Peter`s cultural and educational activities during his trip to England

The Grand Embassy was a Russian diplomatic mission, sent to Western Europe in 1697–1698 by Peter the Great. In addition to its main purpose, this trip gave Peter an opportunity to see Europe, to enhance others` knowledge and to bring something new to Russia.

In England, Peter stayed for about three months, first in London and then, mainly in Deptford, where he managed to enlarge his shipbuilding education. At his request, the building selected was small and simple, with a door opening directly onto the riverbank.

He was fascinated by the construction of a wind dial with a weathervane on the roof of Kensington Palace.

Peter's one visit to Kensington Palace was the full extent of his ceremonial life in London.

King studied the technology of manufacturing watches.

He made a single visit to a London theater, but the crowd stared more at him than at the stage and he retreated to hide behind his comrades.

Peter's interest in church affairs extended beyond the established Church of England.

He visited the Greenwich Naval Hospital and the Tower of London.

Struck by the excellence of English coinage, and the technique by which the coins were made, he went back repeatedly. Two years later, when Peter began to reform Russia's badly irregular coinage, the English system served as a model.

«The English island,» Peter said, «is the best and most beautiful in the world.»