Visiting St Petersburg: The unusual sights of the Peter and Paul Fortress

The Peter and Paul Fortress is well known to the residents and visitors of St Petersburg. However, only few people know that in the last decade it has acquired a lot of unusual attractions that perfectly complement the image of the grandiose defensive complex. So, what to see in the Peter and Paul Fortress while visiting St Petersburg?

12 chairs in the square of the fortress

12 chairs in the square of the fortress are not just the original decoration of the landscape, but also a watch, a compass and even a wind rose. Fancy wrought iron chairs are arranged in a celestial circle, and those that correspond to 3, 6, 9 and 12 hours are decorated with mosaics, and four biggest chairs  are cardinal points. Furthermore, the shape of each chair is individual, and the encrypted symbols therein are associated with 12 months of the year.

The Monument to the hare by the fortress.

According to an ancient legend, during one of the floods in St Petersburg, a little bunny, who escaped from the advancing water, jumped into a boot of the Tsar Peter the Great and thus was safe. Honoring this salvation, the island on which stands the Peter and Paul Fortress was called the Hare's Island. The sculpture depicting the hare was established in 2003 near the support of St John's Bridge, it is considered a kind of a talisman of the fortress. When visiting St Petersburg, don't miss the opportunity to throw a coin at the hare, for, if it stays on the pile, you wish will come true.

St Petersburg shore excursions

Is it your first time in St. Petersburg? You will get acquainted with the main attractions of the northern capital of Russia during your St Petersburg shore excursions on a bus tour of St Petersburg. You will learn basic information about the most famous St Petersburg buildings, monuments, streets and squares, parks and gardens, you will be kept up-to-date with the main events of St. Petersburg life. On your guided tours in St Petersburg the bus will take you to the places where it is impossible to get to by public transport or on foot. During this tour you will make your first impression of St. Petersburg and you will make a further plan of getting to know St Petersburg sights better.

During a bus tour of St. Petersburg you will see St. Isaac's Square with the magnificent St. Isaac's Cathedral, the Bronze Horseman, the Admiralty, the official residence of the Russian emperors – the Winter Palace and the Church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood, the Field of Mars. Further St Petersburg shore excursions lead to the Peter and Paul fortress. You will see the house of Peter I, the spit of Vasilevsky Island, the Rostral columns, the Stock Exchange building. The bus tour is the most popular way to get acquainted with St. Petersburg for the first time.

After the 3-hour guided tour in St Petersburg, if you wish, you can jump the queue to visit the Hermitage during the Hermitage Museum tour, the Kunstkamera, the Peter and Paul Fortress or set on a boat trip St Petersburg.

 The Grand Palace of Peterhof is one of the most beautiful palaces in Europe. It is one of the largest monuments of the XVIII century protected by UNESCO.
The palace represents a linear symmetrical baroque composition. The length of its main facade that faces the Gulf of Finland is about 300 m. On the terrace, where the palace is located, even in the times of Peter there was an equipped fenced balustrade paved with cobble stones, which offers an amazing view of the Grand Cascade and the Marine Canal. The engineer Leblond wrote about this panorama: ... "these are the things that must be seen to judge about their beauty." The GrandCascade itself isdesignedasa grand palace staircase.
From the Marine Canal the palace seems to be high, hovering above the surrounding landscape. From the opposite southern facade, where it is joined by the "French" regular Upper Garden, the building seems lower and fits in perfectly with the flat terrain and well lined landscape with large mirror pools.
The first phase of construction of the palace, named the Upper Chambers, goes back to the 1710th. Its construction was started by Johann Braunstein, who hadn’t taken into consideration the features of the soil terraces. As a result, the chambers began to sink and the walls gave soon cracks. In September 1716 Leblond came to Peterhof, who by the beginning of November of the same year had projected the redesign. Leblond’s project aimed at strengthening the foundations, the construction of an underground aqueduct to divert ground waters, changing the layout and interior decoration.