The Great Northern War was underway; in 1703 Russian troops stormed the Swedish fortress Nienshanz, and it was necessary to fortify the banks of the Neva. Zayachy Island was chosen for the construction of a defensive bastion (in 17th-century Swedish sources the island was called Lust-Eiland — 'Merry Island'). Over time the fortress was improved: the earthen rampart was replaced with a stone one, and later the walls were faced with granite. Centuries passed, rulers and historical eras changed, but one thing remained constant — a lively life inside these walls. This gave rise to a large number of museums, from the 'secret house' to the first organization for the development of rocket engines. The Peter and Paul Fortress is open to tourists. Today I would like to briefly tell about all the museums that can be visited. Exhibition 'History of Saint Petersburg — Petrograd. 1703-1918'
The halls present collections of painting and graphic art, furniture and porcelain; costumes, architectural elements, everyday objects and various models narrating the history of Saint Petersburg.
Museum of Science and Technology.
The museum's exhibition includes more than 600 exhibits. The exhibition is divided into three parts corresponding to the main branches of physics: 'Mechanics', 'Electromagnetism' and 'Optics'.
The Peter and Paul Cathedral and the Grand Ducal Vault:
The stone Peter and Paul Cathedral was erected from 1712 to 1733 on the site of a wooden church, designed and supervised by the Swiss architect Domenico Trezzini.
The V.P. Glushko Museum of Cosmonautics and Rocket Technology.
The museum is located in the premises of the northern wing of the Ioannovsky ravelin (a former auxiliary defensive structure) of the Peter and Paul Fortress, where in the late 1920s–early 1930s the 2nd department of the Gas Dynamics Laboratory (GDL) — the first domestic experimental-design organization for the development of rocket engines — was housed. Test stands for electric and liquid rocket engines were also located here.
Museum of Architectural and Artistic Ceramics.
Among the museum's exhibits: various stoves and fireplaces; samples of façade decoration from famous Petersburg buildings; icons painted on ceramic bases and set in multicolored ceramic icon cases (kiots); Dutch glazed tiles, etc.
The museum is located in the Tsar's Bastion, which was a defensive structure of the Peter and Paul Fortress intended for conducting frontal and flanking fire.
Exhibition 'History of the Peter and Paul Fortress'
The exhibition, housed in several halls, features more than 500 exhibits, among which are:
- archaeological finds;
- architectural drawings;
- Russian and Swedish plans and maps of the early 18th century demonstrating the strategic location of the fortress;
- engravings, photographs and icons;
- a collection of construction and carpentry tools;
- models and other materials used to recreate elements of fortifications that were lost during the monument's more than three-hundred-year existence.
The exhibition is located in the Neva curtain, which is part of the fortress wall and a former defensive structure of the Peter and Paul Fortress.
The Trubetskoy Bastion Prison.
This is a former prison in the Peter and Paul Fortress that existed for almost 50 years and was the main place of detention for political prisoners in tsarist Russia.
The museum has two floors, along the corridors of which are the former cells of detainees and hard-labor prisoners with reconstructions of the cell interiors; one can also see the reception room, the prison chapel, a library and the solitary confinement cell.
Exhibition 'The Object World of Art Nouveau'
The exhibition brings together more than 200 items, is devoted to the Art Nouveau era in Saint Petersburg (turn of the 19th — early 20th centuries) and presents collections of decorative and applied arts made in this style: furniture, lighting fixtures, porcelain and glass items (vases, figurines, tableware, decorative objects), household metal items, stained glass.
All of the above museums and exhibitions are part of the State Museum of the History of Saint Petersburg.
You can purchase separate tickets for each of the exhibitions or museums, or a combined ticket to visit all of the above museums and exhibitions of the Peter and Paul Fortress.
Other museums and exhibitions:
Museum of Microminiature 'The Russian Lefty'
In the collection:
- a shod flea (its horseshoes are 6 million times smaller than a horse's horseshoes),
- a caravan of camels in the eye of a needle
- a rose inside a hair
- text written on a grain of rice
- figurines of well-known cartoon characters standing on poppy seeds and apple pips
- microminiature copies of orders and medals
Exhibition 'Collection of Porcelain and Glass from the 18th–21st Centuries'
Among the exhibits: decorative vases, tableware, small sculptures, glass containers for dairy products, branded wine and beer bottles, apothecary glassware, perfume bottles, etc.
Exhibition 'The Inquisition. Medieval Instruments of Torture'
A number of models of medieval instruments of torture are presented: the Nuremberg maiden (iron maiden), the witch's chair, the rack, the iron gag, the iron boot, the heretic's fork, and others.
Wax Figure Exhibition 'Historical Mosaics'
The exhibition is located in the Fortress Artillery Zeughaus and presents history in faces: sixty wax personalities from Ivan the Terrible to Leon Trotsky.
Exhibition 'The History of Money'
In the building of the Cavalier of Anna Ioannovna (Annin Cavalier), next to the Golovkin Bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress, the exhibition 'The History of Money' is housed, which includes, among other things, unique giant coins: gold and silver commemorative coins weighing 5 kg each, each of which is the largest and heaviest commemorative coin ever issued in Russia.
Viewing route 'Neva Panorama'
The Neva Panorama is a sightseeing walking route that runs across the roofs of former defensive structures of the Peter and Paul Fortress.
From the route there are panoramic views of the Peter and Paul Fortress itself, the Neva and part of the historical center of Saint Petersburg, including the Palace Embankment with the Winter Palace, the Strelka of Vasilievsky Island, the Trinity and Palace Bridges, which are drawbridges, as well as St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Admiralty.
The Boat House.
This is a small building on the fortress grounds, built in 1762–1765 to a design by the architect of German origin Alexander Franzovich Vist to house the national relic — Peter the Great's little boat (botik), which is known as the 'Grandfather of the Russian Fleet'.
The Military-Historical Museum of Artillery.
Today, within the walls of the Kronverk arsenal is the Military-Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps, which holds valuable collections of artillery weapons and ammunition, small-arms and cold weapons, military engineering equipment, means of military communications, battle banners, military uniforms, works of battle painting and graphics, awards and insignia, as well as archival documents attesting to the history of the development of artillery in the Russian army.
