Wednesday Walk around the house of Emperor Peter the Great

Recently our city celebrated its birthday. I took a short walk through the neighborhood where the first houses in our city appeared. The first building of our city is officially considered to be the wooden house where Emperor Peter the Great lived at the beginning of the construction of the city. This wooden house was built in just three days, in fact it was a marching dwelling. Later other houses and palaces were built, but this very first house is characterized by its simplicity.

At the end of XVIII the house was protected from the weather, stone walls were built around the wooden walls, covered with an iron roof. In the next century these walls were dismantled and a stone case house was built to protect the old wooden structure. Thus, the old wooden house of Emperor Peter the Great has survived to this day, and now there is a museum there. I didn't go to the museum this day, but I took a walk along the streets and courtyards nearby.

Near this house a few years ago was opened a tourist attraction - an alley called “Peter's Way”. This alley runs parallel to the Neva embankment towards the Peter and Paul Fortress. At the beginning of this alley there is a monument to sailors and shipbuilders. There are memorial signs installed on the alley, some of them are quite funny. For example, there is a full-length figure of the emperor, and next to it there is a scale for measuring your height. You can measure your height and compare it with the emperor's, as well as compare your foot size and stride length.

In the courtyard of a large apartment building, there are several small urban sculptures dedicated to different episodes in the life of the emperor. Near these monuments there are usually not as many people as in the “Peter's Way” alley - these sculptures are quite small and hidden in the shade of trees, they are not visible from afar, so only those who know the right way usually turn here.

The square with urban sculptures is located in the yard of a large apartment building, and very close to it there is another monument, which has nothing to do with the era of Peter the Great, but reminds us of very recent events. This is a monument to the famous theater director and teacher Georgy Tovstonogov. The director was born and began his activity in Tbilisi, then moved to Moscow, and in 1949 he settled in St. Petersburg (then Leningrad). By the way, in front, behind the monument, among the trees, hides the house of Peter the Great, around which I am walking today.

There is a very interesting house nearby. It doesn't seem to be marked in guidebooks, but I never pass by - the three tile paintings are worth stopping for a few minutes. This time I focus my attention on looking for cats, and soon find two cute cats.

I walk further around the yard and admire the flowering trees. The last place I'm going to visit today is the cafe “Attic”. It's not so much the cafe that interests me, but the inscription on the slate board with the statement for today. The inscriptions are handwritten in chalk and are constantly changing. The inscription for today is, “I love dumplings. It's like a Rafaello, only with meat.”

This is my entry for the #WednesdayWalk challenge by @tattoodjay.