Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Peter the Great

Vilnius is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of about 600.000. Before WWII, Vilnius was one of the largest Jewish centers in Europe which led to the nickname "the Jerusalem of Lithuania". The city was first mentioned in written sources as Vilna in 1323 as the capital city of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Gediminas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, built a wooden castle on a hill in the city. The city became more widely known after he wrote a circular letter of invitation to Germans and Jews to the principal Hansa towns in 1325, offering free access into his domains to men of every order and profession. At this time Vilnius was facing raids of the Teutonic Order, although they never captured the castle, large portions of the town were burned down between 1365 and 1383. English king Henry IV spent the full year of 1390 supporting the unsuccessful siege of Vilnius by Teutonic Knights with his 300 fellow knights. Between 1503 and 1522, the city was surrounded by a city wall to protect it from Crimean Tatar attacks. The city reached the peak of its development during the reign of Sigismund II. Augustus, Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland, settled here in 1544. After the foundation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569, the city experienced a further boom, as Stephen Báthory, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, founded the Jesuit College of Vilnius (= Vilnius University) in 1579. St. Paraskeva Church is the oldest Eastern Orthodox church in Lithuania. The first Orthodox church here was constructed at the request of Grand Duke Algirdas's first wife, Maria Yaroslavna, who was buried there in 1346. This church was completely destroyed by fire in 1557 and rebuilt three years later, but burned down again in 1611 and was renovated afterward. During the Great Northern War, in 1705, with Vilnius invaded and pillaged by the Muscovite army, the church was visited by tsar Peter the Great, who prayed there for the military victory. During the same service, Abram Petrovich Gannibal was baptized. Abram Petrovich Gannibal was a great-grandfather of Alexander Pushkin. Pushkin's first prose work, titled "The Moor of Peter the Great" is about Abram Petrovich Gannibal, who was born in Eritrea or Cameroon. In 1748, the building was again destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1795 but fell into decline. In 1864 it was rebuilt and enlarged but got devasted during WWII. Although it was renovated again, the Stalinist government didn't allow the Russian Orthodox Church to start holding its services there. At first, a Museum of Atheism was to be opened there, but in the end the church was turned into a gallery of Lithuanian folk art. The church was given back to the Orthodox Church in 1990 and reconsecrated.

Tartu (German Dorpat) is the second-largest city in Estonia, after Tallinn. In the early 11th century Yaroslav I the Wise, Prince of Kiev, invaded the region, and after a victorious battle with the locals built his own fort there, Tartu probably remained under Kievan control until 1061, when the fort was burned down by an Estonian tribe. Soon afterward the fort was rebuilt. During the Northern Crusades at the beginning of the 13th century, the fort was captured by the crusading Brothers of the Sword — and recaptured by Estonians. In 1224 the fort was besieged and conquered for one last time by the Teutonic crusaders. Subsequently, Dorpat became a commercial center of considerable importance during the later Middle Ages and the capital of the semi-independent Bishopric of Dorpat. German merchants and artisans settled alongside the bishop's fortress. In the 1280s Dorpat joined the Hanseatic League. In 1558, tsar Ivan the Terrible invaded Tartu beginning the Livonian War. His forces encircled the town. After a heavy bombardment, the town surrendered. In 1582, the city became part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1598. A Jesuit grammar school "Gymnasium Dorpatense" was established in 1583. In the effect of the Polish-Swedish War, in 1625 Tartu was captured by Sweden. The city became part of the Dominions of Sweden, which led to the foundation of the University of Tartu in 1632 by king Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. So the University of Tartu is Estonia´s oldest and still most renowned university In 1704 the town was taken by the Russian army. In 1708 the fortifications and houses, including the remains of the bishop's castle, were blown up, all movable property was looted and the citizens deported to Russia. In 1721, the city became part of the Russian Empire and was known as Derpt. A great fire in 1775 destroyed most of the buildings in the center. The city was rebuilt along Late Baroque and Neoclassical lines. During the second half of the 19th century, Tartu was the cultural center for Estonians in the era of Romantic nationalism. The city hosted Estonia's first song festival in 1869. The "Dormition Cathedral" is a cathedral of the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church. Already in the 13th century, a Dominican convent was located on the site of the present church. In 1752 the cornerstone of a new church was laid by orders of Peter the Great. It was finished and consecrated in 1754. However, by 1762 the church became unsafe and in 1771 a church was built close by until renovations were made. In 1775 both churches were destroyed by fire. A new church was built in 1776 - 1782. It was consecrated in 1783. The church building was built in a cruciform plan however in 1840 the church was given an octagonal base and a large domed roof. The church became a cathedral in 2009 and serves as the seat of the Orthodox Bishop of Tartu. The small shop in the foreground is named "NUKUMAJA", referring to Henrik Ibsen's play "A Doll's House" (Nukumaja in the Estonian language), This was a shop specialized in dolls. It is closed and looks given up.