The Czar Peter House () is a historical building in

Zaandam Zaandam () is a city in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is the main city of the municipality of Zaanstad and received City rights in the Netherlands, city rights in 1811. It is located on the river Zaan ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. It is best known as the place where Tsar Peter I of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

resided in 1697 during his Grand Embassy. The building was constructed in 1632. Peter had met the Zaandam

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

and craftsman Gerrit Kist when Kist had worked for the tsar in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Upon visiting the Zaanstreek, Peter insisted on staying with Kist in his home, despite Kist's protests that his house was a mere hovel, shared with the widow of one of his workers. The widow was paid to move out, and Peter spent a week as Kist's houseguest. St. Petersburg Times, "Dutch Museum Keeps Peter's Memory Alive"
/ref> The tsar was traveling incognito under the name Peter Michaeloff and while Kist did not reveal his guest's identity it did not take long for Peter to be recognized, making his observations difficult. Peter wanted to learn more about the Dutch

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

industry, and with this knowledge (and other knowledge acquired during the Grand Embassy) begin a period of modernization and growth in Russia. At this time, the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

was one of the most developed countries in the world. Although he remained at the house only a short time, he would return a number of times, the last in 1717. In 1895, a new stone cover was built over the house to protect it; this was done by the architect Salm, best known for designing the Artis Aquarium in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. The cover was added to the list of national monuments in 2001, meaning that the Czar Peter House is actually on the list twice, once for the original building and once for the renovation. Cultuurwijs.nl (in Dutch)
/ref> The house is part of the Zaans Museum and can be visited.

References

External links

Czar Peter House
on the website of the Zaans Museum * {{coord, 52.43733, N, 4.823417, E, display=title, source:dewiki 1632 establishments in the Dutch Republic Foreign relations of the Dutch Republic Houses in the Netherlands Houses completed in 1632 Netherlands–Russia relations Rijksmonuments in North Holland Peter the Great Zaandam Residences of Peter the Great