Author of materials about St. Petersburg, travel, excursions, and city routes.
A guide to the history and architecture of Petersburg and its imperial suburbs.
The Peter and Paul Fortress is one of the calling cards of Saint Petersburg. This fortress was built by Peter I to protect the mouth of the Neva from the Swedes during the Great Northern War. Surprisingly, despite having powerful armaments, the fortress never took part in a single battle throughout its history. Over time, its military significance gave way to a prison and memorial one, turning the island into one of the most interesting museum complexes in the world. Below are 10 facts that will help you look at the Peter and Paul Fortress in a new way and learn its secrets.
1. An eagle on state allowance
According to legend, when choosing a site for the fortress, an eagle hovered over the island. When Peter 1 landed on the shore and built symbolic gates from birches, the bird descended onto them. The eagle was caught and sent to be kept in Kronstadt, where it was officially put on allowance – the bird received food at the treasury's expense as a living symbol of the city's founding.
2. The star fortress and the search for the Grail
The fortress has the shape of a regular hexagon with bastions protruding at the corners, which made it possible to conduct crossfire and make the walls practically impregnable. However, such geometry gave rise to a myth about a Masonic trace: some researchers still look for symbols of secret societies in the layout and claim that the Holy Grail is hidden right under the Peter and Paul Cathedral.
3. A prison where the walls "give away" their own
Peter and Paul Fortress was called the "Russian Bastille", and escaping from here was simply impossible. The security was so strict that gendarmes watched the prisoners and even each other. At the end of a shift, each guard had to write two reports: one on the prisoner, the second – on his partner.
4. Stalin upside down
In the 1930s, one of the officials proposed a crazy idea: to remove the angel from the cathedral's spire and replace it with a figure of Joseph Stalin. They say that the director of the Hermitage helped save the city's symbol by reminding officials of the mirror-like surface of the Neva: in the river's reflection, the leader would stand on his head, which was considered unacceptable.
5. Empty tsarist coffins
The Peter and Paul Cathedral is the Romanov burial vault; it is rumored that not everyone there lies in their proper places. The biggest scandal is connected with Alexander 1 – there are persistent rumors that he staged his death and went wandering, and his sarcophagus is actually empty.
6. The literary legacy of the casemates
For many famous writers, their stay in the fortress became a period of unexpected creative upsurge. Fyodor Dostoevsky, while in the Alekseevsky Ravelin, wrote the story "A Little Hero", Nikolai Chernyshevsky created the novel "What Is to Be Done?" in a few months, and Maxim Gorky worked on the play "Children of the Sun".
7. Anomalous luck during the war years
During the Siege of Leningrad, the Peter and Paul Cathedral became one of the safest places, despite the fact that the city was subjected to massive artillery shelling. Eyewitnesses and defenders of the city who camouflaged the spire described cases when shells flying straight at the bell tower strangely changed trajectory at the last moment and fell into the water or onto vacant lots
8. Arseny the lucky hare
At the Ioannovsky Bridge leading to the fortress, a small figurine of a hare is installed on a pile. According to belief, this is the very animal that escaped the flood by jumping into Peter 1's boot. Today, among tourists, it is customary to throw coins onto the monument's pedestal: if the coin stays next to the hare's paws, the wish made will come true!
9. The tradition of the noon shot
If you find yourself in the fortress at noon, get ready to jump from fright! Exactly at 12:00, a cannon fires from the Naryshkin Bastion. This tradition is hundreds of years old, and Petersburgers still set their watches by it. Previously, the shots meant the beginning and end of the workday, but now it is simply a reminder that life in the fortress goes on.
10. The riddle of the "princess" from the Trubetskoy Bastion
Everyone has heard of the beautiful Princess Tarakanova, who pretended to be the daughter of the empress. Legend has it that she drowned in her cell during a terrible flood. However, historians disagree and claim that she died of consumption two years before the flood. Nevertheless, her weeping shadow is still seen by the walls of the bastion in rainy weather.
Everyone should visit the Peter and Paul Fortress, because it is the perfect place for a walk and getting acquainted with the city's history. It is fresh and unhurried here, as you are on a small island in the middle of the water. The silence of the fortress is periodically interrupted by the ringing of the cathedral bell and cannon shots, and there is a certain charm in this. Be sure to test your accuracy by throwing a coin to the paws of Arseny the Hare for your cherished wish to come true. You can come here in rainy weather too – perhaps you will meet the weeping shadow of Princess Tarakanova.
Excursion to the Peter and Paul Fortress
And if 10 facts about the Peter and Paul Fortress are not enough and you want to learn the history of this place in full, Leningrad Tour invites you on an excursion!
This bus tour is the most complete and comfortable way to see all the key symbols of the city in a few hours, including a visit to the Peter and Paul Fortress itself. The route includes Vosstaniya Square, Moskovsky Railway Station, Nevsky Prospect, Anichkov Bridge and Palace, Mikhailovsky Palace, Castle and Garden, Mars Field, Summer Garden, Palace Embankment, Winter Palace and many other attractions.
Grand City Tour + Peter and Paul Fortress
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