With my second post on Ecency, I decided to continue the story about the city in which I live. But first of all I want to say that I'm new here, and my resources are running out very quickly. So I hope that you will forgive me if I suddenly didn't answer someone or someting like this, I just can't always do it by now...
So, St. Petersburg is quite a young city: it was founded on May 27, 1703: it was on this day that the Peter and Paul Fortress was laid, and that's what I want to show today. In the first picture you can see the fortress from the Hermitage side. All the other photos were taken on another hot day in the summer of 2021, and already next to the fortress and directly in it.
The fortress is located on an island in the center of the city, it is connected to the shore by two bridges. Most often tourists (and Petersburgers, probably, too) use the bridge located next to the Gorkovskaya metro station: from there the way is closer, and the station building itself is worth a look)) But I prefer to approach the fortress from the Sportivnaya metro station: on the way you can see a lot of interesting things, and soon there should be a park near the embankment... However, I got a little distracted, and don“t want my post to become very large, so i better continue)).
Part of the road runs along the embankment, so you can admire the views of the water and of the city.
And here is the second bridge leading to the fortress. To the right of it is a small park and an embankment. Here you can sit on benches and admire the center of St. Petersburg.
View of the fortress from the bridge.
The bridge is thrown across the Kronverk Strait, which separates the fortress and the city. The big red building that you see is an Artillery Museum.
A small park on an island under the walls of the fortress.
And views of St. Petersburg from the embankment of the island.
Now let 's enter the fortress and first take a walk along its walls.
As you can see, the walls are quite low. In 1703, the fortress began to be built of wood, but the wooden walls, of course, were temporary, and after a few years the fortress was rebuilt from red brick. Subsequently, the brick walls were reinforced with granite from the side of the Neva River, and from the side of the Kronverk Strait, brick walls can still be seen.
Various museum expositions (you have to pay for admission to each of the museums, but entrance to the fortress territory is free), souvenir shops, cafes are located in the fortress walls.
And now let's head to the main square of the Peter and Paul Fortress, the dominant of which is the Peter and Paul Cathedral.
The author of the cathedral project was the famous Italian architect Domenico Trezzini. Construction began in 1712 and lasted 21 years.
Even before the construction was completed, members of the royal family began to be buried in the cathedral. So, in 1715, the daughter of Peter the Great was buried here, and later the founder of St. Petersburg himself found his last shelter here. As you know, since 1917 there have been no more tsars in Russia, and in 1918, the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II and members of his family were shot near Yekaterinburg (a city in the Urals). However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, there have already been several reburials of the royal remains…
So, on July 17, 1998, exactly 80 years after the murder of Nicholas II, the remains of the emperor himself, his wife and daughters Olga, Anastasia and Tatiana were reburied in the cathedral. Their servants were buried with them: a medic, a cook, a footman and a maid, who were shot along with them. Their remains were found near Yekaterinburg seven years earlier, and after several examinations were recognized as authentic. However, the Russian Orthodox Church doubts this.
In 2007, the remains of Tsarevna Maria and Tsarevich Alexey were also found. And again, after several examinations, the remains were recognized as authentic. But the Orthodox Church still has doubts. Finally, just yesterday I read in the news that another examination has just taken place, and the result is the same: these are indeed the remains of the royal family. Let's wait to see what the Church says... Maybe soon Maria and Alexey will join their relatives in the tomb of the Peter and Paul Cathedral (now all that remains of them is in Moscow).
The entrance to the cathedral and the square in front of it.
This small building with a statue on the roof is a shelter for a boat, from which, according to Peter the Great himself, shipbuilding in Russia began. This English boat was purchased for pleasure trips by a cousin of Peter's grandfather. When, at the age of 16, the future tsar first saw this small ship, he was very interested in how it was arranged, he wanted to learn how to sail, and so on. And he also decided that Russia needed to build its own fleet.
Peter ordered to save this boat for history, and so it was done. This building was specially built for the boat, however, the architect made a mistake with the calculations and the boat, despite its modest size, did not pass through the doorway)) Now the boat "Saint Nicholas", which is commonly called the "grandfather of the Russian fleet", is located in the Naval Museum of St. Petersburg, and a copy of it is installed in this house in the Peter and Paul Fortress.
And this building is the St. Petersburg Mint, founded by Peter I. Commemorative coins made of precious metals are still minted here, as well as medals, commemorative badges and similar things.
And in these photos you can see people walking on the walls of the fortress.
And this orange building with columns in the photo above on the right and in the photo below is a former guardhouse for officers who served in the fortress.
And at the end, a couple more pictures of the bell tower of the Peter and Paul Cathedral. Its height together with the spire is 122.5 meters, and, of course, this is not a world record among bell towers. However, until the early 1950s it was the tallest building in the USSR, and until 2012 it was the tallest building in St. Petersburg.
Friends, I hope you liked my photos, and the long text did not tire you. But maybe I should make the posts shorter, what do you recommend? Anyway, my story about the Peter and Paul Fortress has not been completed yet and I hope to continue it in the following posts.
Thank you for stopping by and reading and watching this!
Your Irchen