The northern capital of Russia is rich in architectural landmarks, but only one of these tourist sites is the real historical core of the city. This is a famous fortress, the official name of which is St. Petersburg, but it is better known as Peter and Paul.

Its fortifications were laid in the early years of the 18th century. The construction plan was developed by the first Russian emperor together with an engineer Joseph Gaspard Lambert de Guerin... Today the fortress is one of the "visiting cards" of the city.

The history of the fortress in the 18th century

Fortress plan, sponsored by Peter I and one of the closest to him engineers of French origin, included a project for the construction of six bastions and curtains connecting them, it was planned to build a crownwork and ravelins. The materials from which the original buildings were erected were wood and earth, but in the 30s and 40s of the 18th century, part of the bastion fortifications was dressed in stone. In the 80s of the named century, all structures of the fortress received a stone "dress".

Soon after the foundation of the fortress, the construction of its cathedral began. Later it became the burial vault of several Russian emperors. The author of the building project - Domenico Andrea Trezzini... In the early 30s of the 18th century, the construction of the Peter and Paul Cathedral was completed.

Every morning, at sunrise, over the fortress the flag was raised... At sunset it was lowered. This tradition was interrupted only at the beginning of the 20th century, in the post-revolutionary period. In the 90s of the same century, it was briefly renewed, but then it was decided not to lower the flag. Since then, he has been constantly visible on the mast above the fortress.

In the 30s of the 18th century, another tradition appeared: at noon, one of the bastions rang out cannon shot(so that all the townspeople know exactly what time it is). The same shots were fired at the beginning and at the end of each working day. In the mid-30s of the XX century, this tradition was interrupted, but in the second half of the 50s it was revived.

In the 60s of the 18th century, a house for "St. Nicholas"- the first boat Russian emperor... This vessel is often called the "grandfather" of the Russian fleet. It was transported from Moscow in the 20s of the 18th century. Initially, the ship was under a shed specially built for it, then a house was erected.

Part of the buildings of the fortress was faced with granite. The cladding work began in the late 70s of the 18th century and continued until the mid 80s. At about the same period of time, some of the buildings of the fortress were changed, they were given a more solemn, majestic appearance.

Under one of the arches of the fortress appeared flood list, which have become real disasters for the city. It can be seen today. It is supplemented with new tragic dates. Three of these floods occurred in the 18th century, one in the 19th century, and two in the 20th century.

XIX and XX centuries

At the end of the 18th century, the construction of buildings began on the territory of the fortress Mint ending in early XIX century. Around the same time period, an armory was built.

The fortress was built in such a way that it would be possible to repel enemy attacks from it, but in its entire history it has never participated in wars. Soon after the construction of the fortress was completed, it was used as a prison. It performed the same function in the 19th century. Political criminals were kept here.

One of the first prisoners of the fortress was eldest son of Peter I; he died in the fortress at the beginning of the 18th century (according to one version, he was killed there). It later contained Decembrists... The harsh walls of the fortress remember Alexander Radishchev, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Nikolai Chernyshevsky- these famous Russian thinkers and writers served their sentences here at different times. For some time a terrorist was imprisoned in the fortress Sergey Nechaev, punished for the murder of his colleague, student Ivan Ivanov. During the trial, an essay was published, the author of which was the defendant, which he called "The Catechism of a Revolutionary"; this "work" shocked society with its inhumanity and cynicism, even many convinced revolutionaries, supporters of a violent change of power, spoke of it with indignation.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the garrison of the fortress took an active part in the events that resulted in a change in the social system in the country. The garrison sided with the Bolshevik Party. In one of the bastions they were imprisoned for some time members of the Provisional Government.

In the first post-revolutionary years on the territory of the fortress were made mass shootings accused of counter-revolutionary activities. The burials were discovered only at the beginning of the XXI century.

In the 20s of the XX century, the fortress was turned into Museum... After some time, the city administration decided to destroy the bastion fortifications, and in their place to build a large stadium. Fortunately, this decision was soon reversed.

In the mid-20s in one of the premises of the fortress was opened laboratory, engaged in the development of special rocket projectiles, for which smokeless powder was required. The laboratory was located there almost until the middle of the 30s of the XX century. Its employees have achieved such impressive success that their names have been immortalized in the names of ten lunar craters. Currently, a museum has been opened in the former premises of the laboratory.

The architectural ensemble of the fortress

The fortress is a monument of history and architecture, which must be visited by every tourist visiting the sights of the northern capital of Russia. There are so many interesting things on the territory of the fortress that you can devote a whole day to its inspection. But what are the architectural features, what buildings should you pay special attention to? It is rather difficult to answer this question: all the gates and bastions, ravelins and curtains, all the buildings of the fortress deserve the attention of a tourist; we advise you to examine them carefully, without missing anything.

One of the examples of classicism architecture on the territory of the fortress are Nevsky gates... They were built at the beginning of the 18th century. At first the gates were made of wood, but a few years later they were rebuilt in stone. The author of the project of this structure - Domenico Andrea Trezzini... In the 30s of the 18th century, the gate was rebuilt again. It was then that they were decorated with a composition that includes a shield, a banner and military armor; these decorations have survived to the present day. In the mid-40s of the 18th century, the gate was rebuilt again. Forty years later as an architect Nikolay Lvov a project was developed, according to which one more (this time the last!) reconstruction of the gate was carried out. After that, their height was twelve meters, width - about the same. The basement height is about one meter. The triangular granite pediment, resting on columns, is decorated with a composition of palm branches and anchors, and on its edges there are images of bombs with stylized tongues of flame.

Building John's gate began in the late 30s of the 18th century, and ended in the early 40s of the same century. Their project was developed Burchard Christoph von Munnich... The gate was named in honor of Tsar John Alekseevich (father of Anna Ioannovna, who reigned at that time). This gate was one of the last objects of the fortress, rebuilt in stone. In the 20s of the 19th century, a rustication of part of the gate was carried out, at the same time rosettes appeared on the facade. In the 60s of the XX century, the gate was restored.

Peter's gate were built in the early years of the 18th century. Initially, their upper part was wooden; it rested on a stone foundation. Later they were rebuilt in stone. Speaking about the architectural style of the gate, it should be noted that they fully correspond to the canons of the Peter the Great Baroque. The gate is decorated with a panel depicting a biblical scene: Simeon the Magus was overthrown by Peter (one of the apostles). This scene symbolizes the victory of the first Russian emperor (with whom the apostle bearing the same name is identified in the picture) over the king of Sweden. The width of the panel is a little less than five meters, its height is about three and a half meters. There are two statues in the niches of the gate, one of which symbolizes courage, and the other - prudence. The first of the symbolic sculptures is crowned with a helmet on which the sculptor depicted a salamander; the second holds a mirror in her hand, and with the other hand squeezes a snake (one of the symbols of wisdom). In the 20s of the 18th century, the gate was decorated Russian coat of arms made of lead; at the beginning of the 20th century (in the post-revolutionary period) this image was covered with special shields. Already in the 18th century, the gate was in need of restoration; they were repaired several times, covered with plaster. By the beginning of the 20th century, its layer had already reached almost fifteen centimeters. In the 40s of the XX century (during wartime), the gate was damaged during shelling. They were restored ten years later.

On a note

• Location: St. Petersburg, Zayachiy Island.
• The nearest metro stations are Gorkovskaya, Sportivnaya.
• Official website: https://www.spbmuseum.ru/
• Opening hours: from 9:30 to 21:00. Access to the island opens at 6:00, and you can stay on it until 22:00. Day off - Wednesday. In winter, the working day becomes one hour shorter. Numerous museums located on the territory of the fortress open a little later than the fortress itself.
• Tickets: from 200 to 300 rubles (depending on which exhibition you want to see). You can buy a complex ticket for 600 rubles. For those categories of visitors who are eligible for benefits, the price, of course, will be lower. If you are not interested in museums and you just want to visit the territory of the fortress, then the entrance to it will be free for you.

Bird's eye view of the Peter and Paul Fortress.

The Peter and Paul Fortress is a unique monument of the history and architecture of St. Petersburg. The main building of its architectural ensemble, the Peter and Paul Cathedral, is one of the symbols of the city.

The walls of the fortress were supposed to become a serious obstacle to the external enemy - they were erected according to the last word of fortification at the beginning of the 18th century. But life decided differently. The fortress acquired a cruel fame as a prison for state criminals, where the authorities dealt with the internal enemy ...

Peter and Paul Fortress: historical background

Construction of fortifications.

The city on the Neva began from here. The founding date of St. Petersburg is considered May 27, 1703, when the foundation stone of the Peter and Paul Fortress was laid on the Hare Island on the day of the Holy Trinity. According to the original concept, there was no talk of a city, especially a capital, it was required to protect the lands reclaimed from the Swedes.

The development of the plan of the citadel, as well as the choice of a place for its construction, Peter I was personally involved with an engineer, Russian general of French origin J. G. Lambert.

Soldiers, captured Swedes, serfs worked from dawn to dawn under the supervision of the Tsar's associates. The general leadership was carried out by a close friend of the emperor - A. D. Menshikov. Peter I settled nearby in a summer house and inspected the construction, from the very morning going around the island by boat.

The fortress repeated the hexagonal shape of the island, at the tops of the corners there were bastions named after the curators, each of whom was responsible for “their own” object: Menshikov, Trubetskoy, Golovkin, Naryshkin, Zotov, Gosudarev. The construction of the Tsar's bastion was supervised by Tsarevich Alexei.

On October 1, 1703, the fortress was consecrated. By this time, the construction of earthen and wooden fortifications of a small wooden church in the name of the apostles Peter and Paul was completed, tools were installed and a flag was raised on the Tsar's bastion.

In 1706, the first architect of St. Petersburg, the Italian Domenico Trezzini, began the construction of stone structures using new principles for the construction of fortifications. The walls of the bastions, 12 meters in height, reach 20 meters in thickness - they are formed by the outer and inner layers of five-meter brickwork, between which crushed brick mixed with the ground is filled up.

The bastions are interconnected by curtains, in which casemates were arranged to accommodate soldiers and store weapons. The Catherine curtain is solid, and the Nevsky, Petrovskaya, Vasilievskaya, Kronverkskaya and Nikolskaya curtains are equipped with the gates of the same name. The elegant Petrovsky Gate was the main entrance. They set up guns on the bastions, fifty on each. For sorties, in case of a siege, underground passages (sorties) and secret passages in the walls (patterns) were provided, which were laid with one layer of brick and were known only to trusted officers.

Later, on the site of the wooden church, the Peter and Paul Cathedral was erected (1712-1732), which acquired the status of a cathedral and became the burial vault of the House of Romanov. The foundation contains the holy relics of St. Andrew the First-Called. Behind the eastern wall of the cathedral is the Commandant's cemetery. 18 commandants found peace here from 1720 to 1914.

The defensive system is closed by a crown-shaped earthen rampart - kronverk.

The triangular fortifications from the sea (ravelins) were built in the 1730s during the reign of Anna Ioannovna, named after her father and grandfather, the western one - Ioannovsky (in memory of Ivan Alekseevich, the elder brother and formal co-ruler of Peter I), and the eastern one - Alekseevsky (in memory of Father Peter I).

The date of completion of the construction of the Peter and Paul Fortress is captured on the Ioannovsky Gate - 1740.

Russian Bastille

After the final victory over the Swedes, the Peter and Paul Fortress lost its defensive function and soon found itself in the center of the city, which was growing around it. In the fortress itself, the coastline of which was partially faced with granite, construction was carried out for various purposes; in the 18th-19th centuries, the Mint, the Artillery shop, the Commandant and Engineer houses, the guardhouse, the Botny house appeared here ...

IG Fokkerodt, who for many years served as the secretary of the Prussian Embassy in Russia, described the fortress in his notes: “... This fortress is quite strong and because of its location is impregnable, but they believe that ... it cannot be of any particular benefit. Now it serves as nothing more than the Bastille, where state prisoners are kept ... ".

And indeed, the bastions soon became a place of imprisonment of state criminals, and since the 19th century - the main political prison in Russia, where they ended up without trial on the imperial command ...

In the fortress, tortured by interrogations and tuberculosis, Princess Tarakanova, who pretended to be the daughter of Elizabeth I and Razumovsky, will also die. Here, the verdict will await Alexander Radishchev - the author of the book "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow", which greatly angered Empress Catherine II.

The leaders of the Decembrist uprising were hanged on the shaft of the kronverk. The memorial obelisk keeps their profiles and the words of the great Russian poet:

"Comrade, believe: she will rise

The star of captivating happiness

Russia will rise from sleep

And on the wreckage of autocracy

They will write our names! "

Here Fyodor Dostoevsky was sentenced to be shot along with other Petrashevtsy, but the execution was commuted to hard labor at the last moment. The events were reflected in the work "Notes from the House of the Dead".

In the Alekseevsky Ravelin's cell, Nikolai Chernyshevsky, protesting against the illegal investigation, went on a hunger strike, which lasted 9 days, and wrote the famous novel "What to do".

Until 1917, one and a half thousand political prisoners passed through the cells of the Trubetskoy Bastion prison built in 1872.

The fortress garrison supported the Bolsheviks - it was its cannon that gave the signal to the cruiser Aurora in October 1917, and during the years of the “Red Terror” (1917-1921) mass executions were carried out here.

Peter and Paul Fortress at night - view from the Neva.

In 1925, the Leningrad Soviet passed a resolution to destroy the fortress, which had become a museum by that time, and to build a stadium in its place. The decision was soon canceled, and the Gas-Dynamic Laboratory was located in the Ioannovsky Ravelin, which was the country's first design bureau of rocket engines and was within its walls until 1933. Forty years later, a museum of cosmonautics and rocket technology was opened in its place, which today bears the name of V.P. Glushko - the head of the development of systems that put into orbit spaceships Vostok, Voskhod and Soyuz.

Attractions and exposition

Peter and Paul Fortress is a part. The tour begins with an acquaintance with the history of the Nevsky region and an exhibition dedicated to the stages of the construction of the fortress. Among the exhibits located in the Commandant's House are interesting Russian and Swedish maps, models of fortifications, a collection of tools found during excavations. Separate rooms are dedicated to the life of the population from 1703 to 1918.

Peter and Paul Cathedral

Sightseeing continues with the most beautiful structure of the fortress - the Peter and Paul Cathedral. For 300 years before the construction in 2012 in the historical Rybatskoye residential complex "Prince Alexander Nevsky" remained the tallest building in the city. The height of the temple with a 40-meter spire, decorated with a weather vane in the form of a golden figure of an angel with a cross, is 122.5 meters.

Peter and Paul Cathedral.

The carved iconostasis inside the cathedral with the figures of the apostles in front of it is striking in splendor and resembles a triumphal arch. This is not an accidental similarity, but the idea of ​​Peter the Great to make the temple a monument in honor of the victories of Russian weapons and a place for keeping the keys to the captured cities, as well as the banners of the defeated Swedish and Turkish troops. An iconostasis was made in the Armory Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin, delivered disassembled and assembled on site. All elements are made of wood and covered with gilding: the frame is made of larch, linden is used for sculptures and decor details.

The practice of preaching sermons in Orthodox churches was first introduced in the times of Peter the Great, as evidenced by the pulpit installed in front of the altar. During the service, the emperor himself occupied the royal place at the right column, richly decorated with crimson velvet and symbols of power.

Unusual for Orthodox churches, the slender elongated silhouette of the building and its interior decoration attract visitors to the same extent as the tomb of the emperors, which was supplemented by the Grand Ducal tomb built at the beginning of the 19th century, as well as the wonderfully restored Tsar's chambers with miraculously survived relics.

The rooms located in the gallery of the passage to the tomb were intended for rest imperial family when visiting the cathedral and consisted of a reception, living room, smoking room and ladies' rooms. The exposition is presented in two rooms, partially restored from the archives of the author of the project - architect L. N. Benois. Here you can see marble fireplaces, paintings with portraits of royalty and panoramic views of St. Petersburg. Rare things are of particular value: the vestments of clergymen, the analogue cover, the transcendental cross.

The exhibition "Three centuries over the city" will acquaint sightseers who climb the bell tower with the panorama of the fortress opening from here and the mechanism of a rare carillon purchased in Holland for the chimes of the tower.

Peter and Paul Cathedral.

A street leads from the Cathedral to a small square, where tourists will meet with an unusual sculpture of Peter I by Mikhail Shemyakin. The king is depicted sitting on a throne, the proportions of the body being increased by one and a half times, and the life-size head seems small, which gives the figure a grotesque look. The face is made on the basis of an original wax mask made by B.K.Rastrelli. The author called the work "My mystical Peter" and argued that the distortion of proportions corresponds to the canons of Orthodox icon painting.

Prison of Trubetskoy Bastion

One of the most popular objects in the fortress is the Trubetskoy Bastion prison. The exposition dedicated to the history of the Trubetskoy Bastion prison acquaints visitors with the conditions of detention of prisoners, the peculiarities of the regime, the fate of the prisoners. Alexander Ulyanov, Maxim Gorky, Lev Trotsky passed through her cells ... The interiors have been restored, and the models of warders and prisoners create an eerie prison atmosphere from different historical periods, from 1870 to 1917. Its last prisoners were participants in the Kronstadt uprising.

Only the exhibition "Streets of Time" in the Naryshkinsky Bastion and the Museum of Cosmonautics located in the Ioannovsky Ravelin compete with it.

Naryshkinsky bastion

Anyone can make a fascinating journey into the past of St. Petersburg by visiting the exhibition in the Naryshkinsky bastion. The exposition "Street of Time", three centuries long, will first take you through the lands of Ingermanland on the Neva banks, then, past the customs of Peter the Great's time and the office from the buildings, it will lead you to the imperial capital of the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. Looking into the windows of the "houses", one can trace how the appearance of the interiors and the townspeople themselves has changed. Enter a sewing workshop and see the fashion of the 19th century, "visit" the dentist's office, or plunge into the atmosphere of a communal apartment of the 20th century.

Space Museum

History of space exploration and the role of designers of St. Petersburg-Leningrad in development Russian cosmonautics and rocketry, the museum, opened in the halls of the right side of the Ioannovsky Ravelin, is dedicated. The unique developments of the employees of the Gas-Dynamic Laboratory, which was located here in the 30s of the last century, are presented in the exposition:

• smokeless powder rockets used in the Katyusha;
• liquid propellant rocket engines - harbingers of spacecraft engines;
• one of the most interesting exhibits that went into space and returned to Earth in 1974 is the Soyuz-16 lander.
• in front of the entrance to the museum there is a descent vehicle of the Kometa satellite, which also made a space voyage, but already in the 90s.

Porcelain exposition

The expositions of porcelain and furniture collections located in the Petrovskaya curtain, dating back to the 18th – 20th centuries, are noteworthy.

The exhibition of products of European and Russian glass and porcelain factories brings together the best examples of decorative and applied art from Russia, England, Denmark, France, Germany. Among the objects of mass production, the collection of propaganda porcelain is interesting. Special attention of the visitors is paid to memorial things belonging to A. A. Akhmatova, O. F. Berggolts, D. S. Likhachev, as well as a collection of memorable gifts to Stalin, transferred from the Museum of the Revolution, and a collection of gifts to the city for anniversary dates.

Furniture exposition

The dialectic of furniture art is reflected in the exposition located in the Nikolskaya curtain. The earliest examples include: a chair of the Peter's era, French chests of drawers, Russian caskets, and a chest of the 18th century. Samples of furniture richly inlaid with mother-of-pearl, tortoise shell, bone, metal, made of rare species of red, black, rosewood demonstrate various styles and allow you to imagine how the interiors of the Northern capital looked over the course of three centuries.

Exhibition of medieval weapons

An entirely different kind of art is presented by the exhibition, located in Karetnik, a former stable, which in the olden days had the pompous name of "Commandant Department Services". The exhibition of medieval instruments of torture takes us back centuries and has no direct relation to either the commandant's services or to the fortress as a whole. The story goes back to the days of the Inquisition, when Pope Innocent IV, in 1252, legalized the status of their application in the course of inquest. They were carried out by secular authorities, as well as the execution of death sentences. Among a number of instruments of punishment, the chastity belt looks very unexpected, which the organizers of the exhibition ranked as belonging to the same theme.

Exhibition "Historical Mosaic"

In the Zeichhaus, the Historical Mosaic exhibition presents history The Russian state in faces. The rulers of Russia Ivan the Terrible and Catherine II, statesmen, famous prisoners of the fortress, revolutionaries, writers and other persons make up its historical canvas. 60 wax figures create an inimitable atmosphere of an impressive immersion into the past, with all the twists and turns and unexpected turns. Created by the masters of St. Petersburg, the characters look realistic, convey not only external similarities, but also character, mood, emotions. Natural hair, hand-made eye prostheses were used, skin tones were corrected with theatrical make-up.

Other attractions

One of the oldest enterprises in the city, the Mint, transferred here from Moscow by decree of Peter I in 1724, continues to operate on the territory of the Peter and Paul Fortress.

Mint.

Continuing the tradition of producing medal works, it is currently a leading manufacturer of decoration signs, orders and medals, as well as commemorative coins made of precious metals.

In the 60s of the XIX century, the Arsenal building was built on the crownwork, made in the style of medieval architecture. Currently, it is located here, the exposition of which is located inside the premises and in the courtyard.

An interesting sculpture "Bunny Escaped from the Flood" is located near the Ioannovsky Bridge. There is a sign: if the thrown coin hits the base of the monument, the eared Arseny will grant the wish. The name hare inherited from the Swedish name of the island Yenisari.

No visitor will pass by the small building with a portico and a statue of Navigation on the roof, located to the left of the bell tower, because there are ticket offices and a souvenir shop. Many do not suspect that this is the Botny House, built specifically for the "Grandfather of the Russian Fleet" - the boat of Peter I.

In addition to excursions, events, operating museums in the Peter and Paul Fortress, the traditions established from the day of foundation have been revived today:

• every day from the Naryshkinsky bastion at exactly noon a shot of the "messenger" cannon is heard. According to the decree of Catherine II, the cannons of Peter and Paul, in addition to the midday shot, were supposed to signal an impending flood. On this occasion, Yuri Tynyanov wrote: “The cannons of the Peter and Paul Fortress are the cannon newspaper of St. Petersburg. They have long sighed every noon and every flood. This habit is so strong that when a flood begins, officials rush to set the clock. "
• again over the Naryshkinsky bastion the St. Andrew's flag flies - an oblique cross on a red background with a white edging. The tradition dates back to the era of Peter the Great. According to the documents of those times: "This flag is for this fortress ... put ... that the seaside city."

View of the Peter and Paul Fortress on the side of the Neva.

In addition, memorial services for the departed emperors have been held in the Peter and Paul Cathedral since 1990, and festive services have been held since 1999. In 1998, the remains of the last Emperor Nicholas II, his family and companions, who shared their sad fate, were buried near the crypt of Peter I in the Catherine's side-altar. The last burials include the reburial of the ashes of Empress Maria Feodorovna, transferred from Denmark in 2006.

Once upon a time on weekends and holidays, a brass band played on the territory of the fortress. Various recreational activities are carried out on the beach of the fortress to this day. In 2005, a grand piano was installed in the flag tower; famous pianists give concerts here.

In the warm season, on Saturdays in the Naryshkinsky Bastion, you can observe the changing of the guard of honor, which is symbolic. Parade and taking out flags Russian Federation and St. Petersburg - the brightest moments of the ceremony.

The day off, the same for all the museums of Petropavlovka, is Wednesday. The entrance to the territory of the fortress is free and is open from 9:30 to 20:00.

Panorama of the Peter and Paul Fortress

Pressing and holding down the left button - scroll with the mouse in different directions: you can look around without moving from the spot. Clicking on the black square in the upper right corner of the panorama window will take you to full-screen viewing mode.

1. Panorama.

2. Panorama.

Peter and Paul Fortress: where it is located and how to get there

The Peter and Paul Fortress is located in the central part of the Northern capital, opposite the Winter Palace, at the address:

St. Petersburg, Zayachiy Island, Peter and Paul Fortress, 3.

• from the nearest metro station "Gorkovskaya" walk along Aleksandrovsky Park and Kronverkskaya Embankment;
• trams 6 and 40 run from Sportivnaya station;
• from "Petrogradskaya" - 46th bus, minibuses 46, 76, 183 and 223.

One of the most beautiful and majestic Russian cities, St. Petersburg, began 310 years ago. On this very day, May 27 (according to the old calendar - May 16), 1703, Peter the Great decided to start the construction of the Peter and Paul Fortress.

The question of the need to create a defensive fortification, the main task of which was to protect the Russian lands from the encroachments of the Swedes, was long overdue. The constant rivalry of the two powers for access to the Baltic, accompanied by military actions in 1700-1721 (Northern War), required urgent measures, because the old fortress of Nyenskans (Schlotburg) could no longer provide reliable protection. For the construction of a new defensive structure, an island was chosen with a length of seven hundred and fifty meters and a width of about four hundred, which the Finns called Hare (Yenisaari), and the Swedes called Merry (Lust-Eiland). All approaches from the Gulf of Finland to the Neva were best seen from this territory.
It was the Peter and Paul Fortress that became the starting point for the construction of the first Russian port on the Baltic coast. On the day of the Holy Trinity in 1703, the construction of the initial timber-earth defensive structure began, the drawings for the construction of which were drawn up personally by Peter I. He entrusted the management of the work to his first assistant A. Menshikov. The fortress was created in accordance with the rules of the Western European bastion system adopted at that time: the outlines of the structure repeated the shape of the island on which the construction was carried out, and well-fortified protruding bastions were located at the edges of the elongated hexagon. The engineering management of the construction of the fortress in 1703-1705 and subsequent modifications was carried out by the military engineer Kirshtein from Saxony.

All six bastions were named by Peter in honor of his associates, who not only oversaw the construction, but also participated in its financial support: Menshikov, Trubetskoy, Naryshkin, Golovkin and Zotov. Also, one of the bastions was named Tsar, in honor of Peter the Great himself. The fortress was originally called St. Petersburg, but even then some residents called it Peter and Paul, after the name of the Cathedral of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, which was being built on the territory of the new citadel. This name became official only in 1917. The status of a cathedral, rebuilt later and also renamed to Peter and Paul, received only in 1731. It is also known to contemporaries as the tomb of all the emperors of the Romanov dynasty. It is within its walls that the remains of Russian sovereigns, from Peter the Great to Nicholas II, are kept. When, at the beginning of the 20th century, there were not enough places for the burial of members of the Romanov dynasty, it was decided to build a church of the holy right-believing Prince Alexander Nevsky next to the temple, which became the grand ducal tomb.

The bastions of the fortress were interconnected by high curtains or walls named Petrovskaya, Vasilievskaya, Nevskaya, Kronverkskaya, Ekaterininskaya and Nikolskaya. In addition, for forays into the enemy's camp, if he manages to position himself at the walls of the fortress, glans and sorties (underground passages) with passages (patterns) in the walls were equipped and carefully camouflaged. In each of the walls, except for Catherine's, there were the gates of the same name, but the main ones were always considered the Peter's gates, intended to enter the city. Barracks were made inside the Catherine curtain, as well as special casemates in which it was kept. The history of the Nikolskaya curtain, which got its name due to the fact that it was turned to the church of St. Nicholas, is interesting. In the 18th century, an expedition to separate gold from silver was located here, as well as employees of the commandant's department. Today the left side of the Nikolskaya Curtain belongs to the Mint.

In 1704-1705, triangular ravelins were rebuilt from the ground for additional fortification on the side of the sea. One of them Peter named in honor of his father Alekseevsky, and the second - in honor of his brother Ioannovsky. Then, in 1705-1709, the fortress was strengthened from the land side, building a kronverk - an earthen rampart in the shape of a crown. Also in 1705, a pentagonal earthen cavalier was built to provide the ability to conduct overhead fire at the enemy. Looking ahead, it is worth noting that in 1850 all the earthen ramparts were demolished, and a building was erected on the site of the crownwork, in which all Russian military relics were stored and stored: banners, awards, and different kinds weapons.

According to historical data, the Frenchman Lambert, who was hired by him for the construction of forts, was engaged in mathematical calculations during the construction according to the drawings of the sovereign. With the help of soldiers, captured Swedes, as well as peasants sent for construction by each province, by October 1703, the erection of the earthen fortification was completed, but the flood that occurred soon showed the fragility of the structure, part of which was simply washed away by water. Therefore, there was an urgent need to vest the fortress in stone. This work began in 1706 by the architect Trezzini and the engineer-general Lambert de Guerin, who replaced the chief engineer of the project, Kirshtein, who had left Russia. From 1727 until the end of the main alterations in 1740, the military engineer Christopher Minich was in charge of all the perestroika works in the fortress. The construction of the Peter and Paul Fortress was officially completed in 1740.

In 1707, the main Peter's Gate underwent a thorough reconstruction, the wooden gate was replaced by a stone arch with an upper tier of wood, on which the statue of the Apostle Peter was installed. Then, in 1717, all wooden elements were finally replaced with stone ones, and a plot bas-relief and a lead double-headed eagle appeared on the front part. From 1731 to 1740, significant changes took place in the appearance of the Peter and Paul Fortress. First, ravelins were built of stone, then dams (botardo) were built, fencing off the ditches that isolated the ravelins from the main part of the island. The cavalier named after Empress Anna was also rebuilt in stone. The following significant transformations were carried out already during the reign of Catherine II. From 1779 to 1786, the facade of the fortress from the south was faced with granite slabs, the Nevsky Gate was rebuilt, which was decorated with a portico.

An active improvement and a change in the layout of the fortress was observed during the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna. First, in 1748, the building of the Main Guardhouse was built, which was reorganized only in 1906, and then in 1749 the Engineering House appeared on the territory of the fortress. In 1743-1746, the stone was erected main building The commandant's house, intended for the residence of the commandant of the Peter and Paul Fortress and family members, as well as for his office. It was in the Commandant's house, built between the cathedral and the Naryshkin bastion, that the verdict to the Decembrists was announced in 1826.

Together with the fortress, the first church in St. Petersburg also underwent significant changes, which during the period from 1712 to 1733, by order of Peter, was built of stone to replace the old wooden Peter and Paul Cathedral. However, the spire of the multi-tiered bell tower of the temple, which is one of the tallest structures in St. Petersburg's architecture, was still made of wood. A weather vane installed at the very end, made in the form of a soaring angel, as well as a clock with chimes located in the upper part, gave the building an emphatically secular appearance, which was inherent in all art of the Peter the Great period.

The external appearance of the fortress and the cathedral, as its central and main part, also changed under the influence natural Disasters... So on the last day of April 1756, lightning struck the spire, which caught fire and fell down. As a result, the roof, dome and spire of the temple were completely destroyed. The bell tower was restored only ten years later, and it was possible to recreate the wooden spire "exactly as it was before" only by 1780. In 1830, the local roofer P. Telushkin, without scaffolding, managed to climb to the very top of the spire with only one rope and fixed the damaged weather vane on it. Almost a century later, in 1857-1858, according to the project of the architect Konstantin Ton, the spire was finally replaced by a metal spire made according to the system of engineer D.I. Zhuravsky, who additionally increased the height of the bell tower to one hundred twenty two and a half meters. More than eight kilograms of pure gold were spent on the gilding of the entire structure, together with the Angel figurine.

A new era in the formation of the architectural ensemble of the territory of the Peter and Paul Fortress began in 1761 with the beginning of the construction of the Botny House, made in the style of early classicism. This building was intended to store one of the first ships of the Russian fleet, the old boat of Peter the Great, on which he studied maritime affairs in his youth. In 1799, the construction of the Mint began, a number of buildings that brought new dominants to the layout of the fortress. In 1801, according to the project of Alexander Briskorn, the Artillery shop was erected. Initially, it housed a serf team of artillerymen. After the abolition of a number of artillery batteries in the Zeikhhaus, the Fire Department was first located (in 1865), and then - an arena for military exercises in inclement and cold weather (since 1887). At the same time, a warehouse of things related to the emergency reserve of the Personnel Battalion of the Life Guards of the Reserve Infantry Regiment was set up here. During the reign of Emperor Nicholas I, a three-storey stone building of the Arsenal was built on the site of Kronverk, which appeared to be a more powerful and modern defensive structure in comparison with the previous bastions. These measures were taken before the Crimean War, during which the ships of the states hostile to Russia, England and France, were in the Gulf of Finland.

Poterna of the Peter and Paul Fortress

Until the beginning of the 20th century, many buildings for various purposes were erected on the territory of the citadel: from "food stores" to the premises where the archives of the War Ministry were located (from 1892 to 1900). And the final design of the look of the Peter and Paul Fortress, familiar to our contemporaries, took place at the beginning of the last century, when the building of the Main Guardhouse was rebuilt in 1906-1907. Under Nicholas II, all northern curtains and bastions were plastered and painted "like granite". Initially, the island was connected to the main part of the city by three bridges, but Nikolsky bridges built in 1820 and Kronverksky bridges in 1853 were demolished at the beginning of the XX century. Only the Ioannovsky Bridge remained, which has been in the usual place for Petersburgers since 1736.

Thus, the Peter and Paul Fortress, built by design as a defensive structure, quickly turned into one of the main places of the great Russian city, but not a single shot was fired from its walls. But it was here that all the most interesting events, ranging from church and city holidays and ending with magnificent fireworks in honor of the victories of the Russian army. Under Peter I, on the Hare Island, a solemn opening of the Neva was held annually. All the townspeople were looking forward to this event, because navigation was prohibited during the icebreaker period, and there were no permanent bridges across the waters of the Neva until the middle of the 19th century. The celebration of the Baptism of the Lord was no less magnificent, when, to the sound of bells on January 6, the townspeople gathered in front of the fortress to witness the illumination of the Neva waters. A temporary chapel was erected directly on the ice, and a cruciform Jordan made its way near it. Members of the royal family always took part in the baptism ceremony.

There was also another unforgettable holiday called the Day of the Pre-Holy Pentecost, celebrated on the twenty-fifth day after Orthodox Easter. On this day, at the pier near the Peter and Paul Cathedral, all the clergy of the city gathered in order to make a procession of the cross around the fortress, carrying in front of them the miraculous icon of the Savior Image Not Made by Hands, which belonged to Peter the Great himself. In addition, on this day, prayers were performed at each of the bastions, and a ceremony of consecration of water was held near the Neva gates.

Having lost its dominant importance in 1770 due to the inaccessibility of the temple during the icebreaker, the Cathedral of the Peter and Paul Cathedral was transferred to the Ministry of the Imperial Court, and since 1883 it actually became the court imperial temple, in which memorial services and funeral services were held on established days members of the royal house. Even before the construction was completed, the cathedral became a necropolis for Peter's children who died in infancy. Until 1909, when it was accepted official decision about the burial of only crowned heads in the cathedral, almost all representatives of the Romanov dynasty were buried here. The only exceptions were Peter II, buried in Moscow, and John VI, who was buried in Shlisselburg.

Since 1715, lavish funeral ceremonies began to be held during the burial. The whole cathedral on such days was clothed in mourning decoration, for the creation of which the best Russian sculptors, artists and architects were involved, and the movement of the procession of carrying the body was accompanied by the incessant ringing of bells and cannon fire from the walls of the fortress. An interesting fact is that since 1915, for more than seventy years, there have been no burials in the Peter and Paul Cathedral, but on May 29, 1992, the Great Russian Prince Vladimir Kirillovich, who is the great-grandson of Alexander II, was buried in the Tomb. Then, in March 1995, the remains of his parents were transported here. In July 1998, the remains of the last Russian tsar and members of his family, found near Yekaterinburg, were buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

In addition to various numerous functions, the Peter and Paul Fortress from the very first days of its existence played the role of a military garrison. From June 22, 1703 to October 1, 1926, the history of this stronghold is inextricably linked with the history of the military units stationed in it. Its own garrison first appeared here in October 1703, right after the timber and earth fortifications were erected and the first guns were installed. And during the first years of the Northern War, the fortress was a permanent stronghold of the military formations defending the Neva delta. But it was only at the beginning of the 19th century that the independent structure of the Peter and Paul garrison was determined, which until then was only part of the St. Petersburg military formation with one general commandant. It was based on one company of fortress artillery numbering one hundred and sixty-eight people with weapons of forty-five guns, a significant part of which was intended only for fireworks. There was one disabled team, which included military personnel who were not fit for field service due to illness or injury. They, as a rule, were on guard duty, guarding the cathedral, gates and premises for prisoners. There was also an engineering team, whose responsibilities included organizing and carrying out all construction and repair work on the territory of the fortress. But in 1920, the need for the existence of the garrison disappeared, and its structure was irrevocably abolished.

Almost until the beginning of the 20th century, the Peter and Paul Fortress was actually considered the main political prison in Russia, due to which it was named the "Russian Bastille". The first "honorary" prisoners of the citadel in February 1718 were Tsarevich Alexei and other individuals arrested in his case. Later, in the 18th century, it was here that all the famous freethinkers, participants palace intrigues and coups: A.P. Volynsky, P.I. Eropkin, the so-called "Princess Tarakanova", B.Kh. Minikh, A.N. Radishchev, T.B. Kosciuszko and Yu.U. Nemtsevich, as well as the founder of the Chabad movement, Rabbi Shneur-Zalman. Several prominent military leaders were imprisoned by Paul I in the fortress: A.P. Ermolov, M.I. Platov and P.V. Chichagov. Under Nicholas I, the Decembrists were awaiting their verdict here. And in the 19th century, F.M. Dostoevsky, M.A. Bakunin, N.G. Chernyshevsky, N.N. Miklouho-Maclay and K.M. Stanyukovich.

In 1760, the Prisoners' House was built for the prisoners who were previously held in casemates, later replaced by the Secret House (in 1797). From 1870 to 1872, a prison was built in the Trubetskoy Bastion, which later became a "shelter" for participants in all Russian national liberation movements: populists, Social Revolutionaries and Social Democrats. Among the prisoners of this formidable prison were also A.M. Gorky and Lenin's older brother, A.I. Ulyanov. After October 1917, members of the tsarist and later Provisional governments were imprisoned in the Trubetskoy bastion, as well as all citizens and politicians who were dissatisfied and rebelled against Soviet power. Here, in 1921, all the survivors and captured participants of the mutiny in Kronstadt were found.

In 1917, during the October coup, the Bolshevik field headquarters was located in the Peter and Paul Fortress, and its guns fired at the Winter Palace. On November 8, 1925, the Leningrad Council decided to wipe out the entire stronghold from the face of the earth, and build a stadium in its place. Fortunately, this decision was soon canceled and museums were organized in some buildings of the fortress. During the Great Patriotic War, anti-aircraft guns were installed on the territory of the Peter and Paul Fortress. The spire of the cathedral was covered with a camouflage net. During the war years, not a single shell hit the cathedral, but the walls of the fortress themselves were badly damaged. From 1950 to 1980, a complete restoration of all monuments, walls, buildings and territories of the Peter and Paul Fortress was carried out. The original decoration of the cathedral was restored. On December 25, 1975, on the day of the 150th anniversary of the Decembrist uprising, a granite obelisk was erected at the place of execution of the main participants in the events. During the years of stagnation, protest actions of writers and artists took place near the walls of the fortress. After one of them, a memorable inscription appeared on the wall of the Tsar's bastion: "You crucify freedom, but the human soul has no fetters." In 1991, a monument to Peter the Great was erected on the square right in front of the guardhouse, and soon, in 1993, the fortress became a historical and cultural reserve.

Every year on the day of its foundation, May 27, the Peter and Paul Fortress becomes the center of the City Day celebrations held in the Northern capital of Russia. And the daily cannon shot fired at noon from the walls of the Naryshkin Bastion has rightfully become one of the main symbols of St. Petersburg.

Sources of information:
http://palmernw.ru/mir-piter/petropavlovskaya/petropavlovskaya.html
http://walkspb.ru/zd/petrop_kr.html
http://family-history.ru/material/history/place/place_27.html
http://www.e-reading-lib.org/bookreader.php/90373/Balyazin_-_Taiiny_doma_Romanovyh.html

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HISTORY OF CREATION

On May 16, 1703, according to the plan drawn up by Peter I, the construction of the Peter and Paul Fortress on Zayachy Island began.

The shape of the island (about 750 m long and about 360 m wide) determined the outline of the future fortifications.

Elongated a hexagon with bastions protruding at its corners, interconnected by fortress walls.

The fortress made of earth and wood was built under the supervision of the closest associates of Peter I during the summer.

Serfs were set up in the curtain connecting the sovereign's bastion with the Menshikov's bastion a gate, the approaches to which were blocked by a ravelin and a transverse ditch. A flood bridge was built across the Nevsky channel, and a dock for warships was made in the channel itself.

The Swedish general Maydel in 1704 reported to Stockholm:

“Petersburg is very well founded and fortified,

his position is such that he can become at the same time

a strong fortress and a thriving trading city.

If the king keeps him for several years, his power at sea will become significant. "

But Charles XII was absolutely sure that he would calmly take away from Peter everything that he built. But Peter I thought differently, and therefore did not let him take away neither the fortress nor his beloved city, skillfully suppressing all attempts of enemy invasion.

But since the wooden-earthen fortress could not be a permanent and reliable defensive fortification, then in 1706. he ordered the architect D. Trezzini to begin the reconstruction of the Peter and Paul Fortress in stone. At the same time, the church of the holy apostles Peter and Paul was under construction. Later it was rebuilt into the stone Peter and Paul Cathedral.

Work will begin on May 30, on Peter's birthday, a medal was struck in memory of the solemn event, and in the journal of Peter the Great they wrote:

“They laid the bolvark of Prince A. Menshikov with a stone in Petersburg, and there was a banquet that day

in his houseMajesties ".

To carry out these works, they first destroyed a section of an earthen fortress, dug pits under the foundations with a depth of about 2m., Piles were driven into the bottom, and after that walls were laid from well-fired bricks, 10-12m high. and up to 20m wide.

The outer surface was plastered and painted in lingonberry light. Since 1728 work in the Peter and Paul Fortress will be carried out under the leadership of Kh. A. Minich, appointed Governor-General of St. Petersburg by decree of Peter II. Under him, the construction of stone ravelins began, covering the fortress gates and curtains from artillery fire. On the western side of the fortress - Alekseevsky, named after the father of Peter I, Alexei Mikhailovich, and on the east side - Ioanovsky, in honor of the elder brother of Peter I, Ivan V Alekseevich. Both ravelins were separated from the fortress itself by moats with water, through which drawbridges were thrown to the fortress gates.

Finally, the Peter and Paul Fortress will become stone only in 1740, but over time, the brick walls will begin to collapse from bad weather and take on a rather unsightly appearance.

Therefore, Elizaveta Petrovna will order the outer walls of the fortress to be revetted with limestone slabs, and in 1779, from the side of the Neva, by the order of Empress Catherine II, the dressing of the fortress with granite stone will be started.

In 1787. after N. Lvov completed the architectural design of the foot facade of the Nevsky Gate, the fortress will take on its final appearance. At the end of the XIX century. its defensive ditches will also be filled up.

In 1731, the cathedral will acquire the status of a cathedral church and become the burial vault of the Romanovs' house. Russian tsars, from Peter I to Nicholas II, are buried here.

Until the 20th century, the Peter and Paul Fortress served as a prison, where especially dangerous state criminals were placed without trial (only by the tsar's decision). One of the first prisoners was Tsarevich Alexei, the son of Peter I. Radishchev, the Decembrists, the Bestuzhev brothers, and Chernyshevsky visited here.

The main exhibition complex of the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg is located on the territory of the Peter and Paul Fortress. It includes the Peter and Paul Cathedral, the Grand Ducal Burial Vault, the Church House, the Botny House, the Commandant's House, the Engineering House, the buildings of the Trubetskoy Bastion Prison, bastions, curtains, ravelins and other buildings and structures.

The Peter and Paul Fortress is the first building in St. Petersburg. This is how the city was founded in 1703 by Peter I. Since the territory passed Russian Empire during the war with Sweden, the fortress was also built for protection from the Swedes. The fortress was founded on the Hare Island, so the cannons of the fortress were supposed to beat to defend the city from invasion along two large branches of the river. The sea borders of St. Petersburg were to be defended by the fortress of Kronstadt, founded in 1704.

Well, already in 1705, the first industrial building, the Admiralty Shipyard, was opened on the Admiralty Island, which in 1706 was a fortress to protect the territory within the framework of the Northern War with the Swedes. Now the Peter and Paul Fortress is an object cultural heritage St. Petersburg. And even though now it is a museum, do not forget that this is a real fort, which was ready to repel any attack.

How to get to the Peter and Paul Fortress

The Peter and Paul Fortress is located on Hare Island, which is open to the public every day from 6.00 to 21.00. The fortress itself is open to the public from 9.00 to 20.00. Two bridges lead to Zayachiy Island: Ioannovsky Bridge and Kronverksky Bridge.

You can enter the territory of the island, as well as the fortress itself, by any of the bridges. Not far from the Peter and Paul Fortress there is Gorkovskaya metro station, from it to the Peter and Paul Fortress no more than 5-10 minutes walk.

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You can also get here on foot: from the Admiralty Island through Troitsky bridge... Or by Palace Bridge first to the spit of Vasilyevsky Island, and from there across the Birzhevoy Bridge along Mytninskaya Embankment to the Kronverksky Bridge, but this route is the longest. Driving directions and opening hours of ticket offices and expositions can be viewed on the website of the Peter and Paul Fortress.

Ioannovsky bridge and Ioannovsky ravelin

We got to the Peter and Paul Fortress in the simplest way - by metro. The ground entrance hall of the Gorkovskaya station is located in Aleksandrovsky Park and when you go out into the street it is easy to lose your orientation and understand where to go. In this case, if your natural sense of direction is silent, then it is better to ask someone for directions or try to follow the main stream of people.

So in 5 minutes we find ourselves at the Ioannovsky Bridge, the road to the historical heart of St. Petersburg, the Peter and Paul Fortress. The bridge is the oldest bridge in St. Petersburg, although nothing is left of that very bridge. Ioannovsky Bridge, originally called Red, as the main and only bridge to the fortress had a lifting central section.

The Ioannovsky bridge ends with the Ioannovsky gate, which indicates the year 1740. This is the year of the end of construction work, during which the Peter and Paul Fortress became completely stone, before that it was wooden. The fortress is additionally fortified from the east and west by protective structures called ravelins. In the eastern ravelin or Ioannovsky, the very Ioannovsky gates are built in. Therefore, passing through them, thus bypassing the ravelin, we find ourselves in an open space directly in front of the main walls of the fortress.

Gate of the Peter and Paul Fortress

There are four gates leading to the Peter and Paul Fortress, according to the number of cardinal points and according to their location.

• Nevsky gates. This is the southern, river entrance to the fortress. The only way to get into the fortress through the Nevsky Gate was by mooring to the pier. Hence the name of the gate.
• Vasilievsky gates from the west, these gates serve as the entrance to the fortress through the Vasilievskaya curtain, which faces Vasilievsky island, hence the name.
• The Nikolsky Gate serves as the entrance to the Peter and Paul Fortress from the north. They were not in the original plan of 1703 and they appeared in the Nikolskaya curtain only during the rebuilding of the wooden fortress into a stone one a quarter of a century after its foundation.
• Peter's gate, the eastern entrance to the fortress, the most beautiful gate of the fortress

It is through the Petrovsky gates that we enter the fortress. The wooden gate was built in 1708 and rebuilt 10 years later in stone. The Petrovsky Gate is a monument to the Petrine Borocco, designed by the architect Domenico Trezzini. In niches on either side of the gate, there are statues representing "Prudence" and "Courage".

A lead double-headed eagle is installed above the arch. And above it is a wooden bas-relief "The overthrow of Simon the Magus by the Apostle Peter", in which Simon is identified with the Swedish king Charles XII, and the Apostle Peter with Peter I, respectively. Thus, the whole picture is a symbol of Russia's victory in the Northern War with Sweden.

Grand Ducal Tomb and Monument to Peter I

Behind the Petrovsky gates begins, paved with cobblestones, the central alley to the Cathedral Square of the fortress.

The central alley will lead us straight to Cathedral Square and its main cathedral, Peter and Paul. But first, a few attractions await us.

To the right of the alley, on the territory of its own garden, there is the Grand Duke's tomb. The role of the tomb in the Peter and Paul Fortress went to the Peter and Paul Cathedral; the tomb itself appeared here much later in 1908. The tomb was intended for the grand dukes and princesses, as well as for the princes of the imperial blood. Some of the burials in the tomb were transferred from the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

The entrance to the Grand Duke's Tomb is accessible from Cathedral Square.

Opposite the tomb, on the other side of the alley, the founder of the fortress Peter I sits on a forged throne, behind him is the building of the chief officer's guardhouse. Sculpture of Peter I, by Mikhail Mikhailovich Shemyakin, Russian and American artist. When creating the sculpture, the artist drew inspiration from the famous "Wax Person", the wax double of the emperor, exhibited in the State Hermitage.

The "wax person" was entirely the work of Carlo Rastrelli, who, during the lifetime of Peter I, took a wax cast from the emperor's face and made a bust and an exact copy of Peter with it. But the "Shemyakinsky Peter" owes only his face to the mask of Rastrelli, while the body devoid of proportions we will leave on the conscience of the artist.

Cathedral Square and Peter and Paul Cathedral

The alley takes us to Cathedral Square, which also served as a parade ground for the garrison of the fortress.

Several main buildings of the fortress are located on Cathedral Square. First of all, these are the Peter and Paul Cathedral, the Mint and the Botny House. The current Mint of the State Sign and the largest Mint in the World.

The Botanical House was built specifically to store the boat of Peter the Great, where it was kept until 1931; a copy is now on display here.

The construction of the Peter and Paul Fortress began from this cathedral. The building was founded in 1703 on the day of the holy apostles Peter and Paul. The height of the Peter and Paul Cathedral with a spire was 122.5 meters. Until 2013, it was the tallest structure in St. Petersburg. According to the plan of Peter I, the Peter and Paul Cathedral was to become the first building of new Russia, which is why it does not look like traditional Orthodox churches, but its height, the spire almost pierces the sky.

Prison of Trubetskoy Bastion

Although you can walk around the territory of the Peter and Paul Fortress absolutely free of charge, exhibitions and museums in the fortress still cost money. Therefore, you will have to pay for a visit to the next attraction, but it's worth it.

What is a fortress without a "dungeon"? No, she certainly did not exist in initial plans, guardhouses were usually used for punishment. The prison in the Trubetskoy bastion appeared in 1872; for its construction, the inner walls of the bastion were dismantled. So, on the site of the tower, a pentagonal two-story prison building with an inner courtyard appeared, in the center of which there were baths.

The prison was planned for 73 solitary confinement cells, where the main goal was to completely isolate the prisoner both from the outside world and from other prisoners. V different years here the revolutionaries-populists, including Lenin's elder brother Aleksandr Ilyich Ulyanov, the Social Revolutionaries, members of the deputation who opposed the executions of 1905, including Maxim Gorky, as well as members of the Petersburg Soviet of Workers' Deputies, including Leon Trotsky, were serving their imprisonment.

Later, the situation changed radically twice, first during the February Revolution, and later as a result. October revolution 1917 of the year. Thus, the contingent of the prison cells was replaced first by ministers and police leaders, and later by a provisional government, cadets and members of the Cadet party. The principal difference between the Bolshevik prison and the "tsarist" prison was the abolition of solitary confinement.

A particularly sad page in the history of the Trubetskoy Bastion prison was the years of the Red Terror, when prisoners were massacred on the territory of the fortress, including 4 Grand Dukes. In 2010, mass graves of victims of the Red Terror were discovered on the territory of the Fortress.

Naryshkin Bastion and Nevskaya Kurtina

A separate pleasure in exploring the Peter and Paul Fortress is the opportunity to look at the city from the walls of the fortress. There is such an opportunity, for this you just need to climb the Naryshkin Bastion, having previously bought a ticket at the box office located here. Since the fortress was built in the shape of a six-pointed star, there are exactly six bastions in the fortress. In one of them we just visited the prison, it was the Trubetskoy bastion, the rest are Menshikov, Golovkin and Zotov bastions. There are two more Naryshkin and Gosudarev, between which lies the camp called the Neva Curtain, and we will have to examine. From here, from the Naryshkin Bastion, a cannon fires its volley every day at noon, announcing the middle of the day.

From the Naryshkin Bastion, beautiful views open not only of the Neva, but of the fortress itself. The route from Naryshkin Bastion along the Nevskaya Curtain to the Gosudarev Bastion is called the Nevskaya Panorama, and this is how it is positioned at the box office and on advertising posters in the fortress.

Nevskaya kurtina is a rampart connecting Naryshkin and Tsar bastions. The shaft faces the Neva, hence its name. It is in the Nevsky curtain that the Nevsky Gates are installed, also called the Gate of Death.

Along the wooden flooring, accompanied by an audio guide broadcasting from the horns installed on the curtain, we move to the Tsar's bastion.

The sovereign's bastion was the first to be laid, now a monument is erected on the bastion in honor of the "300th anniversary of the founding of St. Petersburg."

And from the very bastion opens beautiful view on the Neva and on the Troitsky bridge. By the way, you can go into the bastion and walk along its porch, feeling like you are in a real dungeon.

Poterna of the Tsar's Bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress

Potterna is an underground corridor that communicates between the inner structures of the fort and its outer fortifications. Thus, through the porch of the Tsar's bastion, one could get into the inner courtyard of the fortress, bypassing the Petrovsky gate.

The entrance to the porch is carried out from the outside of the Sovereign Bastion, from the side of the Ioannovsky Ravelin. The entrance is paid, and the gallery itself is not very large, it ends with a small art exhibition.

This was the end of the sights we had seen. Of course, we have not examined all the objects of the fortress and visited not all exhibitions and museum expositions, but what we have covered is quite enough for a 4-5 hour acquaintance with the Peter and Paul Fortress. And you should definitely go here. After all, the Peter and Paul Fortress is the first building of the Northern capital, and even a military one. It turns out that the Peter and Paul Fortress has the charm of Kronstadt and the proximity of St. Petersburg attractions.