WI/AHC: A Southern Saint Petersburg?

What is the possibility that Peter the Great decides to build a new capital in the south, on the Black Sea? While OTL Saint Petersburg and the Great Northern War was built and fought to access the Baltic, building a southern capital could give access to the Black Sea, which could also lead to a better chance of taking Constantinople and the Straits and accessing the Mediterranean. A southern city would also be much less likely to have the ocean freeze over, unlike St. Petersburg apparently does, which would allow a proper warm water port. However, building a city here would likely involve a conflict with the Ottomans.

So with a POD after Peter's coronation, or simply a different decision by Peter, is it possible for St. Petersburg to be built on the Black Sea, or is it simply too difficult to defeat the Ottomans? What would the effects of a successful war and construction of St. Petersburg be on Russia and Europe in the future?
 
That's a good point. When I visited the city itself they generally said it was to build a navy, because Peter really wanted to do that, but making Russia seem European was definitely also something he wanted. However, if a war with the Ottomans would be needed, would defeating them not be enough to prove that Russia was powerful and modern? If they didn't need a war then Peter could potentially attack Sweden regardless and seize the Baltic as well.
 
The problem with the Black Sea is that unless you also control Constantinople it doesn't really open you up to anything. Unlike the Baltic which a. is marginally les enclosed and b. has multiple countries bordering it.
 
The problem with the Black Sea is that unless you also control Constantinople it doesn't really open you up to anything. Unlike the Baltic which a. is marginally les enclosed and b. has multiple countries bordering it.

Plus, if you want a capital on the Black Sea? Defeat the Ottomans, take Constantinople, and not only do you have it on the Black Sea (and the Aegean), you're the Orthodox Emperor of Constantinople! Restoring the city as a Russian or Russo-Greek city would be huge.
 
While with hindsight we say the Ottoman Empire was doomed it did not look that way at the time. Remember the Siege of Vienna was in living memory and the Ottoman's had put up a tough fight against the Russians narrowly losing in the Russian part of the Great Turkish War and winning in the 1710-11 war. Taking Constantinople was a nice dream but was not on the cards any time soon and even Peter acknowledged that.
 
While at the time Peter only had Azov on the Black Sea, which he lost after the Pruth Campaign. So it would require some serious PoD to have Peter even in a position to establish a capital on the Black Sea. But it is unlikely he would do so, because of the military risks of it being taken or attacked.
 
While at the time Peter only had Azov on the Black Sea, which he lost after the Pruth Campaign. So it would require some serious PoD to have Peter even in a position to establish a capital on the Black Sea. But it is unlikely he would do so, because of the military risks of it being taken or attacked.

While I think a Black Sea capital was an unlikely option as I've said above I don't think somewhere like Azov would be more vulnerable than St. Petersburg. Both locations had been only recently acquired, in fact Azov was acquired seven years before St. Pteresburg, 1696 versus 1703 and both were very close to the then borders of the Russian Empire. In OTL the disasterous Pruth campaign lost Azov again but if in an ATL Peter had already decided to make Azov his capital he might have offered something else up when signing an alt Treaty of Pruth, that's assuming that that catastrophe even happens with a more southern focused Russian Empire and less money being spent on St. Petersburg.
 
A Black Sea capital would be stupid, and nonsensical. Even if we take away Peter the Great's desire for a navy and desire for Russia to be "European", Russia had long aspired for a port in the baltic before Peter. Besides St Petersburg at was not too far from many important Russian cities, and not in the immediate danger of having it's inhabitants enslaved if a war went south, unlike Azov.
 
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