Where is the fortress located?

The citadel is situated on Hare Island along the northern bank of the Neva River.

Who designed the fortress?

Domenico Trezzini planned the structure as a star fortress.

Who founded the citadel?

Peter the Great established the site as the original citadel of Saint Petersburg.

What historical roles did the fortress serve?

The compound functioned as a military garrison base and as a jail for political detainees.

Does the fortress function as a museum?

The complex has been restored and operates as a museum and tourist destination.

Saint Petersburg · Russia

Peter and Paul Fortress: what's nearby, how to get there and when to go · 2026

You walk onto Hare Island to clear your head among historic bastions, trading city streets for a citadel that long-term residents treat as an open courtyard rather than a tourist stop.

Peter and Paul Fortress · CC BY-SA 4.0

Map of places

About the place

Domenico Trezzini designed this star fortress as a secure citadel, establishing the walled island perimeter that held political detainees before turning into a city museum.

Peter the Great established the citadel on Hare Island to secure the settlement against external attack. Architect Domenico Trezzini laid out the defensive perimeter as a stone star fortress. Beyond quartering the municipal military garrison, the bastion soon functioned as a high-security penal facility for political detainees and imperial dissidents.

Read on

Revolutionary upheaval made the stronghold a focal point of armed conflict. Mutinous guardsmen stormed the gates to liberate prisoners, and fortress artillery later shelled the Winter Palace when Bolshevik forces seized authority. Aerial strikes by the Luftwaffe battered the stone bastions during the wartime siege, prompting extensive post-war restoration work that converted the entire compound into a public museum.

Associations

Hare IslandIsland ground where Peter the Great founded the initial defensive citadel.
Political prisonWalled bastions held high-ranking state captives and imperial dissidents.
Winter Palace bombardmentCitadel artillery shelled provisional ministers during the Bolshevik uprising.
Wartime bombardmentAir raids caused severe structural destruction that took extensive repair work.

Facts

Peter the Great founded the citadel on Hare Island as a star fortress designed by Domenico Trezzini.
The fortress served as a high-security garrison and a state prison for political detainees.
During the Bolshevik takeover, fortress artillery fired upon government ministers inside the Winter Palace.
Bombardment by the Luftwaffe during the wartime siege caused severe damage before post-war restoration.

Updated September 8, 2026Source: Wikipedia

Peter and Paul Fortress: what's nearby, how to get there and when to go · 2026

What is around29

Domenico Trezzini designed this star fortress as a secure citadel, establishing the walled island perimeter that held political detainees before turning into a city museum.

Getting there and staying

Google reviews

Similar nearby