Chosen by Peter the Great for its strategic location, the first stones of the fortress and the city were laid on Hare Island in 1703. Conceived as a military installation to protect St. Petersburg against Swedish invaders, the Peter and Paul Fortress forms an elongated hexagon. However, it quickly became a prison, and many famous political opponents were imprisoned there.There are several buildings in the compound, of which the Arsenal, the Fortress, is the most well-known and visited for the Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral. In addition to its rich decorations and built in the Baroque style typical of the 18th century, it houses the tombs of Russian Czars (from Peter the Great) in tombs of Carrara marble, green jasper, or pink rhodonite.

Since their repatriation in 1998 to the chapel of St. Catherine of the Martyrs, the ashes of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, and his family, who were canonized in 2000, have been received by the Cathedral. Thus, your guide, with anecdotes and stories, will lead you through the centuries and the secrets of the Cathedral, a true symbol and dominant part of St. Petersburg.

You will discover and understand the histories of the Fortress, of St. Petersburg, and the Imperial Romanov family. You will explore the fortress with the 122m-high spire of the cathedral as a landmark, a veritable symbol and dominating point of Saint Petersburg’s landscape.Exploring the Peter and Paul Fortress is an essential visit for any trip to Russia!