About antique maps of Russia

There are some beautiful maps and prints of Russia, as befits a country that boasted one of Europe’s most magnificent courts.

At a very early age Russia was colonised by various Slavonic tribes, who settled in the neighbourhood of the waters of the Don, Dnieper, Dniester and Bog. The reign of Peter the Great is the most glorious period of Russian history. He established the maritime power of Russia. By connecting the rivers Volga, Don, and Dwina with canals, he opened communication between the Baltic and the Black and Caspian Sea and thus diverted a great portion of trade between Europe and Asia into Russian channels.

In the 18th Century Fedor I. Soimonov, hydrographer and pioneering explorer, charted the Caspian Sea.