People built fortresses not for beauty, but, of course, to protect their settlements from enemy attacks. The Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, Russia, is no exception: it was built to protect the "newborn" city from the Swedes. However, the fortress has never had a chance to participate in battles: none of the enemies of Russia managed to get so far to the heart of the city. Instead, for several decades the fortress played a little-respected role of a prison for political prisoners. And this was long before the Soviet times. For example, in the middle of the 19th century, the famous Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky spent eight months in the Peter and Paul prison.
However, the conversation will not be about the prison, but about the guns, which, of course, were in the fortress. Moreover, they are here now, and they have work every day without days off) But there are also guns that have already "retired". It will be just about them, and a little about the October Revolution of 1917. As I have already said, the fortress has never participated in the defense of the city, but it played an important role in the Bolshevik revolution (with your permission, I will not evaluate this event in Russia and its impact on world history, you probably have your own opinion on this). It is believed that the shot that served as a signal for the storming of the Winter Palace (now the Hermitage Museum) was fired from the cruiser Aurora, located in the Neva River. However, this is not true. The shot from the ship sounded at 21:40 on October 25 (according to the new style, it is November 7), and before that at 21:00 they fired from the Peter and Paul fortress - and THIS was the signal for the assault, the cruiser only repeated it, addressing other ships on the river. Thus, the guns of the fortress took part in historical events only once in their lifetime.
Otherwise, their purpose was to signal the arrival of noon.The tradition of celebrating noon with an artillery shot appeared in St. Petersburg in 1865. They fired from the wall of the Naryshkin bastion (named after the colleague of Peter I Kirill Naryshkin, the first commandant of St. Petersburg).In Soviet times, from 1934 to 1957, the tradition was canceled, but on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of St. Petersburg, it was returned. And since then, every day at noon, Petersburgers hear a cannon shot. A blank shot, of course))
What kind of guns made these shots? Unfortunately, I have nothing to say about the 19th century, but it is known for sure that since 1958 there have been two 152-millimeter M-10 howitzers on the Naryshkin bastion. In April 2002, they were replaced because there were no suitable charges left for them. Until June 23, 2009, the shot was fired from a 152-millimeter howitzer cannons ML-20 (model from the year 1937). Then ML-20 retired. However, they remained in the fortress, and they can be seen (and touched and even climbed on them, which children and ... men really like to do)) Here they are in the photo. And next to them is an 85-millimeter 52-K anti-aircraft gun (in the foreground), which was the main Soviet medium-caliber anti-aircraft gun during the Second World War. Currently, two D-30 122 mm howitzers are installed on Naryshkin bastion for the production of a signal shot. One of them was released in 1975, the other in 1979. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of these guns (yet)). As a rule, one howitzer shoots at noon, and the second is a spare. But sometimes, on special occasions, a simultaneous blank salvo is fired.
And a few words about the flag on the tower of Naryshkin bastion. This is the huys and the sea fortress flag of Russia. Here we see the Cross of St. Andrew (the flag of Scotland and the Russian Navy), and as for the white cross on a red background, it is usually interpreted as a symbol of Orthodoxy or as a symbol of St. George.