Peter the Great's palace at the Martial Waters resort: history and archaeology

The 2019 archaeological expedition of the National Museum of the Republic of Karelia explored the territory of the Martial Waters resort in order to search for the remains of a complex of buildings dating back to the first half of the XVIII century. The works revealed the intact cultural strata in the settlement, which can be correlated with the Petrine stage of its history in the first quarter of the XVIII century. According to the archival and bibliographic materials, the palace of Peter the Great, the mineral springs and a courtyard area were located in this place. The archaeological works made it possible to localize the spread of the cultural layer, to determine the level of its preservation, and evaluate the prospects for further research. The archaeological pit showed the presence of a fascine layer covered with boards. The absence of traces of buildings and any other objects does not diminish the importance of the surveyed area for understanding the construction history. Future excavations are likely to reveal some artifacts from the period when the near-water sources of Peter the Great’s Palace were fully functional.