Review
Rating: *****/5
Tour: Peter and Paul Fortress. Part I
Type of transport: Walking tour
We believe the first thing to be seen in St. Pete is the Peter and Paul Fortress. Not only because it is the birthplace of our city but because here you can take a deep breath of history and only here you get a unique feeling of travelling through time.
Price from: 1000 roubles
DetailsThe lands by the Baltic Sea and the Neva River were part of the ancient Novgorodian Principality and were inhabited by Slavs. It was a part of the only trade way from North to South ("from Varangians to Greeks") and therefore many European powers wanted to take hold of these lands we are standing on. In 1617 these lands were captured by Sweden in the course of Livonian War and thus Russia was cut off from the Baltic Sea which impeded its cultural and economical development a great deal. Peter the Great waged a war against Sweden which lasted over 20 years (1700-21) and came down to history as the Northern War. In the course of this war the Neva lands were restored to Russia. He regarded it his historical mission but in fact he's famous for many bigger things than that.
To protect these land possessions from foreign invaders a fortress was founded on a small island called Hare's island or Enisaari. It's situated strategically where the Neva branches out into two arms so to make a good defence position. Nowadays it gives a wonderful view of the city centre. The fortress covers the whole of the island so that enemies could not land on it o siege the fortress. The day when Peter himself laid the foundation stone, May 27th, 1703, is celebrated as the day of the foundation of the city. It was named Saint Petersburg after apostle Peter, the patron saint of Peter the Great and our city later. The city laid around took the name St. Petersburg and the fortress was soon renamed into the Peter and Paul Fortress after the cathedral that was founded on June 29, 1703 on its grounds.
The fortress had to be built very fast because the war continued and this important strategic point could be lost at any moment. Some 20 000 people, mainly serfs, toiled from 4 am till late night every day. Peter has invited foreigners to carry out the construction. It took the French fortificator Vauban and his student Lamber four months to produce the hexagon as an earthwork with wooden walls. It took almost 35 years to line it all up in stone and granite (completed 1740). Thus the bastion building was introduced in Russia. All of the bastions were after the people who were in charge of the construction, Peter's close friends and associates - Menshikov, Golovkin, Zotov, Trubetskoy, Narizhkin and Tsar's. Both the bastions and walls were built of stone and brick 40 feet high and 66 feet wide.They consisted of two walls and the space between them was filled with earth and crushed stone. Inside where the walls were hollow casements, workshops, storage and prisons were built.
From the North the fortress was reinforced by the Crownwork (rampart) and in 1730's two ravelins were built to the East and West of the fortress to cover entrances to it. They were named after Peter's elder brother John and father Alexis - the father and grandfather of Ann I who reigned the country at that time. The ravelins were separated from the walls by moats that were filled in later on. As you can see the Peter and Paul Fortress is a unique sample of 18th century bastion building, very well fortified, but its guns were put to use only centuries later in the course on the Great October Socialist Revolution. A canon shot from Narizhkin bastion at the royal residence in the Winter Palace.
Since Peter's times the fortress was also used as a political prison. The first prisoners were that of the Northern War. Prince Alexis, Peter's elder son was kept in the Trubetskoy bastion in 1718 for opposing progressive reforms of his father. He was secretly executed there and buried somewhere on the grounds of the fortress. Later representatives of the three generations of Russian revolutionaries were incarcerated in its cells.
The Peter and Paul Fortress has become a museum in 1924, visited by more that 2 million people annually. Peter's Gate is the gala entrance to it. It was built in 1707-08 to the design of Domenico Trezzini - the first architect of St. Petersburg who was invited here by Peter the Great in 1703. The arch was first made of wood and in ten years rebuilt in stone. It was redecorated by authentic wooden bas-reliefs depicting the defeat of Simon, the fortune-teller. The Byblical myth tells how Simon went up to Heaven by magic and was downcast by apostle Peter's prayers. As you already guessed it is an allegorical representation of Russia's victory over Sweden. On both sides of the gate there are two allegorical sculptures representing wisdom and strategic talent of Peter I. The double-headed eagle above was the state emblem of the newly appeared Russian Empire. Peter was granted the title of an emperor for his victory in Northern War and Russia became an empire. The eagle weighs over a tonne. This is the only 18th century triumphal arch left in the city. Right opposite it on the spot of St. Trinity Square the city was beginning to be built under the protection of the fortress.
As you pass inside to the right of the central alley is the Artillery workshop and storage built in 1802, to the left is the Engineering House built 1749. It was wooden first and then the present building was constructed. It is a fine sample of engineer building that is authentic to the 18th century.
To the left opposite the cathedral is the Guards House and the Dancing field. Like everything in the fortress it was built in wood in 1743 and reproduced in stone to its modern look. Here officers of the garrison served penalties for breach of regulations of the fortress. Today it's being used by the administration. The Dancing field was a square for public punishing. They would attach a soldier to a pillar and make him stand on a nail-board so that he would step from one foot to another all the time as if dancing. In front of it stand the monument of Peter the Great seated by a modern sculptor Mikhail Schemiakin. It used to be in the US and installed here only in 1991.
Behind it is the so called Neva Gate - the only gate in the fortress overlooking the Neva and the most beautiful part of the city centre, the Winter Palace and the Marble Palace. This is why the gate is fully decorated from the outside. It was built in 1731 and in 1787 its outer side was reconstructed to to the modern look by the architect Lvov. It was known as the gate of death because prisoners sentenced to death were led through it to a granite peer from where they were taken to tha place of execution. Also there by the gate you can find marks of the water level during the floods that happened before.
The next to the left is the Commandants' House. The commandants of the fortress were appointed by the Tsar personally from top-ranking officers mainly generals after retirement. It was regarded as a high honour and 16 of them are buried on a special cemetery to the East from the cathedral. The Commandants' House was built in 1748 and rebuilt several times. It took today's shape in 1890's. Here lived the commandants and trials on Decembrists and other revolutionaries were held. Now it accommodates and exhibition on the history of St. Petersburg 1703-1917.
Opposite there's the Grand Ducal Vault. It is an extension to the cathedral built 1896 - 1906 to the design of David Grimm featuring architects Leontiy Benua and Antn Tomishko in eclectic style. It has Classical and Baroque features and onion shaped cupola like 16th century Russian churches.
At the end of the central alley you can see the building of the Mint. In 1727 the royal mint was transferred from Moscow after St. Petersburg has become the capital of Russia. This building was erected in 1800-02 to the design of Antonio Porto. In the tympanum of the building there's an Imperial emblem. From Peter's times till now all the coins and medals have been and still are minted here.
To the right from the Mint there is a small elegant pavilion with a statue on rooftop - the Boat House. It was built in 1765 to the design of architect Vuest who was a pupil of Rastrelli. The statue is an allegorical representation of Navigation is a work of David Jansen dating 1891. The boat house was specially built to accommodate the skiff of Peter I on board of which he learnt to sail when he was a young man. It was Peter I who built the Russian fleet and his boat is often called the forefather of the Russian Navy. Nowadays the Boat House contains a copy of it and the skiff itself is being kept at Kolomenskoe estate near Moscow where Peter has spent his childhood.
And finally have a look up at the central bastion called Naryzhkin. A stone flagstaff tower was built on its wall in late 18th century. To the right from there is a canon that fires a blank shot everyday at noon. This is another tradition started in the times of Peter the great.
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Info
Address: Peter & Paul Fortress, Russia, Saint Petersburg
«Peter and Paul Fortress. Part I » is close to Gor'kovskaya station
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Around
Some bed&breakfasts, cafes and sights we found close to Peter and Paul Fortress. Part I:
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