DESCRIPTION
Peter and Paul Fortress is one of the most famous sights of St. Petersburg. This is one of the most visited places in the city. Peter and Paul Fortress is the place from which the city construction began. It is the historic city center. Fortress is the first object which was built by the order of Peter the Great. The day of the fortress construction beginning considered the birthday of the city. Distance from the fortress to the Palace Square is about 1.1 kilometers (in a straight line).
Peter and Paul Fortress are located on Hare Island, which is located at the widest point of the river, near the right bank of the Neva River. It is separated by the Kronverksky Strait from Petrogradsky Island to the north. The island is connected to the shore by two bridges. The island is about 750 meters long and about 400 meters in width. The distance from the island to the Baltic Sea is about 6.5 kilometers.
The fortress was by Peter the Great on May 16, hereafter indicated using "(J)"; May 27 by the Gregorian calendar)
The fortress was founded May 27, 1703 (at that time it was on May 16 by the Julian calendar). It was a joint plan of Peter I and the French engineer Joseph Lambert de Guerin. As it was planned by Peter I, Peter and Paul Fortress was supposed to protect the projected capital from a feared Swedish counterattack. Originally the fortress was "fill timber" (wooden structures frames were filled with earth and stones). Later, the fortress was rebuilt in 1706-1740. Fortifications were built of stone.
Peter and Paul Cathedral
Ahead is the centerpiece of the fortress, the Peter and Paul Cathedral, with its 122.5 meter (+400 foot) tall gilded spiral with a golden angel perched on top.
The cathedral, designed by Domenico Trezzini, is one of the city's most important landmarks. Construction of the church started in 1712 and it was consecrated twelve years later, in 1724. The structure was heavily damaged in the mid-eighteenth century due to a fire caused by lightning. It was slightly remodeled and reconstructed in 1776.
The ornately decorated cathedral with many magnificent iconostases has been the burial place of all Russian Emperors and Empresses from Peter the Great to Alexander III