{"id":13124,"date":"2019-09-13T18:30:57","date_gmt":"2019-09-14T01:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/?p=13124"},"modified":"2019-12-02T13:46:29","modified_gmt":"2019-12-02T21:46:29","slug":"peter-and-paul-fortress-easy-pace-russia-dispatch-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/peter-and-paul-fortress-easy-pace-russia-dispatch-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Easy Pace Russia: Peter and Paul Fortress (Dispatch #3)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"St.<\/p>\n

St. Petersburg<\/a> is, without a doubt, one of the truly beautiful cities of the world. But this grand metropolis, embraced by water and accented by some 600 palaces, wasn\u2019t always covered in gold. The city, in its infancy, was just a citadel, guarding the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea<\/a> in the Bay of Finland against would-be invaders from its vantage point on a small island inhabited primarily by rabbits: Zayachy Ostrov (Hare Island).<\/p>\n

\"the<\/p>\n

Together with 23 other guests, I\u2019m being introduced to the largest country (land mass) on the planet via Insight Vacations\u2018 Easy Pace Russia <\/em>journey on the very spot where, on May 27, 1703, Tsar Peter I put shovel to earth and began building St. Petersburg from scratch: Peter and Paul Fortress.<\/p>\n

\"closer<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was here,\u201d intones Gulya, Insight\u2019s local expert, \u201cthat Peter the Great\u2019s vision began to take shape culminating in a sprawling imperial city built atop 101 islands, connected by more than 400 bridges and intertwined by some 40 rivers and canals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"inside<\/p>\n

An optional experience on the Easy Pace Russia<\/em> itinerary, one can\u2019t really come to St. Petersburg and not visit this fortress. Standing proud along the banks of the Neva River Delta, the Peter and Paul Fortress is where the Russian Empire began, a reign that flourished then fell within the space of just 200 years.<\/p>\n

\"tree-lined<\/p>\n

Originally built as a military stronghold to fend off invading forces, the ramparts were never battle tested. For this reason, from 1721 onwards, the Peter and Paul Fortress was used, among other things, as a high-security political prison for those that spoke ill of the empire. Among the list of famous Russians who were imprisoned here included Alexi, Peter the Great\u2019s rebellious son, Dostoyevsky, Gorky and Trotsky. Parts of this notorious jail are now open to the public, but our party of 24 \u2014 nary one a dissident \u2014 have better things to do than explore dark, dingy isolation cells, right?<\/p>\n

\"Saints<\/p>\n

The main attraction of the fortress is its namesake cathedral where almost all of the emperors and empresses of the Romanov Dynasty have been laid to rest. Designed by Domenico Trezzini, the 18th century Italo-Swiss architect, Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral was the very first stone-built church in St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n

Following Gulya\u2019s lead, we pass through the electronic turnstile and into a piece of gilded history. Lens caps off, lets have a look around.<\/p>\n

\"interior<\/p>\n

\"theAs our time on this former rabbit colony draws to a close, we head back outside to admire the cathedral\u2019s exterior.<\/p>\n

Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral boasts the tallest bell tower in the city center at 404 ft capped by an angelic weathervane. Gulya points out that, \u201cDuring the reign of Peter the Great, the angel on top came loose and a serf climbed all the way up and repaired it.\u201d She continues, \u201cSo grateful was Tsar Peter I that he immediately granted the serf his freedom and presented him with a gold cup that entitled the man to free drinks wherever he roamed for the rest of his life.\u201d Pausing for effect, she concludes this historic footnote by telling us, \u201cUnfortunately, the poor man died of alcoholism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Making our way to the Insight motor coach, we take our final look around the grounds of this six-sided bastion: the City History Museum, the Mint \u2014 the only one in Russia producing coins \u2014 the Boat House, the Carriage House, and a monument dedicated to the island\u2019s original inhabitants, who just happen to be in a good mood and ham it up with our tour mascot, one gregarious, ten-year-old Aussie boy from Sydney.<\/p>\n

\"the<\/p>\n

Go here for detailed information on Insight\u2019s six itineraries to Russia<\/a>, as well as more than 100 other premium and luxury-escorted routes around Europe, or call toll-free (888) 680-1241, or contact your travel agent.<\/p>\n

\"Peterhof\"<\/p>\n

Join me right after lunch when we\u2019ll hop aboard a hydrofoil and head to Peterhof, the imperial residence known as The Russian Versailles, located just a few nautical miles outside of St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Palladian Traveler arrives at the very spot where Peter the Great grabbed a shovel, broke ground and gave birth to St. Petersburg as he files his third dispatch from his Easy Pace Russia journey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":13086,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[2710,260,2752,174,2754,2711,2753],"class_list":["post-13124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-travel","tag-easy-pace-russia","tag-insight-vacations","tag-peter-and-paul-fortress","tag-russia","tag-saints-peter-and-paul-cathedral","tag-st-petersburg","tag-tsar-peter-i"],"yoast_head":"\nEasy Pace Russia: Peter and Paul Fortress (Dispatch #3) - Traveling Archive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Standing proud along the banks of the Neva River Delta, the Peter and Paul Fortress is where St. Petersburg and the Russian Empire began.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/peter-and-paul-fortress-easy-pace-russia-dispatch-3\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Easy Pace Russia: Peter and Paul Fortress (Dispatch #3) - 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