The name of the city of St. Petersburg was taken directly from the figure of its founder. As a form of homage, the Monument to Peter I built in the courtyard of Senate Square in 1782 according the orders of Queen Ekaterina (Catherine the Great).
This statue has a nickname ' The Bronze Horseman ' mentioned in the poems of legendary poet bouquet of Russia, Alexander Pushkin, in his work published in 1883. The maker of the Monument to Peter I, was a French sculptor Maurice Etienne Falconet is named.
The monument is also symbolic of the victory of Russia over Sweden at the Northern War that lasted years 1700-1721. The form of the serpent as a symbol of a country that was defeated, while the horse symbolizes the victory of Russia. The pedestal of the statue is referred to as ' lightning ', stone sent directly from a small town named Lakhta.