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But wherever he went, he drew attention — not because of education or status, but because of presence. Rasputin did not speak like a priest. He spoke like a man who believed utterly in what he said… and expected others to believe too. In 1903, Rasputin arrived in St. Petersburg, the glittering capital of the Russian Empire. It was a world of marble palaces, jeweled aristocrats, and political intrigue — the complete opposite of the Siberian wilderness he came from.