The Peter and Paul fortress is immediately recognizable thanks to its needle-like spire rising up into the St. Petersburg sky. However, its distinctive story also attracts visitors. Enter into its interior and find out more about its various purposes over the years.
It was originally intended to defend the city from the Swedes, but Peter the Great managed to defeat the Swedish opposition before the building was finished. Since then, the fortress has served as a military post and a prison for inmates convicted of political crimes.
Venture inside the complex to see the glorious Peter and Paul Cathedral. An elegant Baroque building by Swiss-Italian architect Domenico Trezzini, its curves gracefully rise up into the sky. It is this building that provides the fortress with its famous spire.
Visit the final resting place of many of the Romanov family, Russia’s last czars. Their graves are within the Peter and Paul Cathedral and can be located relatively easily thanks to their white marble sarcophagi. The graves of Nicholas II and his family, killed by revolutionaries in 1918, are in the St. Catherine’s Chapel on the site.
Listen for the noonday gun, which is fired daily from Naryshkin Bastion or time your visit to witness the pomp of the changing of the guard, which happens every Saturday. Watch soldiers march as well as the trooping of the flag. The complex is also home to an on-site mint, one of only a couple of places in Russia that mint coins.
Nearby is the Trubetskoy Bastion Prison, which has held famous prisoners including Leon Trotsky. Take the time to visit the long corridors prisoners would have trudged down and view recreations of the sparse rooms they were forced to inhabit, often in total isolation. Documents, images and museum installations are also available to give a flavor of what life in the prison was like.
Ride the metro to Gorkovskaya station and from there, it’s just a short walk to the Peter and Paul Fortress. Admittance to the grounds is free of charge, although some exhibitions have an admission fee.