🏛 Sovereign's Court on Izmailovo Island

An island among ponds with the five-domed 17th-century Intercession Cathedral, the Bridge Tower and the gate of the tsar's estate.

The island appeared in the 17th century, when the Robka River was dammed and the ring-shaped Silver-Vineyard Pond was formed.
The Bridge Tower was built in 1671–1679; under Peter I the Senate met in it, hence its second name, the Senate Tower.
In 1688 Peter I found a small boat in a barn of this estate's Flax Yard, the future "grandfather of the Russian fleet".
According to one version, Peter I was born in Izmailovo itself; it is firmly known that he spent most of his childhood here.
The Intercession Cathedral was built under Tsar Feodor Alexeyevich, who inherited Izmailovo in 1676.
Under Nicholas I a Military Almshouse was built here, designed by Konstantin Thon, and it was consecrated on 12 April 1849.
In 1998, for the 300th anniversary of the fleet, a monument to Peter I by Lev Kerbel was placed by the cathedral.