In 1907, at an exhibition in Paris, Nicholas II saw plaster models of the monuments "Peter I Learning Shipbuilding in Zaandam" and "Peter I Saving Fishermen near Lachta," created by sculptor Leopold Bernshtein. The emperor purchased these models and commissioned them to be cast in bronze for installation in St. Petersburg for the two-hundredth anniversary of the Poltava victory. In 1910, the sculpture "Peter I Learning Shipbuilding in Zaandam" was installed on the English Embankment. A year later, a copy was gifted to the Dutch city of Zaandam, where Peter I worked as a carpenter at a shipyard in the late 17th century. This copy still adorns the central square of the city, unlike the original in St. Petersburg, which was melted down during the Soviet era. In 1996, the Netherlands gifted St. Petersburg a copy of their monument.

From childhood, Peter was surrounded by Dutch people. Dutch doctor van der Gulst was trusted by the royal family, and Peter's mathematics teacher was a Dutchman, Timmerman. Carsten Brant repaired Peter's first boat and made its first voyage. Ships were ordered from Holland, which became models for the first Russian vessels. Shipbuilders from Saardam (Zaandam) constructed the first ships launched in Pereyaslavl on Lake Pleshcheyevo. Lefort, the tsar's favorite, served in Holland in the 1670s and maintained good relations with Amsterdam. He was a friend of the Amsterdam mayor's family and actively corresponded with him, encouraging Peter's interest in Holland.