east of Somerset House). From there he moved, on 9 February, to a house in Deptford that John Evelyn rented to him for four months. This was Sayes Court - a decision that Evelyn came to regret, as the czar and his associates trashed the place.
The Czar left England on 29 April 1698 and on his return to Russia, he implemented many reforms which turned the country into a major world power.
Sources include: Survey of London, Wikipedia.
Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk
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