On April 22, there took place the grand opening of the monument to Peter the Great and the square named after him. The event was attended by Rector Aleksei Chumachenko, employees, and students of Saratov University.

At the opening ceremony of the monument to Peter the Great, Governor of Saratov Region Valerii Radayev and Mayor Mikhail Isayev presented their speeches. The event was accompanied by a reconstruction of the historical events of the 18th century and the story told by the Chair of the Department of Russian History and Archaeology, Professor Sergei Mezin about the visit of Emperor Peter to Saratov in the summer of 1722. The reason for the trip was the negotiations with a Kalmyk Khan Ayuka. They were going to discuss the participation of khan's cavalry of the many thousands in the Persian campaign and the laying of a trade route for Russian merchants. During his stay in Saratov, which at that time had the status of a major trading and fishing city on the Volga, Peter the Great visited the Trinity Cathedral.

Fireworks painted the sky in the Russian tricolour while students of Saratov University were taking the cloth from the monument from revealing a bronze figure of the first Russian emperor, Peter the Great.

A participant in the honourary ceremony, a 4^th-year student of the Institute of History and International Relations Egor Lazarev, believes that the opening of the monument is a significant event for our city. ‘It is very important to restore historical heritage. I think that the city will become more patriotic, because Peter the Great is a figure who rallied the people and led them into the future, so the monument to him and the square named after him in our city will have a very positive effect on the people of Saratov.’

When the monument appeared before the townspeople in all its grandeur, a flower-laying ceremony took place, where the Rector of Saratov University Aleksei Chumachenko participated.

Svetlana Papina, a 4^th-year student of the same institute, reflected on how the life of the city would change after the installation of the monument. ‘I think that the tourists will visit Saratov more. The Volga is very close, along which motor ships run and bring tourists and vacationers from different cities of our country to the river station. And the first place where they will go will be Peter the Great Square with such a magnificent monument. In addition, the level of erudition and interest in national history among the younger generation will increase.’

The opening of the monument is timed to coincide with two anniversaries at once: the 350th anniversary of Peter the Great as well as the 300th anniversary of his historic visit to Saratov.