Neva Fortress Gate. Neva Gate
Description
After viewing the Nevsky Panorama, you can visit the exhibitions of the Trubetskoy Bastion prison. From the Sovereign's Bastion, go back along the fortress wall facing the Neva and to the end.
Peter-Pavel's Fortress from the beginning of the 18th century, it also served as a prison for especially dangerous state criminals, who were housed in casemates of bastions and curtains, and special prison buildings were built.
In the building of the Trubetskoy Bastion prison that has survived to this day (the Building of the Prison Department at the St. Petersburg Fortress - official name prison) there is an extensive museum exhibition dedicated to the history of imprisonment of prisoners of the “Russian Bastille”.
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 design and under the leadership 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 Trubetskoy Bastion prison under the autocracy. In the period 1870 - 1880, revolutionaries-People's Will were imprisoned in prison - Pavel Kropotkin, German Lopatin, Vera Figner, Andrei Zhelyabov and many others.
In the spring of 1887, after preventing a plot to assassinate Emperor Alexander III, members of the “Terrorist Faction” of the Narodnaya Volya party, among the organizers of which was Vladimir Lenin’s elder brother Alexander Ulyanov, were imprisoned. 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 already well-known writer Maxim Gorky, 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 spent several weeks in prison; he was released thanks to a wide campaign of 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 display 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 fates are 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 the Naryshkin Bastion to the Neva Gate, passing through which you will find yourself on the Komendantskaya pier, from where a magnificent view of the Neva opens.
Initially, the Neva Gate was wooden, like all the fortifications of the fortress; in the 1720s they were rebuilt into stone ones according to the design of the architect Domenico Trezzini.
The Neva Gate acquired its current ceremonial appearance from the Neva in the second half of the 18th century. Built according to the design of the architect N. A. Lvov in 1784 - 1787 from polished Serdobol granite in the form of a classic portico with paired columns, decorated with an image of an anchor and decorative bombs with tongues of fire on the pediment, the Neva Gate has the significance of a triumphal monument in honor of the victories of the Russian fleet.
The northern façade of the gate from the fortress side is decorated with the monogram of Catherine II with the construction date “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 gate is connected to a granite pier, which in 1860 began to be 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.
Coming out onto the Neva expanse, you will again see a panorama where St. Petersburg will appear with its grand 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, going around the fortress on the south side, you will come out to the Kronveksky 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 have 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 piers, from which you can continue your boat tour along the Neva, canals and rivers of St. Petersburg, or if you are very tired, head to the Gorkovskaya metro station.
We hope that hiking A tour of the Peter and Paul Fortress will give you pleasure and many memories. Category: Curious St. Petersburg Tags:
Neva Gate, rebuilt in 1787 in the classical style according to the design of a prominent figure of 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 defensive significance: the fortress acquired an appearance corresponding to its outstanding role historical center capital of the empire. The first gate was built in the Neva curtain between the Sovereign and Naryshkin bastions back in 1714. Then they were made of wood - like the pier next to them, which looked like ordinary wooden walkways. In the early 1720s, the gate was rebuilt in stone by Domenico Trezzini, but the pier remained wooden until the 1770s.
Nevsky Gate and Commandant's Pier (issue 67 – Peter and Paul Fortress)
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Nevsky Gate and Komendantskaya pier in the painting by Ivan Ivanov “View of the Neva River embankment on the day of Midsummer”. From here members of the imperial family, sailing along the Neva from Winter Palace. Initially, the pier was called Tsarskaya, later – Nevskaya, and from the 1760s – Komendantskaya. The boat of the commandant (chief) of the fortress was moored here. One of the oldest city ceremonies began from the pier - the celebration of the opening of navigation. This event was of particular significance for the city, which grew up on islands and until the mid-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 cup, filling it to the top with silver rubles. This was followed by the highest order to open navigation. Cannons fired from the walls of the fortress, fireworks were set off, and the water area was filled with ships and boats of all kinds under multi-colored flags. At this time, “Midnight” was 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 pier to consecrate the Neva water. At the ceremonial dinner in the fortress, huge sturgeons were served, “caught not in any other river, but certainly in the Neva.” Back in 1715, by decree of Peter I, a footstock was strengthened 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 laid the foundation for regular hydrological observations in Russia. It was by the divisions on this footing rod that the height of the rise of water during floods was determined.
“Chronicle of catastrophic floods” under the arch of the Neva Gate (issue 67 – Peter and Paul Fortress)
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"Chronicle of catastrophic floods" on the wall under the arch of the Neva Gate. 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). The pavement here has been specially deepened to the position in which it was in the 18th century. From 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 harvested 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 flood was on November 7, 1824. “The Neva amounted to Palace Square one huge lake, flowing out along Nevsky Prospekt like a wide river,” recalled an eyewitness. Providing assistance to the townspeople, the Governor-General then sailed along Nevsky Prospect on his huge boat.
Under the arch of the Neva Gate on the right on the wall there are metal and marble memorial plaques with marks of the level 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.
St. Petersburg floods are not of a river, but of a sea nature. Sea floods - they are also called storm surges - occur in other seas and 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, water rises above 90 centimeters were 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 a flood is considered to be a rise in water in the Neva 161 centimeters above the ordinary level - the zero mark on the foot rod 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 notify the population about the rise of water in the Neva. These decrees remained 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 entire history of St. Petersburg floods. The water then rose to 321 centimeters. Hundreds of houses were destroyed, thousands of trees were uprooted, St. Petersburg cemeteries were washed away, ships were washed up on the embankments. The fountains built by Peter died Summer Garden, never restored. Shops with goods and food were destroyed, people died.
Empress Catherine wrote to her correspondent: “The Neva presented the spectacle of the destruction of Jerusalem.” According to the recollections of contemporaries, during the flood the Empress prayed fervently in the Church of the Winter Palace. When the danger had passed, she called 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 of Police was accused of the poor condition of the city's watercourses. Then it was believed that the cause of the floods was that the western wind did not allow the Neva water to enter the bay, and in order to avoid a disaster it was enough to direct the “excess” into the city rivers and canals. Modern science believes that the cause of the Neva floods is much more complex. But the short reprimand of the empress, pronounced in a quiet voice, made such an impression on the general that he immediately suffered a blow in the palace, he was taken home, where he soon died. His assistant was expelled from St. Petersburg within 24 hours. Since both were bribe takers and extortionists known throughout the city, the townspeople were pleased with this turn of events. One of his contemporaries remarked: “Every cloud has a silver lining! The water washes away the dirt, and the flood washed away two dirty people.”
The most terrible flood 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 normal. Hardest hit Vasilyevsky Island, one of whose residents wrote: “... the long-suffering but righteous God visited St. Petersburg with an unprecedented flood. It was brief, but terrible and disastrous.” According to memoirs, it is known that “the Neva and Palace Square formed one huge lake, flowing out along Nevsky Prospekt like a wide river.” St. Petersburg Governor-General Count Miloradovich, who was organizing assistance to the victims, sailed along Nevsky in a 12-oar boat. The consequences of the flood were terrible, and for a long time St. Petersburg residents divided their lives into “before the flood” and “after.” Again we remembered the prophecy of Peter’s first, unloved wife, Evdokia Lopukhina, who hated Peter’s beloved brainchild: “Petersburg will be empty!”
The second highest water rise was the flood of 1924 - 380 centimeters. At the same time, fires started in the city. The disaster caused incalculable losses and took away 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 - create a mysterious and mystical mood. As the poet said: “Two floods a hundred years apart - don’t they shed some light on the meaning of everything?” The 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. While 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 following year, 1725, Peter the Great passed away.
Maybe it’s true - there is something in the mystical magic of numbers and dates? The unpredictability of floods and the suddenness of the violent onslaught of the elements caused mystical horror and gave rise to numerous rumors and dark legends in which the river itself became the main character.
The 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 Komendantskaya pier.
Buy an excursion for 149.5 rubles.
Nevsky Gate (Russia) - description, history, location. The exact address, phone, website. Tourist reviews, photos and videos.
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The Neva Gate connected Naryshkin and Sovereign's bastions Peter and Paul Fortress, they were built in 1716, when the walls of the citadel were still made of wood and earth. It was the only way out towards the Neva, building materials, weapons and provisions that arrived on ships were delivered through them. The inside of the gate has been preserved since it was rebuilt in stone in 1732 until today. In the 80s 18th century architect N. A. Lvov created a project that most fully met the requirements of those years: the new gate was not only beautiful, but also functional due to the powerful granite pier.
What to see
Looking at the gate from the Komendantskaya pier, you are amazed at its harmonious and austere beauty in the classicist style. The width and height of the structure is about 12 m, it is made of light gray granite. On each side there are two columns connected at the bottom by two beams, and on top decorated with a triangular pediment (the name of the gate and the year of its creation are indicated on it) and a decorated pattern depicting an anchor and two crossed palm branches entwined with ribbons.
In the arch of the Neva Gate you can see marks of rising water levels during severe floods that befell St. Petersburg in the 18th-20th centuries.
On top of the pediment there are prototypes of cannonballs with tongues of flame, symbolizing the military purpose of the fortress. Having passed under them inside and turned around, we will see a more modest composition, but in general terms it repeats the main facade. The arched shape of the entrance is framed by 4 flat pilasters and a triangular pediment with decorations in the form of the letter “E” - the monogram of Empress Catherine II, a golden crown and snow-white banners.
Practical information
Address: St. Petersburg, o. Zayachiy, Peter and Paul Fortress, 3k 4D. Coordinates: 59.949245, 30.318423.
How to get there: 10-15 minutes by car from the Moskovsky railway station, 12 minutes on foot from the Gorkovskaya metro station.
Opening hours: the fortress territory is open from 9:30 to 21:00, completely closed at 22:00. Entrance to the fortress territory is free. Excursions and visits to exhibitions are paid separately.
