An interview with the Chair of the Department of Russian History and Archaeology, the Institute of History and International Relations, Sergei Mezin has been published in the Research City section.

There Professor Mezin answered the questions about legends and facts related to the visit of Peter the Great to Saratov, historians’ contradictions about his reforms, and how our city attracted the attention of the first Russian emperor. The professor commented how he had written the Saratov Volga Region in the Era of Peter the Great book, how he had worked in the Central State Archive of Ancient Acts in Moscow, how he had discovered new historical sources and participated in the Fifteenth International Peter Congress in St. Petersburg.

At the beginning of June, Sergei Mezin made a report titled Voltaire on the Personality of Peter the Great at the XV International Peter Congress and accepted The Way of Peter the Great standard, which was presented to Saratov as the next “Peter” city. ‘I am pleased to know that my works have made some contribution to the recognition of Saratov as a “Peter” city. It is gratifying to see that the city did not remain indifferent to this fact, as evidenced by the installation of the monument to Peter the Great. Created by sculptors Andrei and Sergei Shcherbakovs, the monument, in my opinion, is successful and appropriate. It is located at the place where Peter the Great really was,’ the professor said.

You can read the full interview here.