September 12, 1715
Peter I forbade residents Petersburg to stud shoes with staples and nails. This ban was popularly dubbed the "sole decree."
From this time forward, no one shall trade in staples and nails, with which men's and women's boots were lined, nor shall anyone have them; and no one, of any rank, shall wear boots and shoes with such linings.
With this measure, the tsar wanted to preserve the wooden pavements that were laid in the new capital over the marshy ground.
Peter the Great personally approved the design of each street and oversaw its construction. He considered spending money on laying new boards once a year too costly for the budget.
The fact that shoes without padding last three times less, and that many people simply don’t have replacements, was not taken into account.
And if anyone shows up with shoes with such lining, they will be severely fined, and the merchants who hold such staples and nails will be sent to hard labor; and their property will be confiscated.
After the decree was announced, the wooden pavements instantly became empty: there was nothing to change into, and nothing to pay fines with.
Three years later, the tsar shifted the responsibility for maintaining most streets to homeowners: each was required to build and maintain the pavement around their home. They were also obliged to maintain the facades, trees, and bushes.
In the streets and alleys, each resident opposite his yard must fill the pavement with sand and stone, smoothly, according to the decree, as shown by the masters.
Those whose windows overlooked the Neva and other rivers were forced to "drive piles opposite their yard and cover them with earth, tightly and soundly": such was the price for a "water view." Or for living on the waterfront.
In order to pave the city with cobblestones, Peter I issued a decree according to which everyone passing through St. Petersburg was obliged to donate a certain amount of “wild stones” to a common fund: three stones were required from each trading cart, and from 10 to 30 from a ship.
Anyone who didn't bring anything had to pay a fine of one hryvnia for each missing stone - a large sum of money at that time.
The "wild stones" decree was in effect for more than 60 years.