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Tourism in St. Petersburg | |
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The cornerstone of the fortress was laid on May 16 (27, New Style) 1703, the day St. Petersburg was founded. The first fortress was an earthwork structure. Its rebuilding in stone began in 1706.
The architectural ensemble of the fortress was formed during the eighteenth century. Its earliest and artistically most noteworthy structures, St Peter's Gate (1717—18) and the Cathedral of Sts Peter and Paul (1712—33), were designed by D. Trezzini.
The height of the bell-tower and spire is 1225 metres. Opposite the cathedral is a small pavilion, the so-called Boathouse, built in 1763 to the design of A. Wist to house the "grandfather of the Russian Navy"—the boat of Peter I (now in the Central Naval Museum).
At the end of the eighteenth century, the walls of the fortress overlooking the Neva were faced with granite. This work was completed in 1787 with the erection of the granite Neva Gate designed by N. Lvov.
The Peter and Paul Fortress, built in strict accordance with the rules of fortification, was not destined to play any military or defensive role. In 1718, the tsarist government converted it into a political prison. Among those incarcerated in its cells were A. Radishchev, the Decembrists, N. Chernyshevsky, members of the People's Will organization, and revolutionary Marxists. During the October Revolution of 1917 the garrison of the fortress went over to the side of the working people. At a signal received from one of its bastions, the cruiser Aurora fired its historic shot.
Besides the ancient fortifications, on the grounds of the fortress one can visit the Sts Peter and Paul Cathedral of the early XVIII century (architect D.Trezzini) with the burial vault of Peter the Great and other Russian tsars, the museum in Trubetskoy bastion prison, expositions: "The History of St.Petersburg", "The History of the Imperial Mint", "Pechatnya" (Printing Workshop), museum on cosmonautics and missilery; excursion route "Panorama of the Neva" - over the roofs of the fortress' bastions and curtains. By booking beforehand, the collection of open furniture storage is available.
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1. Golovkin bastion
2. Kronverksky curtain 3. Menshikov bastion 4. Petrovsky curtain 5. Petrovsky gates 6. Gosudarev bastion 7. Nevsky curtain 8. Nevsky gates 9. Narishkin bastion 10. Ekaterina's curtain 11. Trubetskoy bastion 12. Prison of Trubetskoy bastion 13. Vasilevsky curtain 14. Vasilevsky gates 15. Zotov bastion 16. Nikolsky curtain 17. Ioanovsky ravelin 18. Ioanovsky gates | 19. Alekseevsky ravelin
20. Secret house (not exist) 21. Petropavlovsky cathedral 22. Mint 23. Botny house 24. Guardhouse 35. Commandant house 26. Kronverk 27. Engineering house 28. Artseyhgause 29. Chief--officer house 30. Plas-major house 31. Spoil bank 32. The Treasury 33. Public prosecutor house 34. Cart-wright 35. Ditches (covered in XIX .) |
Open: 11.00 - 17.00, TUE till 16.00. Closed on WED and on the last TUE of every month.
3 Petropavlovskaya Krepost, tel. 238-4540. 
Gorkovskaya
