Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg: photo, museum, how to get there

Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg with the golden spire of its Peter and Paul Cathedral, with its mighty bastions, ravelins and a cannon that every day announces the approach of noon, is habitually perceived by us as a symbol of this amazing city. It was with its construction began a few centuries ago the history of North Palmira.

How was the place found for the construction of the fortress and the city

The beginning of the XVIII century. The North War has just ended, lasting for 20 years. And although the Swedes were defeated, the Russian Empire needed to strengthen its positions in the broad expanses of the Neva. Emperor Peter I planned to build in these places a mighty fortress that could block the Swedes from reaching the Gulf of Finland. Today it is difficult to imagine that in the territory where St. Petersburg now flaunts, there were once solid swamps and impassable quagmire.

But at the very beginning of the 18th century. Things were exactly like this. Peter the First went down the river in search of a place that would be ideal for building a military outpost. His choice he stopped on a tiny island, located in the deepest and widest part of the mouth of the Neva. It was there that the Peter and Paul Fortress was to grow, the photo of which now is printed in all the tourist brochures telling about St. Petersburg. And then the legend tells this: Peter I with a determined gesture took a bayonet from a standing soldier, cut out a square in a brown peat, and then firmly said that the city would be built here. Then the emperor demanded to give him a simple shovel and began digging a moat. This was the beginning of the construction of the fortress, around which subsequently grew one of the most beautiful cities, not only in Europe, but in the whole world. By the way, the island was nicknamed the Hare, and why he was given such a name, we will tell in the next chapter of our narrative.

Origin of the name of the island, which stands Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg

So, we promised to tell you why the Hare Island is called that way. On this score, there are several opinions. People are popular with the story that when Tsar Peter stepped on this island, he was unexpectedly jumped on the boots by a little rabbit, fleeing from the flood. The Emperor saved a trusting beast, and then in honor of this event he named the island Zayachy.

Someone tells this story a little differently: they say, Peter I was angry at the slowness of the workers engaged in construction, and wanted to punish them. Then the hare from somewhere jumped to his hands. The tsar laughed and his anger passed, and the event in the title was immortalized. We can say that this is one of the first legends that the Peter and Paul Fortress gave to the city. The museum, currently located in it, keeps such traditions a lot, and the guides are very fond of spoiling them with tourist tourists.

Another version is less romantic, but it looks more plausible: the eared animals at that time on the island in the middle of the Neva lived apparently invisibly, therefore the Finns from ancient times called this place "Jänissaari", which translates into Russian as "Hare Island".

The plan of construction and construction on its territory

Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg was laid in 1703, in May. Her plan was drafted by the Emperor Peter the Great himself, who, as we know, had wide knowledge in various fields of science and engineering. According to the plan, the fortress is an irregular hexagon, the corners of which reliably protect 6 powerful bastions. Five of them are named after the closest associates of the Russian Tsar: Naryshkin Bastion, Menshikov, Golovkin, Trubetskoi, Zotov, and the sixth one is called Gosudarev. The bastions of the Peter and Paul Fortress have a pentagonal form. Pushed forward, they were the first to take on the enemy's attack in the event of an attack. From the west and east, the gates of the fortress are covered with fortifications - ravelins.

Beyond the walls of the northern citadel are many buildings built in different years. In the center is the famous Peter and Paul Cathedral. In front of him is the Commandant's house, in which the commandant of the fortress lived. Along the sides of the main avenue are the Engineering Business House (1749) and the Artillery Workshop (1801). In the very depths of the square stands a two-story building, decorated with white columns. This is the guardhouse of the guardhouse.

At the end of the alley visitors can see a monumental building - the Mint (1800s). Here coins, awards and medals were minted. And the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg is the guardian of the copy of Peter the Great's boat, on which the emperor sailed as a child. For him was built a special building - the Bottle House. Originally in the Peter and Paul Fortress the original of the royal sea vessel was kept, but in 1940 it was transported to the Central Naval Museum of the Northern capital, where it is still.

St. Peter and Paul Cathedral

Every tourist who finds himself on the territory of the fortress, always strives to enter the cathedral, standing in the center of the fortress. Of course, there is something to see! The foundation of the church was laid in 1712 under the guidance of D. Trezzini. The full term of construction was almost 20 years. The main interior decoration of the cathedral is a magnificent gilded carved iconostasis. The decoration of the church is rich, there is also a "royal place" - this is a special platform, where the sovereign stood during the church service.

Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg and its cathedral are the burial place of the king's blood. The gallery is connected by the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul with the Grand-Ducal tomb. Here, many of the Grand Dukes of the Romanovs' home have found the last shelter. And Peter I himself is buried here. Once the tomb was also adorned with a beautiful iconostasis, but, unfortunately, both he and many other rich elements of interior decoration were lost or destroyed during the siege of Leningrad.

Belfry of the Cathedral

For three centuries the bell tower of the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul is standing proudly above the city. This is what the Peter and Paul Fortress stands out for. How to get to Hare Island? Tourists have never had any special problems with this. And do you know why? Yes, because if a person is in the center of the city, then from everywhere he can see the golden spire of the bell tower of the Cathedral with the guardian angel at the very top. The height of the bell tower is 122.5 m, and the spire itself is 40 m. The wingspan of the angel's figure is 3.8 m. It took almost 8 kg of red gold to gild the spire of the Peter and Paul Fortress.

By the way, the construction of the citadel began with the erection of this very bell tower. Peter I attached special importance to it. Until recently, it was the tallest building in St. Petersburg.

Fortress part

The fate of this fortification is unusual. Constructed in order to be able to defend itself from the attacks of enemies, this citadel was never used in combat operations. The only shots that were ever fired from its territory are the volleys of a cannon mounted near the Naryshkin bastion, every day thus proclaiming the approach of noon to St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg). The Peter and Paul Fortress and the sights on its territory are the cultural and historical heritage of the whole of Russia.

Casemates of the Peter and Paul Fortress

It so happened that behind the Peter and Paul Fortress the name of the Russian Bastille was fixed. For many years, particularly important state criminals were detained there. One of the first who was imprisoned in the gloomy prison of the Trubetskoi bastion was Tsarevich Alexei, the son of Emperor Peter I. In different years in prison in Petropavlovsky prisons such famous people as the writer A.N. Radishchev, I.N. Nikitin, the architect P.M. Eropkin, the historian V.N. Tatishchev. The terrible reality is that the death penalty was also carried out on the territory of the fortress.

In 1826 five Decembrists were executed in the Peter and Paul Fortress: Pestel, Rileyev, Muravyov-Apostol, Bestuzhev-Ryumin and Kakhovsky. After the October Revolution in Russia, the epicenter of which was Petersburg, the Peter and Paul Fortress could repeat the sad fate of the Bastille - it was wanted to destroy it to the ground. But, fortunately, the Bolsheviks changed their minds in time, and the main attraction of the Northern capital remained to be in its place. Now, on the gloomy casemates of the fortress, tourists slowly walk around, listening to the stories of guides about the bloody past that the walls of the former dungeon remember.

Museum expositions

The Peter and Paul Fortress Museum offers its guests many interesting excursions, among which are the following:

- Review.

- Excursion on the exposition of the Commandant's House.

- "Petersburg-Petrograd 1703-1918 years."

- "Three centuries above the city" (tour of the bell tower of the Peter and Paul Cathedral).

- "The street of time" (Engineering house).

- Exhibition "Nevskaya Curtain" (about the history of the fortress and the cathedral).

- "Panopticon" (exhibits from the Kunstkamera are presented).

Guests will also be interested to walk along the territory of the fortress independently, to be photographed next to the famous sculpture of Peter I by Mikhail Shemyakin, to whom the Peter and Paul Fortress is famous. You can see a photo of this bronze monument below.

Each tourist should look at the very hare, which owes its name to the Hare Island. The sculpture of the animal is located near the Ioannovsky Bridge.

How to get to the Peter and Paul Fortress

Among the tourists are very popular routes, which include a visit to an object such as the Peter and Paul Fortress. How to get there, we will now explain. The easiest way to get there by metro is to the station "Gorkovskaya", and after that go through the park to the museum complex. Gates are open for tourists every day from 8.30 to 21.00, and in order to enter there, no fee is required. But already for visiting museum expositions, working inside the fortress, you will have to pay. The prices for tickets are quite moderate, for pensioners and students there are discounts. The site of the Peter and Paul Fortress is under construction, so if you want to know more about this interesting site, then you can go to any resource telling about the sights of St. Petersburg, and search for information there.