The Legend of the Ghost of Peter I
They say that the spirit of Peter the Great still wanders the streets of the city and guards his property. Some claim to have seen him in the Peter and Paul Fortress or on the Neva embankment.
Even during his lifetime, many ill-wishers called Peter I the Antichrist. And a few years after his death, rumors began to circulate that his ghost had appeared to people. Stories about it were told, especially by Catherine I and Paul I. According to legend, the ghost of Peter took Pavel Petrovich, who was walking along the Neva with Prince Kurakin and the servants, to the square near the Senate and pointed there. these words: “Paul, goodbye, you will see me here again.” He told this to his mother, Empress Catherine II, and she decided to erect a monument on this very place. This is how the “Bronze Horseman” appeared, giving rise to even more legends and secrets. The fact is that this area was already considered abnormal, and according to legend, the stone on which the structure was built was part of an ancient pagan temple.
After a while, a belief arose that it was better to stay away from the statue on dark nights. Police reports from the 19th century allegedly contain records of decapitated corpses gathering near the Bronze Horseman in the morning. This legend echoes the famous poem of the same name by Alexander Pushkin.
Legend of underground passages
It is believed that there is a network of underground passages underneath the city, connecting different parts of the city. Some of them were allegedly built for secret meetings and movements during the time of Paul I.
Paul I was known as a very secretive emperor who was afraid of conspiracies and always had someone suspecting something. Gatchina Palace reflected Paul’s idea of reality: legend has it that the author of the castle project, Antonio Rinaldi, developed a system of underground passages for the emperor, through which he could move around the castle without being noticed from the outside. This legend has been only partially confirmed so far – only one underground passage has been discovered on the territory of the palace complex, and it is not clear exactly when it appeared – it may have existed before the construction of the castle. However, it is known that Pavel often used this tunnel to quietly leave the castle and in a few minutes unexpectedly appeared on the shore of the Silver Lake. The length of this passage is only 120 meters.
They say that there are also underground passages under the Mikhailovsky Castle. Paul, I designed it as an impregnable fortress, and it’s no wonder there are secret tunnels inside. This fact has always been kept secret, but there are rumors that some workers were building the walls of the upper floor, while others were laying underground passages downstairs. Legend has it that one of them led directly to the Vorontsov Palace. However, there is no official confirmation or rejection of this theory yet.
Legend of the Sphinx
Sphinxes on the University Embankment, St. It is considered one of the untold symbols of St. Petersburg. According to legend, they were brought from Egypt and placed on the banks of the Neva to protect the city.
In ancient Egypt, Pharaoh III once made witchcraft a cult. Amenhotep was alive. In particular, he wrote his spells on the bases of the stone sphinxes in Thebes. In 1833 St. It was these two sphinxes that reached St. Petersburg. They were placed on the Neva embankment opposite the building of the Academy of Arts. Since then, the statues have become the heroes of many mystical stories.
So there is an opinion that the sphinxes really helped protect the city at least from floods. Before 1833, the level of the Neva rose seriously about every ten years, and after the installation of the statues the next large-scale flood did not occur until 1863 and was repeated only 31 years later. They also say that drowned people were nailed to this place, as sphinxes appeared from all over the Neva river.
Another famous legend says that one should not look into the eyes of sphinxes at dawn and sunset. So statues can subjugate a person or drive him crazy – they say after that someone even wants to commit suicide.
However, there is also a nice belief: It is believed that if you caress the head of a griffon nearby, hold its right tooth with your other hand, and at the same time look into the sphinx’s eyes, your wish will come true. . To do this, it is better to come in the morning – they say that during the day they look more gentle, and at sunset the appearance of the statues can seem ominous.
The Story of Griffin Tower
On the 7th line of Vasilyevsky Island, in the courtyard of house number 17, there is an unusual brick chimney, which is also called the griffon tower or the tower of immortality. There was previously a pharmacy in the house, which was said to be a secret laboratory.
In 1858, a pharmacy was opened at number 17. According to legend, it was discovered by the pharmacist Wilhelm Pohl, who was not only a pharmacist but also an alchemist. Therefore, they say, he also opened a secret laboratory in the house, where he repeated the experiments of medieval alchemists – for example, he tried to turn mercury into gold and looked for a formula for the fulfillment of wishes. The latter required a special combination of numbers, so Pel numbered the bricks in the tower. Legend says that the numbers on it are constantly changing and they can create the same formula for someone and their wish will come true.
Another interesting place of the tower is the griffon statues. It is believed that at that time these legendary creatures guarded the secret laboratory – they flew from the tower at night and watched everyone who passed nearby. It is said that the numbers on the bricks also hide the secret of immortality, and the solution to this is still guarded by griffins. However, according to legend, it will be announced to those who come to the tower at midnight on a certain day.
Belief about treasures
There are many stories about hidden treasures around St. Petersburg. The oldest say that in the forests near the city there are still treasures from the war with the Swedes.
It is believed that the Swedes hide a lot of jewelry in the city. According to legend, they buried an entire golden chariot along with the royal crown. Another belief says that the Swedish treasure was hidden and later buried in an underground passage from Nyenschanz castle, where Count Kushelev-Bezborodko later built an estate with underground passages. They also say that somewhere on Cape Dubkovsky the army chest of the Swedish army was buried. Peter I tried to find Swedish treasures, but so far they exist only in legends.
Another legend circulates in the city that a ship carrying gold sank not far from Kronstadt. Moreover, the story itself is quite real. A merchant ship was carrying gold bars that Peter I sent to the Netherlands on loan, but it never reached its destination. At the same time, numerous attempts to find sunken gold in the waters of Kronstadt did not bring results.
Each of these legends adds its own unique flavor to the image of the Northern capital. Many of them may seem completely fantastical, but they reflect the city’s rich history and culture and contribute to its unique atmosphere.