Sightseeing

PETER-AND-PAUL CATHEDRAL The most notable building and the most valuable architectural monument on the grounds of the Peter-and-Paul Fortress, founded by Peter the Great on Hare's Island on May 27, 1703, is the stunning Peter-and-Paul Cathedral built in the Early Baroque style to the design of Domenico Tresini, a Swiss who came to Russia on the invitation of Peter the Great and created several outstanding buildings in St.Petersburg, including the Peter-and-Paul Cathedral which is considered to be Tresini’s unexcelled masterpiece. St. Petersburg's first church was founded on June 23 1712 and the official ceremony was marked by three shots of the guns of the Baltic Fleet ships. Completed in 1931, the Peter-and-Paul Cathedral was named the Cathedral of Saint Apostles Peter and Paul after the Patron Saints of Peter the Great and was consecrated on June 29, 1733. The rectangular building of the church is dominated by a tall graceful bell tower, which was designed in unnoticeable from afar tiers and adorned with a Holland clock with 35 bells. After its construction in 1720, and Peter the Great climbed to the top to listen to the chimes and cast a proud look down at his new capital; from that day on, a walk up to the belltower to see the city panorama was compulsory for all foreign visitors. The bell tower features a haughty pointed golden spire – the symbol of Russia’s security on the Neva banks and at the same time the symbol of the modern city – which originally (as well as the church itself) was made of wood and had no lightning deflectors: being badly damaged by fire it caught in stormy weather on several occasions, the wooden framework was replaced with a metal one in 1858. Crowning the spire at the height of 122,5 meters is a weather-vane representing a flying angel with a cross in his hands. Looking tiny from below, the angel in fact is 3,2 meters high with a wing span of 3,8 meters. During WWII, when Leningrad was besieged by enemy troops for 900 days, the spire of the highest architectural structure of the city, was painted grey not to be considered a landmark by Nazi and was camouflaged as well as other spires and domes of the city. One of the oldest and the most cherished city cathedrals, was completely restored in 1957 and nowadays visitors of St.Petersburg and its citizens can do justice to its marvelous interior design, bearing a strong resemblance to the interiors of a gala room of the 18th century: marble imitation of walls and pillars upholding the vaults, big windows and festive chandeliers, beautiful mouldings, gilt and ornamented painting of the vaults performed by talented masters such as Negrubov and Vorobyov, and a magnificent iconostasis made of gilded carved wood and shaped like a triumphal gate. But the cathedral become known not only due to its stunning décor, but also as a burial place of Russian Emperors, beginning from Natalia, Peter’s daughter by Catherine, who died at the age of two was buried there in 1715; the royal sepulcher features tombs of all Russian tsars except for Peter II and Ivan Antonovich.

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