Yastrebov A.O. “Above all he wishes to see Venice…” Once again on the possible visit of Peter I to the “city of bridges and canals”

Abstract: A visit to Italy was part of the program of the Grand embassy. The prospects of a political and military-technical cooperation with the Italian government, in the first place with Venice and Rome, were evident and primary causes for Peter I. Within the context of the previous and, especially, the last contacts between Russia and the Venetian Republic a planned visit there should be considered very significant. The official historiography, however, does not present us with information regarding this trip, not leaving space for it after the sovereign received the news of the uprise of the Streltsy. Although Peter formally, being forced to urgently return to Moscow, cancelled the voyage, there is indirect evidence indicating that he unofficially made a “lightning-visit” for a day or two to Venice. The author goes back to this seemingly closed topic in view of the publications of S. O. Androsov, who suggested that this visit could have taken place. The study of the published documents, in the first place the reports of diplomats and secret agents, led the author to certain conclusions. The author decided to once again address this question, using supplementary sources not cited by S. O. Androsov. The result was the revelation of additional arguments in favour of the hypothesis of the Saint-Petersburg scholar and art historian.

Keywords: