St Petersburg Final - The Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral

Our final tour in St Petersburg was to the original citadel of St Petersburg - the Peter and Paul Fortress. Built by Peter the Great at the start of the 18th century, this fortress encloses the Peter and Paul Cathedral, where many of the ruling Romanovs are buried, including the last family that was brutally murdered, even the children. 

We first saw the fortress when we cruised along the river the morning before. At that time, the sunlight shining on the very tall, golden spires captured our attention. Our guide then told us that during WW2, the glitter of all the gold on all the domes, spires and minarets of the city was a dead giveaway to German pilots. A number of citizens therefore very bravely climbed up over them and draped them in cloth so the sparkle of the gold could no longer be seen from the air. This was a very difficult, dangerous task, especially in the high winds, but their courage saved many of these iconic buildings from destruction.

Walking into the fortress to view the cathedral at the end of a long, hot day, after being in sauna-like conditions in our coach because the air conditioning was not working that afternoon, I must confess I felt I was too tired to walk through yet another cathedral. I have seen so many on this long journey. But when I entered this cathedral, and saw the tombs of so many of the Romanov family about whom I had learned much over the two days, I was very moved by the spirit and the beauty of this sacred place. 

It was with great reluctance that when we returned to the ship I said goodbye to my Russian guide. She was a delightful, knowledgeable, thoughtful young lady.

I was so glad I had seen St Petersburg. It is a lovely city, with such a rich and intriguing history, and so many beautiful works of art and spectacular buildings and gardens. 

The only thing that did not impress any of our group was the food served to us in the two restaurants we visited over the two days. Also, I have been told by fellow passengers who have stayed in Russia, that like most countries you visit, you should never drink the tap water, or even clean your teeth with it. We were supplied with bottled water by our guides, and of course cleaned our teeth on the ship, so that was not an issue for us.

The first two photos show the fortress and cathedral as seen from the river, using the zoom function on my camera. The others show inside this beautiful cathedral. One of these shows the dedicated tomb in which the murdered children and their parents were buried, and the other shows the tombs of other most well-known Romanovs. (I do apologise - I cannot remember which ones they were now.)