The Peter-and-Paul Fortress

The Peter-and-Paul Fortress stands on the small Hare's Island in the widest part of the Neva delta. The citadel was to protect the lands on the Neva River in the course of the great Northern War (1700-1721). It was built rapidly as there was a threat of invasion by Swedish ships from the Gulf of Finland.

On May 16 (May 27, New Style), 1703, the foundation of the fortress was laid. This day is considered to be the day when the city got its start. The fortress was to be named Saint Petersburg but soon this name was transferred to the whole city, while the fortress acquired the name of Peter and Paul after the name of the cathedral built there.

Peter I himself took an active part in developing the fortress design. The outlines of the fortress depended on the shape of the island proper, so the fortress was designed in the shape of an elongated hexagon with 6 bastions. Construction works were supervised by Peter's associates, including Alexander Menshikov, Gregory Golovkin, Nikolay Zotov, Yury Trubetskoy, Konstantin Naryshkin. 5 bastions bear their surnames while the 6th one got the name the Tsar's bastion in honour of Peter I. The bastions are connected with curtains that are also 6 in number.

During 1706-1740 the wooden fortress were rebuilt in stone. This work was entrusted to Domenico Trezzini, the architect of the new capital. In the north the fortress was also protected by the additional installations that were crown-shaped in plan, hence the name of Kronwerk. During 1731-1733 construction of stone ravelins was started. On the eastern side the Ioanovsky (St. John's) Ravelin was put up and on the western side - Alekseyevsky Ravelin.

Though the Peter and Paul fortress was put up for fortification purposes, it had never been used as such. Since 1718 it was turned into a prison for political convicts. One of the first became Tsarevitch Alexey, the son of Peter I, who was against the politics of his father. In the bastions of the Peter and Paul Fortress many revolutionists and free-thinkers, who criticized the absolute monarchy of Russian Empire, spent months and years in terrible conditions. Among them there were participants of the Decembrists' uprising of 1825, organizers of the failed attempt at the life of Alexander II, Lenin's older brother, writers Alexander Radishchev, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Nikolay Chernyshevsky and Maxim Gorky and many others.

During the 18th - 19th centuries several buildings were put up inside the fortress, among them the Peter and Paul Cathedral, the Commandant's House, the Engineering House, the Boathouse and the Mint.

The Peter and Paul Cathedral marked a new stage in Russian architecture. The building is not of a traditional Russian design. It is built in the new, early Baroque style. For almost 2 centuries the Cathedral served as a burial-place for Russian emperors. This was done at the order of Peter I who is also buried at the southern wall of the cathedral. Nearly all of Peter's successors (excluding Peter II and Ivan VI) and many Grand Dukes of the Romanov family were buried here. The last burial took place in July, 1998. The remains of the last Russian Emperor, his wife, their children (excluding the remains of Alexey and Maria) and their servants are buried in the Catherine chapel of the cathedral.

There is a canon in the Naryshkin bastion. Its short has been marking the noon since Peter I's time. During the Soviet times the tradition was broken but in 1957 it was resumed.

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