On 1 June, an interregional patriotic conference “Petrovskaya Assambleya” was opened in the main building of VSU. “Petrovskaya Assambleya” is a federal project of the “Dostoynaya pamyat” fund headed by Angela Skripkarash. Several regions of the Russian Federation have united in order to preserve the historical and cultural heritage of Emperor Peter the Great, to deal with touristic matters, and to develop the areas in the context of patriotic as well as spiritual and moral education.
The regional office of the “Dostoynaya pamyat” fund is a team that includes the Voronezh Administration, the Voronezh Visitor Centre, the UNESCO Associated School Interlingua, Voronezh branch of the Russian Military Historical Society, Public Organisation Our History, and a volunteer centre “Social Organisation of Culture Volunteers” of the Voronezh Region (“Cultural Voronezh Resident” project). The informational support is provided by Women Power Union.
The Assembly was moderated by the Head of the Our History public organisation Artem Koblyakov and the regional representative of the “Dostoynaya pamyat” fund and a member of the executive board of Women Power Union Margarita Maslennikova.
The conference also included an exhibition “The Grand Embassy of Peter the Great presented by people and dolls”, narrative excursions, and a personal exhibition of graphic works titled “The Grand Embassy of Peter the Great” and presented by Yulia Startseva, a student of the school for young guides.
Welcome speeches were given by VSU Rector Dmitry Endovitsky, Deputy Head of the Voronezh Region Department of Entrepeneurship and Trade and Head of the Department for Tourism Development Alexander Kukin, Member of the Voronezh Regional Duma Kristina Kuleshova, Head of the “Dostoynaya pamyat” fund Angela Skripkarash, regional representative of the “Dostoynaya pamyat” fund Margarita Maslennikova, coordinator of the chain of the UNESCO Associated Schools Interlingua in the Central Region of the Russian Federation Elena Kikteva, Deputy Mayor of Voronezh Ludmila Borodina, and Head of the executive board of Women Power Union Inga Legasova.
“Voronezh is the cradle of the strongest naval force in the world. And we, the civil society, should speak about it. A lot happened during the times of Peter the Great, including reforms and the development of industry and agriculture. I’m sure that our team will grow bigger and we will contribute to the preservation of the historical and cultural heritage and pass it on to the brilliant younger generation. I work with young people and they are just great! Our duty is to pass our experience and love on to these boys and girls!” said Angela Skripkarash.
The conference was divided into three sections: Historical and Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Area Development, and Patriotic and Spiritual-Moral Education. In total, 14 speakers presented their reports.
The first section dedicated to Historical and Cultural Heritage was opened by the Dean of the Faculty of History at VSU Vladimir Glaziev who presented a report on the “Social policy of Peter the Great” and talked about Peter’s reforms of the class system that were focused on the interests of the country. The speaker also talked about the service class people and about the appearance of nobility in the 17th century. Vladimir Glaziev reminded the audience about the Table of Ranks that was introduced by Peter the Great and took into account people’s personal achievements and work record. Nikolay Komolov, PhD in History, Chief Specialist of the Voronezh Department of Culture, drew the attention of the participants of the assembly to the patriotic education, enlightenment of the population, and reliability of the facts related to the unique personality of the Russian Emperor. The author of the reissued book “Peter the Great. Pages of Voronezh history” found some new facts from the biography of Peter the Great. They are related to his 14th visit to Voronezh in October–December of 1701 when the emperor had to deal with the protection of shipbuilding timber.
Ludmila Sandler, PhD in Philology, Associate Professor at VSU, presented a report “The image of Peter the Great and his era as reflected by the writers of the 19th and 20th century” and noted that Russian authors show an unfaded interest towards the era of Peter the Great and the historical personality of the emperor.
Galina Ananyina, PhD in History, head of the executive board of women’s patriotic society, presented a report “My spirit is always with you. Peter the Great and a womanly image of Russia”. She noted that the emperor had always treated the image of Russia carefully.
Ivan Pukhlov, Acting Head of the Department of Voronezh State Local History Museum, talked about the history of the Goto Predestinatsia ship, which is now a Voronezh brand, and its restoration. In April 2014, the residents of Voronezh saw a replica of the first Russian sailing battleship with 58 cannons that was launched from the Voronezh dockyard in 1700. The ship was built based on a project of Peter the Great who had decided to build sea vessel in Russian dockyards. Peter the Great was directly involved in the shipbuilding process and participated in the launch of the ship. Today some scenes in Russian films are made at Goto Predestinatsia.
The second section titled Tourism and Area Development was opened by Ekaterina Shramko, Head of the Voronezh Visitor Centre. She talked about the development of cultural-educational and patriotic tourism, about interregional tourist routes, and the appearance of a new trend of individual tourism. She also stressed the importance of newsworthy events in the region.
Mikhail Kleymenov, member of the council of the Navy Museum of the Nizhny Ikorets village (Voronezh Region) invited all the tourists driving along the M-4 highway and the participants of the assembly to visit the Ikorets dockyard founded in the times of Peter the Great.
Professor Sergei Shakhov, Head of the Society of the Emperor Peter the Great, talked about how real facts that we learn when studying history and the traditions of Peter the Great, are used in the organisation of industrial tourism in the Voronezh Region, for example, at the Voronezh brewery, Additive Technology Centre, and Voronezh Confectionery.
Evdokiya Bychkova, member of the Lipetsk City Council, talked about the role of Lipetsk ironworks in the construction of the Voronezh fleet and places in Lipetsk that are connected with Peter the Great. The Lipetsk industrial complex appeared following the discovery of an iron ore deposit and the ironworks were ordered to be built by Peter the Great. The Lipetsk ironworks produced 500 ship cannons. Peter the Great also discovered mineral waters near Lipetsk. There is a cast of Peter’s hand in the Lipetsk Local History Museum, and his Putevoy Palace was renovated. There is an obelisk to Peter the Great with the inscription “To the father of our homeland, to the founder of the city” on Petrovsly Spusk.
As for the last section titled Patriotic and Spiritual-Moral Education, Nikolay Sapelkin, historian and member of the regional branch of the Russian Military Historical Society, presented a report “Saint Mitrophan and Peter the Great” and Artem Koblyakov, Head of the Public Organisation Our History, talked about the practical activities of the organisation related to Peter the Great.
An exhibition “The Grand Embassy of Peter the Great presented by people and dolls” and narrative excursions were held as part of the event. A personal exhibition of graphic works titled “The Grand Embassy of Peter the Great” was presented by Yulia Startseva, a student of the school for young guides. The participants of the conference, winners of the competition of children’s drawings, as well as experts were given awards, and there was also a dancing section.
The dancing section and a walking tour were held after the award ceremony for the participants of the conference and winners of the competition of children’s drawings organised by the “Dostoynaya pamyat” fund and Voronezh Administration.
