The amazing city, the first stone of which was laid by Peter I himself, has powerful energy that affects people's feelings. At the sight of unique sights, tourists sigh with excitement and everyone experiences a real aesthetic shock.
The architectural decoration of St. Petersburg is not only surprising. In the decor of luxurious temples, palaces, fortresses, hidden signs that have mystical power are hidden. Speaking of unofficial symbols of the city on the Neva, we can recall the Rostral columns on Vasilyevsky Island, drawbridges, the Alexandrian pillar. But perhaps the first association with Northern Venice will still be the Peter and Paul Fortress, which has become its hallmark.
A bit of history
The history of the appearance of the architectural monument located on Hare Island is closely connected with the history of the foundation of St. Petersburg. In May 1703, the construction of the Peter and Paul Fortress began in the Neva Delta, which was built to defend our lands. In June, a wooden church was consecrated in honor of Saints Peter and Paul in the center of the architectural complex. And later, the stone Peter and Paul Cathedral appeared, which was perceived as the main temple of Russia.
The symbol of approval of the new capital of the Russian state on the shores of the Baltic Sea is an amazing example of early Baroque. Such religious monuments were not built before the king: the wooden church, which appeared first, was not destroyed, but left inside the architectural ensemble. And only at the beginning of the XVIII century it was disassembled and transferred to a soldier's settlement, where it stood for almost 100 years.
Symbol of a strong state
It is known that it was the bell tower with which the construction of the Peter and Paul Cathedral began that the king attached particular importance. In ancient Russia, the so-called belfry walls were built, the idea of tall towers with bells appeared, and only under Peter I they became part of the Orthodox church. The Russian emperor dreamed that a magnificent building with a bell tower would appear in the new capital as soon as possible, which would symbolize that not only the city, but the whole state was firmly on its feet.
The highest state structure
Earlier, the tallest building in Russia was the Ivan the Great Bell Tower in the Kremlin (Moscow). But already in 1709, the wooden spire of the Peter and Paul Fortress surpassed a significant structure and soared to an unprecedented height - 122.5 meters. It was covered with gilded sheets that shimmer when exposed to sunlight.
All wooden structures were installed by the Dutch master Harman van Bolos, personally invited by Peter the Great. The carpenter, who turned into a famous architect, decorated with a ball of gilded copper, which resembled a huge apple, the spire of the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, 40 meters high. And according to the drawing of an Italian architect, Trezzini was cast and mounted on the very top of a copper cross with the figure of a soaring angel, which became another unofficial symbol of the city.
Architectural Monument of Glory
Peter I, who won the Northern War, wanted to make the Peter and Paul Cathedral a monument to the glory of Russian weapons. Numerous relics were stored in the temple with rich interior decoration, which later turned out to be in the Hermitage: captured banners and the keys to the cities taken by Russian troops.
In 1720, the chimes, which the tsar acquired in Amsterdam, were installed on the bell tower, which is still the tallest building in the Russian Orthodox Church. A clock with a musical mechanism performed a simple melody sounded from the town halls of European cities.
In addition, carillon, a musical instrument consisting of 35 bells and a keyboard, was placed on the bell tower, located according to all the canons above the western entrance. On it, every morning, a specially trained person performed various secular works.
City guardian angel
Everyone knows that Venice of the North has heavenly patrons protecting the city and its inhabitants from adversity. But there is a modern keeper, everyone can see on the gilded spire of the Peter and Paul Fortress. An angel crowning the tallest building in St. Petersburg, watching what is happening below. This is a new figure of the messenger of God, because the strongest winds repeatedly broke the wings of miniature sculptures.
Incidents with an angel
The first angel, which was made in the form of a weather vane, burned down during a severe thunderstorm in the middle of the 18th century. After this incident, the spire of the Peter and Paul Fortress, whose photo makes a lasting impression on tourists, was equipped with a lightning rod mounted by the brilliant physicist Leonard Euler. Many versions of the new sculpture were received from famous architects, but Catherine II rejected them, citing the fact that "they are not so beautiful." It was decided to recreate the same figure that was originally installed: an angel holding a cross with both hands.
It so happened that the natural element was again stronger: because of the wind, a celestial creature lost its wings. The famous architect Rinaldi developed an interesting project, changing the silhouette a little, and the new figure hovered in the air for more than 40 years.
When another hurricane struck St. Petersburg, the angel again suffered. In order to fix it, it was necessary to build forests around the bell tower. There was not enough money for this, and no one dared to offer their services. Time passed, and only one daredevil, a young peasant engaged in roofing, decided to try his hand. He climbed the spire of the Peter and Paul Fortress along the rope ladder and repaired the angel at great height for a month and a half. For such a feat that no one could repeat, the young man was generously awarded with money and given him the medal “For diligence”.
Spire Repair
New repairs were needed in the 19th century. Decayed wooden structures were replaced with metal ones, and the spire of the Peter and Paul Fortress, 40 meters high and weighing more than 50 tons, became an octagonal truncated pyramid designed by D. Zhuravsky, a Russian scientist and mechanic. He also developed a very simple rotary mechanism on bearings, which did not require maintenance. And since 1858, an angel spins freely on a spire.
The last restoration
In the winter of 2003, they replaced the figure of the keeper of the city, whose new life was given not only by restorers, but also climbers. People worked seven days a week, in severe frosts, at a temperature of minus 20 ° C. In such difficult conditions it was impossible to use either gloves or tools so as not to damage anything, and all the bolts were twisted with bare hands.
A restored three-meter sculpture gilded with gold leaf was hoisted on a spire of the cathedral of the Peter and Paul Fortress using a helicopter. The wingspan reaches four meters, and the height of the cross in the hands of the defender of St. Petersburg is six meters. At the very top, they also established a new gilded sphere, in which they laid a message to the descendants and the icon of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos. The note is awaiting new restorers, but experts have vouched that this will happen no earlier than 50 years later.
Now local residents and guests are admiring a miniature figure that burns with gold on the spire of the Peter and Paul Fortress.
News about the message for Ksenia Sobchak
More recently, it became known that a message was kept under the angel for Ksenia Sobchak. He was left by the father of a woman who announced her participation in the presidential election in Russia. In 1995, Anatoly Sobchak approached the honored pilot of the country V. Bazykin, who was supposed to lift the restored sculpture, and handed him a capsule with a note inside. For more than 22 years, a hermetically sealed box on the spire of the Peter and Paul Fortress has been keeping a letter with verses to the first mayor of St. Petersburg addressed to his daughter. It will be possible to open the capsule only in 2045.
