Peter and Paul Fortress
| Peter and Paul Fortress | ||
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 Peter and Paul Fortress |
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| Alternative name (s): | Russian Петропавловская крепость | |
| Conservation status: | Well | |
| Geographical location | 59 ° 57 ′ 1 ″ N , 30 ° 18 ′ 57 ″ E | |
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The Peter and Paul Fortress ( Russian Петропавловская крепость / Petropawlowskaja krepost ) is a fortress from the early 18th century , which is the origin and historical center of the city of Saint Petersburg . The complex, located on Rabbit Island in the Neva , today mainly houses exhibitions and museums and is both a tourist magnet and a place to relax for St. Petersburg residents. The fortress is a central part of the UNESCO - World Heritage declared the Historic Center of Saint Petersburg.
history
The fortress, whose foundation stone was laid on May 16, Jul. / May 27th 1703 greg. is considered the official founding date of Saint Petersburg, never met its actual purpose as a military facility. The Sweden , against them in the Great Northern War should protect above all were defeated militarily in the following years, and presented since then no more danger for the Russian Empire . The fort was originally of about 20,000 men from earth walls and wooden fixtures in six bastions built . From 1706 to 1740 it was completely rebuilt from stone; it has since taken the form of an irregular hexagon, the corners of which are still protected by bastions. Hundreds of forced laborers died in the building, which was led by the Swiss master builder Domenico Trezzini , as in the entire founding of St. Petersburg. From 1720 the fortress served as a barracks and one of the most notorious prisons in the tsarist empire . From 1770 to 1780 the side facing the Neva was clad with granite .
If the fortress was an important symbol of the tsarist empire, it became a center of uprising during the revolution . During the February Revolution , the soldiers of the Paul Leibgard Regiment stormed the prison on February 27 ( Julian ) and freed the prisoners. When abortive coup of the Bolsheviks , the 8,000-strong unit declared in the fortress on July 4 ( Julian ) in 1917 with the Bolsheviks in solidarity, but was found two days later without a fight government forces.
Most of the complex was declared a museum in 1924. The fortress, which covers the whole of Rabbit Island, was damaged during the siege of Leningrad in World War II, but then restored.
In 1991, a bronze sculpture of Peter I designed by Michail Schemjakin was installed in the complex , which caused heated public discussions in the city, as Peter is depicted with a disproportionately small head and large feet and hands. Nevertheless, the monument is now considered a good luck charm for the Petersburg people; many perceive it as a “beneficial overcoming of the heroic formal language of the Soviet monumental sculpture”.
Defenses
The defenses of the Peter and Paul Fortress consist of:
- two ravelins (wall shields): Johannes-Wallschild in the east, Alexei-Wallschild in the west;
- six curtains (straight walls): Peter, Newski, Katharinen, Wassili, Nikolai and Kronwerk walls.
- On the Petrograd island behind the channel upstream of the Kronwerk .
Peter Gate
The main entrance to the facility is in the east, where the Ioannowski Bridge leads to the island. The Peter Gate (Петровские ворота) has the shape of a triumphal arch and represents "the first example of the Palladian style that was seen in Russia". The wooden building in 1708 was replaced by a stone one in 1718. The niche figures on the side depict the goddess of war Bellona and Minerva , the ancient goddess of art and wisdom. The relief above the imperial eagle at the top of the arch tells how the apostle Peter depicts the heretic Simon Magus , who rose into the air by magic crashes the ground. The allusion to the namesake of the tsar, whose facial features also recur in those of the apostle, is obvious: like Peter, Peter I too is a conqueror of powerful enemies.
jail
The building with its twelve-meter-high ramparts and six bastions was used as a prison early on , in which the political prisoners of the tsarist empire in particular were locked. The Alexei Ravelin , the western outskirts of the fortress, was also used as a prison. Many famous prisoners sat in the fortress . The first was Alexei , son of Peter I , in 1717 ; it was followed by participants in the Decembrist uprising , Fyodor Dostoyevsky , Maxim Gorky , Mikhail Bakunin , Peter Kropotkin , Alexander Ilyich Ulyanov , Lenin's brother . From 1872 these were in the newly built Trubetskoi-Bastion prison . The 36 single cells each had an iron bed set into the wall, a table and a stool. There was also a detention center . Around 1880 they served as a remand prison for the numerous prisoners of the Narodnaja Volja who had carried out several assassinations on Alexander II . a. Wera Figner , Lyudmila Wolkenstein , Alexander Solowjow , Michail Frolenko .
After the February Revolution of 1917 , hundreds of officials of the tsarist empire were in prison, partly to protect them from popular anger. After the October Revolution, the Kerensky Provisional Government was imprisoned here - they were the last prisoners in the Peter and Paul Fortress. Today the Trubetskoi Bastion serves as a museum, in which, among other things, wax figures of the most famous prisoners are exhibited.
Peter and Paul Cathedral
On the grounds of the fortress is the Peter and Paul Cathedral, which was built from 1713 to 1732 and in the interior of which most of the Russian emperors have been buried since the 18th century . Its 122.5 meter high tower with a wind vane in the shape of an angel, which rotates around the shaft of a 6.4 meter high cross on the gilded top, remained, as ordered by Peter the Great, the tallest building in the city - up to the Construction of the municipal television tower.
Museums
The fortress building now houses various museums, on the one hand the permanent exhibition on the city's history from 1703 to 1924, and on the other hand, under the name Museum of old Petersburg, changing exhibitions on a similar topic.
Another exhibition area is located directly at the gate, in which international photographers take turns showing their works. In the casemates there is a printing shop where historical prints are made on old original equipment in front of spectators (and for sale).
Since a research center for Soviet aerospace was located in Johannes- Ravelin from 1932 to 1933 , a museum for rocket construction and space travel is now housed here. Today, the replica design offices of the rocket builders, Sputniks and cosmic accessories such as original space suits are on display here.
Also on the site is a coin museum with a functioning mint , in which Russian coins, orders and medals are minted to this day.
The military history museum of artillery, engineering and communications technology is located in the Kronwerk .
Others
The Peter and Paul Fortress is still considered to be the heart of Saint Petersburg today. It is especially vividly brought to mind by the residents of the city every day at twelve noon. A cannon has been fired around this time since the 18th century , originally this was used to inform the townspeople of the exact time.
The sandy beach, which is also part of the complex, is a popular destination. Beach volleyball tournaments, theater performances , pop concerts and sand sculpture competitions take place here in summer . Swimming is prohibited due to the water quality of the Neva, but this prohibition is hardly observed. In winter, ice sculptures are built instead of sand sculptures, and ice swimming from the beach is not uncommon.
The image of the Peter and Paul Fortress was also immortalized on a Russian coin .
Web links
- Photos of the fortress: http://www.spbmuseum.ru/themuseum/multimedia/panorams/3d_panoramas.php?sphrase_id=29283
- 3D panorama fortress from the beach: http://www.3dmotion.ru/php/viewpano.php?c=201&p=926&L=de&mode=index
- Video tour by RusslandJournal.de in cooperation with the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg: Peter and Paul Fortress - St. Petersburg, Russia
Individual evidence
- ↑ Frithjof Benjamin Schenk : The city as a monument of its builder , in: Karl Schlögel u. a .: Saint Petersburg. Locations of a city's history. New York / Frankfurt 2007, p. 49.
- ↑ cf. Peter and Paul Fortress
- ↑ Pictures in Wikipedia Commons to the Peterstor: picture collection .
- ↑ Tamara Talbot Rice: Die Kunst Russlands , Zurich 1965, p. 166.