St. Petersburg by historical standards is considered far from being the most ancient city in the world. However, its mystical essence does not cause any doubts. Many secrets are connected with his birth, as well as with the construction of the Peter and Paul Fortress, which today houses the Museum of the History of St. Petersburg. There is a version: before Peter I founded the city of his name and ordered the construction of the Cathedral of Peter and Paul on Hare Island, there was a temple on this place where bloody sacrifices were made, and eagles flew over it. The king saw this as a good sign…
Building a fortress
It is known that Tsar Peter was personally involved in the construction of the Peter and Paul Fortress. He himself drew the project and made sure that his plan was implemented to the smallest detail. The architect Domenico Trezzini, who led the construction of the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, reported in letters to his wife that he coordinated each element of the structure withking, bringing his secret plan to perfection. What "secret plan" is the architect talking about? Not clear.
But it is interesting that a year before the laying of the fortress (in 1702), Tsar Peter went to the Solovetsky Monastery. According to one version, it was the monks who told him where to lay the complex of structures. And another version refers researchers to the events of the foreign trip of scorer Pyotr Mikhailov, which, as they say, ended with his initiation into Freemasons.
Which of the explanations is true - history is silent. However, what is obvious today is the atypical layout of the fortress. If in her drawing we connect the towers and walls with straight lines, we get two triangles combined into a six-pointed star. And here we come close to the mystical secrets of St. Petersburg, the State Museum of History of which is located in the most mysterious place in the city.
Oddities of Petropavlovka
Whether the magic star was the reason why St. Petersburg has never been captured by the enemy in its entire history. Or is it just a coincidence? It's hard to judge. However, many defenders of the Peter and Paul Fortress in 1941 claimed that this was the safest place in the entire city. And eyewitnesses assured that they saw how a projectile flying towards the cathedral suddenly changed its trajectory and fell next to the temple. They tried to explain this phenomenon by the wind. However, he was not there that day…
The first oddities began back in 1917. During the October events, the guards of the fortress took the siderevolutionary masses and opened casemates with political prisoners. A month later, the complex of buildings on Zayachy Island entered the system of prisons of the Cheka. However, in 1925, the Bolsheviks decided to build a stadium on the site of the fortress. What forces prevented this project is unknown. But a year later Petropavlovka became a branch of the Museum of the Revolution.
Researchers say that the fortress has not revealed all its secrets, so the place where the Museum of the History of St. Petersburg is located today can still surprise us. In particular, they talk about underground tunnels and Masonic symbols, which are found in abundance here.
Cathedral of Peter and Paul
This cathedral, which is the basis of the architectural complex called the Peter and Paul Fortress, is a model of Western architecture. It is in it that many symbols are concentrated that historians attribute to Masonic, for example, the royal arch or the compasses of the sages. Peter I constantly urged the builders of the cathedral, but they did not have time to complete it during the life of the king. But he found his last peace within its walls, as did his descendants, including the last emperor of the Russian Empire.
The tour of the Museum of the History of St. Petersburg usually begins with the Cathedral of Peter and Paul. It includes expositions located in the buildings of the Peter and Paul Fortress, as well as seven more branches scattered around the city (the Rumyantsev mansion on the English Embankment, the building of the Stable Department on the Moika) and the Leningrad Region.
Within the fortress (in Ioannovsky ravelin) are concentrated not onlyhistorical exhibitions, but also the Museum of Cosmonautics.
Creation
In Russia, the Museum of the History of St. Petersburg is one of the largest - its funds include more than two million items of historical value. And the beginning of this meeting was laid back in 2007, when such eminent people as A. N. Benois, V. A. Pokrovsky, Baron N. N. Wrangel, V. Ya. Kurbatov, Prince V. N. Argutinsky-Dolgorukov and other famous residents of the capital founded the Museum of Old Petersburg.
His address changed many times as the era changed.
Birth of the Northern Capital
To trace the history of St. Petersburg in the museum, you need to go to the very beginning of the exposition, located in the halls of the Commandant's House, where you will be told and shown the moment of the city's foundation. They will indicate. which includes objects that are witnesses of the laying of the Northern capital. These are documents, lithographs, fragments of buildings, and things that belonged to the first settlers. The exposition is divided into fragments, each of which tells about certain periods of the city's development, as well as about its inhabitants, whose names are still known to many.
Here you will also see exhibits related to the maritime theme, which was one of the most important during the reign of Peter I: ship models, elements of their equipment, ancient books, costumes of that time, as well as items that can be used to recreate the atmosphere those years.
Visitors of the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg with special interestvisiting the exhibition dedicated to the Decembrists. Audio recordings made by famous actors help to feel the spirit of that time. Here one should not rush, but rather try to be transported back to those events. By the way, a list of the names of all the Decembrists who participated in the conspiracy will help you with this. You can familiarize yourself with it during the inspection of the exposition.
What else to see
Toward the end of the exhibition, you will find yourself in an era more familiar to us, since it is on the border of time "before" and "after" October 1917.
Here there are many of those little things that made up the life of Petersburgers: clothes, fashion, news sounding from the phone; devices that make life more comfortable (drawers, boxes, household "appliances" such as irons and sewing machines, etc.).
You will see how the residents of the capital traveled and what they took with them on the road, what dishes different classes ate from and what was the difference in their wardrobes. You will spend a lot of time on this exhibition, but it's worth it.
The Trubetskoy Bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress presents an exhibition that gives you goosebumps. This is one of the most famous and gloomy prisons in Russia and St. Petersburg. In the museum of the history of the city, you can get an idea of each time through which the Northern capital passed. However, you should be aware that this trip may take several visits.
