Lake Pleshcheyevo

Lake Pleshcheyevo beside Pereslavl became a workshop for the young Peter I's interest in sailing. He first visited in July 1688, seeking broader water than the ponds near Moscow. Dutch shipwrights began building vessels at the mouth of the Trubezh the following winter. After an interruption during Peter's struggle with Sophia, a new court, workshops and a shipyard arose near Veskovo in 1691–1692; a channel through the hillside allowed small craft to reach the lake.

In May 1692 the frigate Mars was launched, and sailing exercises accompanied infantry and artillery manoeuvres. Peter later ordered the surviving vessels protected in 1722, but a fire in 1783 destroyed most of the flotilla. The boat Fortuna survived at Veskovo. In 1803 it was placed in a purpose-built museum, preserving the lake's connection with Peter's naval apprenticeship.