The year 2017 will mark the 300th anniversary since the visit of the first Russian Emperor to Paris.
2017 shall become the Year of Peter the Great in the relations between France and Russia. Such initiative was taken by the French and Russian experts at the recently opened Paris conference dedicated to development of cultural tourism itineraries. The joint conference of the two countries is held under the chairmanship of the RF Culture Deputy Minister, Alla Manilova.
300 Years since Emperor's Visit
As the Russian Ambassador in France, Alexander Orlov reminded, next year will mark the 300th anniversary since the first Russian Emperor's visit to Paris. "This visit resulted in establishment of stable diplomatic relations between our countries", - the Russian diplomat noted.
From Historical Viewpoint
The leading French historian, professor of Sorbonne and Catholic Institute of Paris, Francine-Dominic Lihtenan emphasized fruitful collaboration of the French and Russian historians in studying the Peter's era. "I repeatedly participated in the Peter the Great Congresses in St. Petersburg, - she noted. - These meetings with the Russian colleagues helped me with work on the scientific biography of the tsar".
Mrs. Lihtenan reminded of the wide range of topics that the Russian emperor was keen on: architecture, military art, shipbuilding, physics, anatomy, and history. On December 22, 1717 Peter the Great was elected a member of the Academy of Sciences of France.
As the chairman of the Russian Historians National Committee, academician Alexander Chubaryan, reported at the congress the book Peter the Great. First Emperor of All Russia (Pierre le Grand. Le premier empereur de toutes les Russies) written by Prof. Lihtenan and published by the Tallandier Publishing House, is now being translated into Russian. The scientist noted that the scientific communities of Russian and France will hold the Peter's Congress in Paris in April.
Russian Tourist Office Will Appear in Paris 
"Our common history, as well as the proximity of Russian and French literatures will make future travels really fascinating", - the famous French publisher and journalist Pierre-Christian Broche believes. - There is mutual attraction between our peoples".
Summing up the results of the conference start, its chairman Alla Manilova noted that the national tourist office of the Russian Federation  would start working in France before the end of this year. According to preliminary data, the flow of the French tourists to Russia grew up by nearly 20 percent in the first half of the year.