The Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg with the golden high spire of its Peter and Paul Cathedral, with powerful bastions, ravelins and a cannon, which every day announces the onset of noon, is customarily perceived by us as a symbol of this amazing city. It was with its construction that the history of North Palmyra began several centuries ago.
As a place was found for the construction of a fortress and a city
The beginning of the XVIII century. The Northern War has just ended, lasting endless 20 years. And although the Swedes were defeated, the Russian Empire needed to strengthen its position in the vast expanses of the Neva. Emperor Peter I planned to build a mighty fortress in these places, which could block the Swedes from reaching the Gulf of Finland. Today it is difficult to imagine that in the territory where St. Petersburg today stands out, there were once continuous swamps and an impassable quagmire.
But at the very beginning of the 18th century. this was the case. Peter the Great went down the river in search of a place that would be ideally suited for the construction of a military outpost. He stopped his choice 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, a photo of which is now printed in all tourist brochures that tell about St. Petersburg. And then the legend tells this: Peter I with a decisive gesture grabbed the bayonet from a soldier standing nearby, cut a square in 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 to dig a moat with it. 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 throughout the world. By the way, that island was nicknamed the Hare, and why he was given such a name, we will tell in the next chapter of our story.
The origin of the name of the island on which the Peter and Paul Fortress stands in St. Petersburg
So, we promised to talk about why the Hare Island is called that way. There are several opinions on this score. The story is popular among the people that when Tsar Peter stepped on this island, a small bunny unexpectedly jumped on his boots, fleeing the flood. The sovereign saved the gullible beast, and then, in honor of this event, called the island of Hare.
Someone tells this tale in a slightly different way: they say Peter I was angry at the sluggishness of the construction workers and wanted to punish them. Then a hare came up from somewhere in his arms. The sovereign 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 presented to the city. The museum, currently located in it, stores a lot of such legends, and the guides are very fond of pampering their guests-tourists.
Another version is less romantic, but it looks more believable: at that time, eared animals on this 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".
Plan of construction and construction on its territory
The Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg was laid in 1703, in the month of May. Her plan was drawn up by Emperor Peter the Great himself, who, as you know, had wide knowledge in various fields of science and engineering. According to the plan, the fortress is an irregular hexagon, whose corners reliably protect 6 powerful bastions. Five of them are named after the closest associates of the Russian tsar: Naryshkin Bastion, Menshikov, Golovkin, Trubetskoy, Zotov, and the sixth is called Gosudarev. The bastions of the Peter and Paul Fortress have a pentagonal shape. Pushed forward, they were the first to take the blow of the enemy in the event of an attack. From west and east, the gates of the fortress are covered by fortifications - ravelins.
Behind the walls of the northern citadel are hidden 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. On the sides of the main alley are the Engineering Business House (1749) and the Artillery Zeikhauz (1801). At the very bottom of the square is a two-story building, decorated with white columns. This is a guardhouse.
At the end of the alley, visitors can see the monumental structure - the Mint (1800s). Coins, award badges and medals were minted here. And the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg is the keeper of a copy of the boat of Peter I, on which the emperor sailed in childhood. A special building was built for him - the Botanical House. Initially, the original royal ship was kept in the Peter and Paul Fortress, but in 1940 it was transported to the Central Naval Museum of the Northern Capital, where it is located to this day.
Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul
Every tourist who finds himself in the territory of the fortress, necessarily strives to go to the cathedral, standing in the center of the fortress square. Indeed, there is something to see there! The foundation of the church was laid in 1712 under the leadership of D. Trezzini. The full construction period 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.
The Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg and its cathedral are the burial place of persons of royal blood. The gallery connects the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul with the Grand Duke's tomb. Here, the last refuge was found by many of the great princes of the Romanov dynasty. And Peter I himself is buried here. Once the tomb was also decorated with a beautiful iconostasis, but, unfortunately, he and many other rich elements of the interior were lost or destroyed during the siege of Leningrad.
Bell tower of the cathedral
For three centuries, the bell tower of the Cathedral of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Peter and Paul has been proudly rising above the city. This is what the Peter and Paul Fortress stands out like that. How to get to Hare Island? Tourists have never had any special problems with this. And you know why? Yes, because if a person is in the center of the city, then he can see from everywhere the golden spire of the bell tower of the Cathedral with a 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 figure of an angel is 3.8 m. It took almost 8 kg of pure gold to gilt the spire of the Peter and Paul Fortress.
By the way, the construction of the citadel began precisely with the construction of this very bell tower. Peter I attached special importance to her. Until recently, it was the tallest building in St. Petersburg.
The fate of the fortress
The fate of this fortification is unusual. Built to defend itself against enemy attacks, this stronghold has never been involved in hostilities. The only shots that have ever been fired from its territory are volleys of a gun mounted near the Naryshkin bastion, every day thus announcing the arrival of noon in St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg). The Peter and Paul Fortress and the sights on its territory are the cultural and historical heritage of all of Russia.
Casemates of Petropavlovka
It just so happened that the name of the Russian Bastille was assigned to the Peter and Paul Fortress. For many years, especially important state criminals were detained here. One of the first who was imprisoned in the gloomy prison of the Trubetskoy Bastion was Tsarevich Aleksey, son of Emperor Peter I. At different times, such famous people as the writer A.N. served prison sentences in the Peter and Paul’s casemates. Radishchev, I.N. Nikitin, architect P.M. Eropkin, 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, Ryleyev, Muravyov-Apostol, Bestuzhev-Ryumin and Kakhovsky. After the October Revolution took place in Russia, the epicenter of which was St. Petersburg, the Peter and Paul Fortress could repeat the sad fate of the Bastille - they wanted to destroy it to the ground. But, to our happiness, the Bolsheviks changed their minds in time, and the main attraction of the Northern capital remained in its place. Now tourists are slowly walking along the gloomy casemates of the fortress, listening to the guides' stories about the bloody past that the walls of the former dungeon remember.
Museum expositions
Peter and Paul Fortress Museum offers its guests many interesting excursions, among which are the following:
- Sightseeing.
- A tour of the exposition of the Commandant’s House.
- "Petersburg-Petrograd 1703-1918.".
- "Three centuries over the city" (tour of the bell tower of the Peter and Paul Cathedral).
- "Street of Time" (Engineering House).
- Exhibition "Nevskaya Kurtina" (on the history of the fortress and the cathedral).
- "Panopticon" (exhibits from the Kunstkamera are presented).
Guests will also find it interesting to stroll around the fortress on their own, take a picture next to the famous sculpture of Peter I by Mikhail Shemyakin, which the Peter and Paul Fortress is famous for. You can see the photo of this bronze monument below.
Every tourist should look at that very hare, which owes its name to Hare Island. The animal sculpture is located near the Ioannovsky bridge.
How to get to the Peter and Paul Fortress
Among tourists, routes are very popular, which include a visit to such an object as the Peter and Paul Fortress. How to get there, we will now explain. The easiest way is to take the metro to the Gorkovskaya station, and then go through the park to the museum complex itself. The gates are open for tourists daily 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. Ticket prices are quite moderate, discounts are provided for senior citizens and students. The site of the Peter and Paul Fortress is under construction, so if you want to find out details about this interesting object, you can go to any resource that tells about the sights of St. Petersburg and look for information there.