RUSSIA 



Peterhof 



PETERHOF will ever be associated with 

 Peter the Great, one of the most romantic 

 figures in history, with faults as colossal and 

 as undisguised as the great qualities which made 

 him the creator of modern Russia, and enabled 

 him to raise his country from a condition of 

 semi-barbarism to equality with other nations. 

 He was a genius, and no one could influence 

 him without first gaining his affection. Peter 

 was born on May 2oth, 1672, and proclaimed 

 Tsar at the age of ten years. He took an 

 extraordinary interest in technical and mechanical 

 arts, and their application to military science; 

 mimic warfare being his favourite sport. Prince 

 Dolgorouki brought back with him to Russia 

 the first astrolabe ever seen there ; and Peter 

 was shown how to use it by a Dutchman, 



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