Botik of Peter the Great

It was used in state ceremonies of later Russian monarchs, including the wedding of Catherine the Great and Peter III of Russia, as well as the centennial celebration of St. Petersburg.

The botik (small boat) was constructed, either in England or by Danes in Russia using an English design, in the 1640s,[1] and was then called the St.

[4] It is the last remnant of the fleet of wooden boats maintained by Peter's father, Alexis; the rest rotted from neglect or were destroyed during the rebellion of Stenka Razin.

[1]: 41–42  Timmerman responded that the boat could sail with or against wind and at Peter's direction sought out another Dutch seaman, Karshten Brandt, to restore it.

[1] The published preface was written by Archbishop Feofan Prokopovich who wrote that "the botik served him not only as a childhood pastime, but became the cause of his building a navy, as we now see with wonder"[1] and illustrated this with the metaphor, "great oaks from little acorns grow".

[1] The boat was placed in the kronverk of the Peter and Paul Fortress on a plinth, inscribed with the words "From the amusement of the child came the triumph of the man".

[1] In 1803, during the centennial celebration of St. Petersburg under Alexander I, the boat was featured in a flotilla on the Neva; it was referred to as the "grandfather of the Russian navy"[9] a name originally given to it by Peter I.

[1] In 1872, the boat was brought to Moscow in a cortege led by a brother of Alexander II of Russia for the bicentennial celebration of Peter's birth.

[1][3] The boat made its first foray outside Russia in 1997 when it was displayed in the Winter Garden Atrium of the World Financial Center in New York City.

[4] The preservationists attempted to identify the species of oak used in the boat so that the country of origin could be determined in addition to scraping off dirt and patching cracks.