Once known as the "Russian Bastille", Peter the Great's island fortress is now a cherished historic monument; its golden-spired cathedral is the resting place of the Romanovs.

    The Peter and Paul Fortress is one of the most outstanding historical and architectural landmarks in St. Petersburg, a fortification structure of the early 18th century.
    The history of the fortress is closely connected with the heroic struggle of the Russian people for the Novgorodian lands, with the emergence and construction of the city on the banks of the Neva, and with the political history of Russia.
    The corner-stone of the fortress was laid on May 16 (new style 27), 1703 and this day is considered the foundation date of St. Petersburg. The bastions were built under the direct supervision of Peter 1 and his close associates who are commemorated in the names of the bastions. At the same time a wooden church was erected at the centre of the fortress and in 1712 on the site of this church the Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral was built. This cathedral with its high bell-tower and slender gilded spire is not only a unique monument of early 18th century architecture, but also the highest architerctural construction of the city - it is 122,5 m high.
    The fortress was not destined to play any active role as a defence structure, for two whole centuries it served as a political prison.

    The Peter and Paul Fortress is the heart of St. Petersburg. The starting point of the new Russian capital's triumphant march into modern history, it is now an architectural monument, a unique open-air museum, while the chimes of the cathedral tower still marks out the phythm of life in the city on the Neva.

    Besides the ancient fortifications, on the grounds of the fortress one can visit the Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral with the burial vault of Peter the Great and other Russian tsars, the museum in Trubetskoy bastion prison, expositions: "The History of St. Petersburg", "The History of the Imperial Mint", "Pechatnya" (Printing Workshop), museum on cosmonautics and missilery; excursion route "Panorama of the Neva" - over the roofs of the fortress' bastions and curtains.