Review
Rating: *****/5
Tour: Peter and Paul Cathedral
How to get there: by Walking tour
Route: from Gorkovskaya Subway Station
The most noteworthy building inside the fortress is the Peter and Paul Cathedral. Its golden spire has become one of the symbols of our city.
DetailsIt is also a unique monument of Russian architecture of early 18th century - the Early or Peter's Baroque style. The cathedral has retained its original look with almost no alterations. It is simple, Dutch-looking with clear surfaces outside and very elaborate design inside. On this spot there was a wooden church consecrated after Apostles Peter and Paul that gave the name to the fortress.
In 1712 Petersburg became the capital and the main cathedral was to be built. The construction works lasted till 1733 headed by Domenico Tresini, a Swiss architect who has designed a number of outstanding buildings in Early Baroque style. But this is truly his masterpiece. The rectangular shape is unusual for an Orthodox church. The building is dominated by a tall belfry which is designed in tiers but appears as a single whole. This belfry is over 408 feet tall and still remains the highest architectural structure in Petersburg. The spire was erected in 1724. The Angel on top of it is a weather-vane. It is 10 feet high and its wing-span is 12. There is a legend that in 1830 when it was damaged during a storm a courageous roofer Piotr Telushkin climbed the top of the spire using just a rope and fixed it in 6 weeks.
The 2 upper floors are taken by the chiming-clock after a European tradition. It was purchased in Amsterdam in 1715 by Peter himself at a very high price and installed in 1720. It was a corillion that would announce whatever good or bad happened in the city. This clock and the whole belfry were destroyed in the fire of 1756. The clock you can see now dates back to 1776. It was commissioned by Elizabeth I, Peter's daughter and made by Oort Kraas. It used to play "God save the tsar" 4 times a day. Its mechanism was stopped in 1917. In 2002 the tradition of chiming-clock was restored.
The spire of the cathedral was guilded in 1858. During the World War II it had to be camouflaged as well as the other spires and cupolas for Leningrad was besieged. The Nazi troops stood very close to the border of the city to the South. Due to that the cathedral wasn't hit directly but it suffered a great deal during the air rades as well as the other buildings in the fortress. In 1956-59 the interior was restored and the spire was guilded anew.
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«Peter and Paul Cathedral » is close to Gor'kovskaya station
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Some bed&breakfasts, cafes and sights we found close to Gorkovskaya Subway Station:
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