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| Peter and Paul Fortress | |
|---|---|
 An aerial view of the fortress | |
| Type | Fortress and Museum |
| Location | Saint Petersburg, Russia |
| Coordinates | 59°57′00″N30°19′01″E / 59.950°N 30.317°E /59.950; 30.317 |
| Built | 1703–1740 |
| Architect | Domenico Trezzini |
  Location of Peter and Paul Fortress in Central Saint Petersburg | |
ThePeter and Paul Fortress (Russian:Петропавловская крепость,romanized: Petropavlovskaya krepost') is the originalcitadel ofSaint Petersburg, Russia, founded byPeter the Great in 1703 and built toDomenico Trezzini's designs from 1706 to 1740 as astar fortress.[1] Between the first half of the 1700s and early 1920s it served as a prison for political criminals. It has been a museum since 1924.[2]
The fortress was established byPeter the Great on May 27 [O.S. May 16] 1703, on smallHare Island by the north bank of theNeva River. From around 1720, the fort served as a base for the city garrison and also as a prison for high-ranking orpolitical prisoners.
During theFebruary Revolution of 1917, it was attacked by mutinous soldiers of thePavlovsky Life Guards Regiment on February 27 (O.S.) and the prisoners were freed. Under theProvisional Government, hundreds of Tsarist officials were held in the Fortress.
The tsar was threatened with being incarcerated at the fortress on his return fromMogilev toTsarskoye Selo on March 8 (O.S.); but he was placed under house arrest. On July 4 (O.S.) during theJuly Days demonstrations, the fortress garrison of 8,000 men declared for theBolsheviks. They surrendered to government forces without a struggle on July 6 (O.S.).
On October 25 (O.S.), the fortress quickly fell into Bolshevik hands. Following the ultimatum from thePetrograd Soviet to the Provisional Government ministers in theWinter Palace, after the blank salvo of the cruiserAurora at 21.00, the guns of the fortress fired 30 or so shells at the Winter Palace. Just two hit, inflicting only minor damage, and the defenders refused to surrender at that time. At 02.10 on the morning of October 26 (O.S.), the Winter Palace was taken by forces underVladimir Antonov-Ovseenko; the captured ministers were taken to the fortress as prisoners. On 28 January 1919, four grand dukes from theHouse of Romanov were shot within the walls of the fortress on the orders of the Presidium of theCheka underFelix Dzerzhinsky,Yakov Peters,Martin Latsis, andIvan Ksenofontov.
The structure suffered heavy damage during the bombardment of the city duringWorld War II by theLuftwaffe who were laying siege to the city. It has been restored post-war and is a tourist attraction.[1]
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In the years before and after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, the Peter and Paul Fortress was portrayed by Bolshevik propaganda as a hellish, torturous place, where thousands of prisoners suffered endlessly in filthy, cramped, and grossly overcrowded dungeons amid frequent torture and malnutrition. Such legends had the effect of turning the prison into a symbol of government oppression in the minds of the common folk. In reality, conditions in the fortress were far less brutal than believed; no more than one hundred prisoners were ever kept in the prison at a time, and most prisoners had access to such luxuries as tobacco, writing paper, and literature (including subversive books such asKarl Marx'sDas Kapital).
Despite their ultimate falsehood, stories about the prison were vital to the spread of Bolshevik revolutionary sentiment. The legends served to portray the government as cruel and indiscriminate in the administration of justice, helping to turn the common mind against Tsarist rule. Many inmates, after being released, wrote chilling and increasingly exaggerated accounts of life there that solidified the structure's horrible image in the public mind and pushed the people further towards dissent. Writers often purposely exaggerated their experiences to garner more hatred for the government; as writer and former Peter and Paul inmateMaksim Gorky would later state, "Every Russian who had ever sat in jail as a 'political' prisoner considered it his holy duty to bestow on Russia his memoirs of how he had suffered."[3]
The fortress contains several buildings clustered around thePeter and Paul Cathedral (1712–1733), which has a 122.5 m (402 ft) bell-tower and a gilded angel-topped cupola.
Other structures inside the fortress include the still functioningSaint Petersburg Mint building[1] (constructed to Antonio Porta's designs under EmperorPaul I), the Trubetskoy Bastion with its grim prison cells, and thecity museum.
To the north of the fortress across theKronverksky Strait lies theKronverk, formerly the fortress' outer defence and now home to theMilitary Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps.
During the time of Peter the Great, a shot from the cannon of the Peter and Paul Fortress was heard in honor of military victories, on holidays, and also to warn residents about the rise in the water level of the Neva.
Since 1873, the cannon is fired at noon. Residents of the city even checked their watches by the shot. The gun was silent only in times of revolutions and wars. However, nowadays the gunshot can be heard every day at 12 noon.[4]
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