Sunday, July 22, 2012

Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral

The Peter and Paul Fortress is one of the must place to visit if you happen to be in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the original citadel of St. Petersburg, Russia, founded by Peter the Great, and contains several notable buildings clustered around the Peter and Paul Cathedral (1712–1733), which has a 123.2 m (404 ft) bell-tower (the tallest in the city centre) and a gilded angel-topped cupola.

The fortress is located on a small island by itself, accessible through the Troitskiy Most bridge near Peter the Great Summer Gardens. Below is a picture of the bridge that you can walk towards the fortress.


You will be able to see the Peter and Paul Fortress and part of the Peter and Paul Cathedral on the left hand side of the bridge as shown in the picture below.


If you zoom in, I believe it's the exterior of the Trubetskoy and Alekseyevsky bastions with their prison cells. Below are a couple of pictures of the exterior.



Upon reaching, you'll see the popular Petrovskye (Peter's) Gate as shown in the picture below. I believe the two-headed eagle and the Russian Coat of Arms above the arch is to commemorate the Russian victory over Sweden in the Northern War.


Below is picture of the statue of Peter the Great within the Peter and Paul Fortress.


After the statue, you'll be able to see part of the Peter and Paul Cathedral as shown in the picture below.


What surprised me was that I saw the Burghers of Calais within the Peter and Paul fortress as shown in the picture below. The statues are a little different from the ones I saw within Stanford University in the United States. You can compare the statue below with the ones at Stanford University here. The statues are in front of the museum which I'll talk about in another post.

Burghers of Calais within Peter and Paul Fortress
Below is the frontal view of the Peter and Paul Cathedral. You can see the stream of people going into the cathedral.


Below is the picture of the weather vane sitting atop the spire of the Peter and Paul Cathedral, often referred to simply as "the Angel". It's also the highest point in downtown St. Petersburg (at 122.5 meters - 404 feet 3 inches).


Below are some photos of the interior of the Peter and Paul Cathedral so that you can have a general idea of what is it like within





You can find more information about the fortress here.

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