On 15 August 2022, a research associate of Bolgar Museum-Reserve Muhametshin I. D. held for the guests a lecture on “Peter I in Bolgar”. This year, we mark the 350th anniversary of the birth of Peter the Great – an outstanding statesman. His activities are also connected with our ancient town.
In June 1722, Peter I examined the ruins of Bolgar, the ancient capital of Volga-Kama Bulgaria. He was shocked by the grandeur of the ancient city, its Eastern architecture, the huge number of tombstones scattered throughout the territory of the ancient hillfort.
Impressed by the ancient city he saw, the Tsar wrote a decree to the governor of Kazan: “Mister Governor! During our stay in Bulgar we saw that an ancient Bulgar building of a tower or a bell tower has deteriorated, and it must be reconstructed”. This is the first decree on the protection of monuments in Russian history.
Also by his order, 47 Muslim and 3 Armenian epitaphs were described and translated into Russian. Muslim epitaphs were translated by akhun Kadyr-Muhammad Suncheleev and translator Yusuf Izhbulatov with the active participation of D. Kantimir. These records served as the beginning of the scientific study of the monuments of Bolgar settlement.

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