Sightseeing

THE PETER-AND-PAUL FORTRESS The history of foundation of Peter-and-Paul fortress dates to the struggle of Russia for restoring ancient Russian lands which had belonged to the Novgorodian Principality and were seized by Sweden at the beginning of the 17th century. In 1702-1703 the scene of the battle shifted to the banks of the Neva and at that very moment Peter the Great’s eye was caught by a small island called Zayachy (Hare’s) Island. Being situated at the spot where the river branches out into 2 arms, the island made a good defense position and it was decided to build a new fortress there since the artillery fire of the island could bar the way to enemy ships on both the Big and Small Neva. The foundation stone was paid by peter I himself on May 16, 1703 (May 27 according to the new calendar) and since that time this day is considered to be and celebrated annually as the birthday of Petersburg. Initially, the fortress was called St.Petersburg, but later it was renamed into the Peter-and-Paul Fortress after the cathedral built on its territory. The fortress was built very quickly because there was a possibility of the enemy’s invasion and this important strategic point could be lost at any time. By the autumn of 1703 earthen emplacements had already been built, and about 2 years later, when the situation permitted, they started replacing wooden walls with stone ones. The fortress is shaped as an elongated hexagon, repeating the outlines of the island, with 6 bastions connected by straight walls, built of stone and brick. Nine to twelve meters high and 16 to 20 meters wide, they consist of 2 parallel walls – the outer one is about six meters and the inner one is about two meters thick. The space between them is filled in with earth and crushed stone. Five of the bastions are named after Peter the Great’s closest associates – Golovkin, Menshikov, Naryshkin, Trubetskoy and Zotov, who supervised the construction o these bastions and one – after the tsar himself. From the north the fortress was protected by the Crownwork and in 1730-1740 two ravelins, named after St.John and St.Alexis, who were the patron saints of the father and grandfather of Ann I reigning at that time, were added to the east and West of fortress to cover the entrances to it. Originally the ravelins were separated from the walls of the fortress by moats which were filled in later on. So the thorough work lasted until 1740 and by that time the fortress, which was one of the strongest in Europe, was converted into a political prison – the most dismal jail that tsarist Russian ever had – and although it could repel practically any attack, it was never used for any military purposes except for the October revolution of 1917, when the Fortress put its gun to use. The garrison sided with the revolutionaries and participated in the storm of the Winter Palace and after the victory the fortress was turned into a museum. Open daily Metro: Gorkovskaya

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