Peter and Paul Fortress, St. Petersburg

We finally had the chance to visit the Peter and Paul Fortress in the afternoon of Day 6 (17.09.2025), which we had earlier admired from a distance during our Neva River cruise. Built on Hare Island (Zayachy Island), this historic fortress is not only the birthplace of St. Petersburg but also the resting place of the Russian imperial family.

Hare Island itself is modest in size - about 0.33 sq km, roughly 750 m long and 360 m wide. When Peter the Great chose the site in 1703, it was little more than a marshy sandbank on the Neva River. Today, the entire island is occupied by the fortress, its star-shaped bastions, ramparts, and the gleaming Peter and Paul Cathedral forming a striking landmark along the city skyline.

Stepping inside the cathedral, the grandeur of the interior feels solemn and sacred. The cathedral is lined with over forty white-marble tombs, each marked by a golden cross, giving the place the quiet dignity of a royal cemetery. Among those laid to rest here are Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Paul I, Alexander I, Nicholas I, and Alexander II, known as the liberator of the serfs. In a nearby chapel dedicated to St. Catherine, lie the remains of Nicholas II and his family - tragically executed in 1918 - were reinterred in 1998, bringing closure to one of Russia’s most painful chapters. Beyond its elegance, the cathedral carries immense historical weight as the imperial burial vault of the Romanov dynasty.

Today, the Peter and Paul Fortress stands as far more than a military monument. It is a symbol of Russia’s birth, its imperial splendor, and the poignant end of the Romanov dynasty - a place where the city’s story, and that of an empire, come full circle.

Right: Menera Tun Mustapha.

At the heart of the fortress stands the Peter and Paul Cathedral, one of St. Petersburg’s most recognizable monuments. Completed between 1712 and 1733, its gleaming golden spire - topped by an angel holding a cross - soars 122.5 m high, about the height of a 40-storey building. It was an extraordinary engineering accomplishment for its time. As I looked up at the spire, I couldn’t help but think of other remarkable towers: the 32-storey Menara Tun Mustapha in my hometown, completed in 1976, and Paris’s 330-m-high Eiffel Tower, built in 1887. Yet, the cathedral’s towering spire was completed more than a century and a half before the Eiffel Tower - a testament to the ingenuity of early 18th-century builders.

With so many burial chambers occupying the cathedral, I couldn’t help but wonder how worshippers manage to gather for Sunday services in such limited space. Unlike Evangelical churches, Russian Orthodox worship provides no seats - the faithful stand throughout the entire liturgy! In some of the Orthodox cathedrals I visited earlier, I did notice benches along the walls, reserved for the elderly or infirm. This tradition of standing reflects a profound sense of reverence and humility before God - where even the simple act of standing becomes an expression of devotion.

A small chapel lie the remains of Nicholas II and his family.