What is the Neva gate. Peter and Paul Fortress, self-guided tour

View from the Neva.

The Neva Gates of the Peter and Paul Fortress are the only way out of the citadel to the Neva. This exit appeared already at the first wood-earthen fortress in the form of wooden rectangular gates with a pier adjoining them.

On August 30, 1723, during the celebration of the third anniversary of the Peace of Nystad, the "Grandfather of the Russian fleet" - the boat of Peter I was solemnly transferred through the Neva Gate to the Peter and Paul Fortress. At the same time, a decree was issued on the annual procedure for bringing the boat to the Neva. This was repeated in 1724, and then only in 1744 and 1746.

In the early 1720s, the wooden Neva Gates designed by Domenico Trezzini were replaced with stone ones. After the second solemn removal of the boat, it was decided to update them. In the early 1730s, they were given the look that has been preserved from the inside of the fortress wall to this day. At the same time, the pier was rebuilt into an arched pier with three descents to the water.

In 1747-1748, presumably according to the project of B. Kh. Minich, the Neva Gate from the side of the river was decorated in the form of a portico with double pilasters bearing the entablature. In 1762-1767, architect D. Smolyaninov and engineer N. Muravyov drafted a granite pier with vaults. Its implementation began only when the walls of the Peter and Paul Fortress were faced with granite.

In 1780, the architect N.A. Lvov was asked to draft a new stone Nevsky Gate. In 1784-1787 this project was realized. The Nevsky Gates were inscribed by the architect into a kind of square. Their height was 12 meters and width - 12.2 meters. All architectural details were made of polished Serdobol granite. Given the height of the pier, Lvov raised the Nevsky Gate by almost a meter. The image of an anchor on the pediment, decorative bombs with tongues of fire on the edges of the pediment gave the Nevsky Gates the significance as a triumphal monument in honor of the victories of the Russian fleet.

On the northern facade appeared the monogram of Catherine II and the date "1787", indicating the year the monument was built.

In 1840, in the frieze of the portico on the north side, the inscription "Nevsky Gates 1787" was reinforced. In the 1860s, the pier of the Nevsky Gates began to be called Komendantskaya. It was from her that the commandant of the Peter and Paul Fortress sailed away on a boat on his own business. From here, prisoners sentenced to death were taken out of the fortress and taken along the Neva to the place of execution.

Under the arch of the Nevsky Gates there is a section showing the natural level of the Hare Island. Above it is a board with marks of the largest St. Petersburg floods: 1752, 1777, 1788, 1824, 1924 and 1975.

In 1952-1953 the Nevsky Gates were restored. In 1998-1999, the northern façade was restored to its appearance in the middle of the 18th century.

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neva gate, rebuilt in 1787 in the classical style according to the project of a prominent figure in Russian culture, scientist and architect Nikolai Lvov. The gate and the pier formed a single solemn architectural ensemble, which has survived to this day almost unchanged. It should be noted that these works no longer had a defensive value: the fortress acquired a look corresponding to its outstanding role. historical center the capital of the empire. The first gates were built in the Neva Curtain between the Sovereign and Naryshkin bastions back in 1714. Then they were made of wood - like the pier near them, which looked like ordinary wooden bridges. In the early 1720s, the gate was rebuilt in stone by Domenico Trezzini, while the pier remained wooden until the 1770s.

Nevsky Gates and Commandant's Quay (Issue 67 - Peter and Paul Fortress)

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Nevsky Gate and Commandant's Quay in the painting by Ivan Ivanov "View of the embankment of the Neva river on the day of the Midday". From here, members of the imperial family, sailing along the Neva from Winter Palace. Initially, the pier was called Tsarskaya, later - Nevsky, and from the 1760s - Commandantskaya. The boat of the commandant (chief) of the fortress moored here. One of the oldest city ceremonies began from the pier - a celebration of the opening of navigation. This event was of particular importance for the city, which grew up on the islands and up to the middle 19th century did not have a permanent bridge across the Neva. When the Neva was finally cleared of ice, the commandant went on his boat to the Winter Palace with a report to the emperor and presented him with a cup of Neva water. According to legend, the emperor returned the goblet, filling it to the top with silver rubles. This was followed by an imperial order to open navigation. Cannons were fired from the walls of the fortress, fireworks were launched, the water area was filled with ships and boats of all stripes under multi-colored flags. At this time, the “Mid-half” was also usually celebrated - an ancient church holiday “halfway” between Easter and Trinity. The clergy of all the parish churches of St. Petersburg gathered at the Commandant's Quay to consecrate the Neva water. For a solemn dinner in the fortress, huge sturgeon were served, "caught in no other river, but certainly in the Neva." Back in 1715, by decree of Peter the Great, a footstock was fortified on the eastern side of the pier - a pole with divisions that made it possible to measure the water level. This made it possible to determine the average (“ordinary”) water level in the Neva and marked the beginning of regular hydrological observations in Russia. It was by divisions on this footstock that the height of the rise of water in floods was determined.

"Chronicle of catastrophic floods" under the arch of the Nevsky Gate (Issue 67 - Peter and Paul Fortress)

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"Chronicle of catastrophic floods" on the wall under the arch of the Nevsky Gates. The boards indicate the level of water rise during five floods: 1752 (2.8 meters), 1777 (3.2 meters), 1788 (2.3 meters), 1824 (4.2 meters), 1924 (3.8 meters) and 1975 (2.8 meters) years. The pavement here is specially deepened to the position in which it was in the 18th century. From the Swedish chronicles we know about the catastrophic flood of 1691 (7.6 meters). This is the highest level of water rise in the Neva ever recorded. The first flood in the history of St. Petersburg occurred three months after its foundation. The water flooded Hare Island and washed away the forest prepared for the construction of the fortress. The flood of 1724 led to the illness and death of Peter I (he saved drowning sailors). The most catastrophic was the flood of November 7, 1824. “The Neva was one huge lake with Palace Square, flowing through Nevsky Prospekt like a wide river,” recalled an eyewitness. Providing assistance to the townspeople, the Governor-General then sailed along Nevsky Prospekt on his huge boat.

Description

After visiting the Neva Panorama, you can visit the expositions of the Trubetskoy Bastion prison. From the Sovereign's bastion, go back along the fortress wall facing the Neva and to the end.

From the beginning of the 18th century, the Peter and Paul Fortress also served as a prison for especially dangerous state criminals, who were placed in the casemates of the bastions and curtain walls, and special prison buildings were also built.
In the prison building of the Trubetskoy Bastion that has survived to this day (the Building of the Detention Department at the St. Petersburg Fortress - official name prison) an extensive museum exhibition dedicated to the history of the imprisonment of the prisoners of the Russian Bastille has been deployed.

The two-story building, pentagonal in plan, was erected inside the Trubetskoy bastion on the site of its dismantled internal walls in 1870 - 1872 according to the project and under the guidance of engineers K. P. Andreev and M. A. Pasypkin. The prison was created to hold political prisoners. Solitary confinement, harsh conditions of detention, complete isolation from the outside world - were the lot of prisoners. More than one and a half thousand prisoners languished in the dungeons of the prison of the Trubetskoy Bastion during the autocracy. In the period 1870 - 1880, Narodnaya Volya revolutionaries Pavel Kropotkin, German Lopatin, Vera Figner, Andrey Zhelyabov and many others were imprisoned in prison.
In the spring of 1887, after preventing a conspiracy to assassinate Emperor Alexander III, members of the Terrorist Faction of the Narodnaya Volya party were imprisoned, among the organizers of which was Vladimir Lenin's elder brother Alexander Ulyanov. After the trial, the conspirators were transferred from the Peter and Paul Prison to the Shlisselburg Fortress, where they were executed on May 8 (20), 1887.

At the beginning of the revolution of 1905, the writer Maxim Gorky, already known by that time, who shared revolutionary sentiments, became a prisoner of the Political Prison of the Peter and Paul Fortress for his appeal "To all Russian citizens and the public opinion of European states." The writer stayed in the dungeons for several weeks, he was released thanks to the unfolding wide campaign in defense in Russia and abroad.

In the museum you will visit prison cells, where the conditions and life of prisoners are recreated in detail. The stands exhibit many documents and photographs of that time, from which you will learn about many prisoners of the Political Prison of the Peter and Paul Fortress, whose fate is inextricably linked with the history of Russia.
After such a sad tour of the prison casemates, we suggest you finish the tour on the Neva embankment of the Peter and Paul Fortress. After leaving the museum, go back along the Catherine Curtain and Naryshkin Bastion to the Nevsky Gates, after passing through which you will find yourself on the Commandant's Quay, from where a magnificent view of the Neva opens.

Initially, the Nevsky Gates were wooden, like all the fortifications of the fortress, in the 1720s they were rebuilt in stone according to the project of the architect Domenico Trezzini.
The current front view of the Neva Gate from the side of the Neva was acquired in the second half of the 18th century. Built according to the project of the architect N.A. Lvov in 1784-1787 from polished Serdobol granite in the form of a classicist portico with paired columns, decorated with the image of an anchor and decorative bombs with flames on the pediment, the Nevsky Gates have the significance of a triumphal monument in honor of the victories of the Russian fleet.
The northern facade of the gate from the side of the fortress is decorated with the monogram of Catherine II with the date of construction "1787". Under the arch you will see marks - these are the recorded levels of the largest floods in St. Petersburg.

On the Neva embankment, the gates are connected to a granite pier, which since 1860 has been called Komendantskaya. It was from her that the commandant of the Peter and Paul Fortress sailed on a boat to report to the Sovereign Emperor.

Stepping out onto the Neva expanse, you will again see a panorama where St. Petersburg will appear with its front facades of magnificent embankments, palaces and cathedrals.

Then we can offer two options for a walk - along the embankment along the fortress walls along the Neva towards the Palace Bridge and the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island, rounding the fortress from the south side, you will come to the Kronvek bridge, through which you will get to the Petrograd side. Then you can go to a cafe and relax with a cup of coffee or a hearty meal. There is a shorter way - along the embankment in the opposite direction towards the Trinity Bridge, you will come out to the Ioannovsky Bridge, through which our excursion began. There you will see several berths from which you can continue a boat trip along the Neva, canals and rivers of St. Petersburg, or if you are very tired, head to the Gorkovskaya metro station.

We hope that the walking tour of the Peter and Paul Fortress will give you pleasure and many memories.

Under the arch of the Nevsky Gate, on the right side of the wall, there are metal and marble memorial plaques with level marks of the most severe floods in the history of St. Petersburg. The line between letters A and B indicates the level of water rise. Please note that the so-called "pit" is left here - that is, the soil level that existed in the 18th century is shown. This allows you to imagine the full power of the raging elements.
Petersburg floods are not of a river, but of a marine nature. Sea floods - they are also called storm surges - occur on other seas, threaten many cities, but St. Petersburg is one of the largest among them.
Since the founding of the city, more than three hundred floods have occurred in St. Petersburg. Once upon a time, the rise of water above 90 centimeters was considered dangerous for the city. Since during the existence of the city the cultural layer has risen by almost one and a half meters, now the flood is considered to be the rise of water in the Neva by 161 centimeters above the ordinary - the zero mark on the footstock installed at the Mining Institute on Vasilyevsky Island.
After the flood of 1777, Catherine II adopted a decree "on the establishment of signs and signals in the city" to alert the population about the rise in water in the Neva. These decrees were in effect almost unchanged until the 1930s, before the widespread use of radio broadcasting.
The September flood of 1777 was the third highest in the history of St. Petersburg floods. The water then rose by 321 centimeters. Hundreds of houses were destroyed, thousands of trees were uprooted, St. Petersburg cemeteries were washed away, ships were thrown by the wave onto the embankments. The fountains of the Summer Garden, arranged by Peter the Great, perished and were never restored. Shops with goods and food were destroyed, people died.
Empress Catherine wrote to her correspondent: "The Neva represented the spectacle of the destruction of Jerusalem." According to the memoirs of contemporaries, during the flood, the empress prayed earnestly in the church of the Winter Palace. When the danger had passed, she summoned Chief of Police Chicherin to her palace. When he appeared, the empress stood up, bowed from the waist and said: “Thank you, Nikolai Ivanovich! By your mercy, many of my faithful subjects perished! The chief police chief was blamed for the poor condition of the city's watercourses. Then it was believed that the reason for the floods was that the western wind did not allow the Neva water to enter the bay, and in order to avoid a catastrophe, it was enough to direct the "surplus" into the city's rivers and canals. Modern science believes that the cause of the Neva floods is much more complicated. But the brief reprimand of the empress, uttered in a low voice, made such an impression on the general that he immediately had a blow in the palace, he was taken home, where he soon died. His assistant was expelled from Petersburg within 24 hours. Since both were bribe-takers and extortionists known throughout the city, the townspeople were delighted by this turn of events. One of his contemporaries remarked: “There is no silver lining! The water washes away the dirt, and the flood washed away two dirty people."
The most terrible in the history of St. Petersburg was the flood of November 7, 1824, described by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin in the poem "The Bronze Horseman". The water rose 421 centimeters above the ordinary. Vasilyevsky Island suffered the most, one of the inhabitants of which wrote: “... the long-suffering, but righteous God visited St. Petersburg with an unheard-of flood. It was brief, but terrible and disastrous.” According to the memoirs, it is known that "the Neva was one huge lake with Palace Square, pouring out Nevsky Prospekt like a wide river." Petersburg Governor-General Count Miloradovich, who organized assistance to the victims, sailed along the Nevsky in a 12-oared boat. The consequences of the flood were terrible, and for a long time the people of St. Petersburg divided their lives into "before the flood" and "after". Again they remembered the prophecy of the first, unloved wife of Peter - Evdokia Lopukhina, who hated Peter's beloved brainchild: "Petersburg to be empty!"
The second highest rise in water was the flood of 1924 - 380 centimeters. At the same time, fires broke out in the city. The element caused incalculable losses and claimed many human lives. The severity of the situation was aggravated by the post-revolutionary devastation and civil war. It is curious that this flood, or rather, the behavior of laboratory dogs during it, prompted Academician Pavlov to study conditioned reflexes.
The dates of the two most catastrophic floods in the history of the city - separated by exactly a hundred years, 1824 and 1924, set in a mysterious and mystical mood. As the poet said: "Two floods with a difference of a hundred years - don't they shed some light on the meaning of everything?" An even earlier flood of November 1724 cannot be put on a par with them in terms of the height of the water rise - “only” 211 centimeters. But it was fatal for Peter. Rescuing drowning sailors off the coast of Lakhta, the sovereign caught a cold in cold water under a strong wind. A long-standing kidney disease worsened, and in January of the next year, 1725, Peter the Great died.
Maybe it's true - is there something in the mystical magic of numbers and dates? The unpredictability of floods, the suddenness of the furious onslaught of the elements caused mystical horror and gave rise to numerous rumors and gloomy legends in which the river itself became the main character.
Neva, powerful and majestic, immediately became the main street of St. Petersburg. In order to admire the panorama of the Neva banks, we will go out to the Commandant's Quay.

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