Peter and Paul Fortress

It is beginning and core of the city. It was built by the order of Peter the Great on a small swampy island in the Neva River called the Hare Island. Built as a defense against attacks by swedish troops, the fortress never served according to its direct, military destination. Soon after being raised, it began to be used as a prison for political prisoners.

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In the fortress there is the Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, the oldest in the city. The Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul is the pantheon of Russian emperors from Peter I to the last Romanovs. In 1998 the remains of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II and his family members were buried in the cathedral, shot in July 1918.