This private tour introduces you to one of the most beautiful and fascinating landmarks in St Petersburg – Peter and Paul Fortress! Your private guide will ensure you’ll have a personal and in-depth experience while regaling you with stories about the site’s past.

Arrange your private tour of the Peter and Paul Fortress to start at a time to suit your schedule. Once inside the attraction, your itinerary is flexible, so if there’s something you want to see more of, simply let your guide know.

Head inside and start exploring, learning about the impressive building’s history. The oldest structure in St Petersburg, the fortress was built in the 1700s to defend against an invasion by the Swedes. The attack never came, and the site went on to be used as a prison until as recently as 1917.

Visit Trubetskoy Bastion, one of the old prison blocks, and hear how it served as the main political prison of the Russian Empire as well as a torture chamber for the secret services. Whereas it once symbolized political repression, the building is now a museum that charts the history of its former inmates. Browse the exhibits with your guide as you walk around.

Continue to the Russian Orthodox Peter and Paul Cathedral, and marvel at its Baroque interior – a standout feature that sets it apart from the city’s other Orthodox cathedrals. Look up toward the bell tower and visit the tombs of emperors and eminent Russians like Tsar Peter the Great. 

The Peter and Paul Fortress is also the centre of a number of St. Petersburg urban traditions, among them the daily firing of the cannon from the Naryshkin Bastion at noon. Many people come here to witness the noon cannon shot, which is a daily tradition since the 19th century. Every day at 12 o'clock a cannon fires a blank shot from the Naryshkin Bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress. This tradition originates from Peter's epoch, when the cannons announced the beginning and the end of the working day, alerted the local citizens about the floods and marked important state events. Between 1873 and 1934 the gun was fired from the Naryshkin bastion at noon for the citizens to synchronize their watches. Then the tradition was eradicated and, after the 20-year gap, was revived in 1957, during the celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the city’s foundation. Today this tradition to celebrate the noon with an artillery shot - is the unique of its kind, you won't see it anywhere in the world.

The majestic view of the granite walls surrounding the golden-spired Peter and Paul Cathedral will stay in your memory forever. The angel on top of the steeple is our protector and a symbol of St. Petersburg. 

After exploring the fortress and its various sites, continue to The State Museum of Political History of Russia - the museum of national significance, which has already celebrated its centenary, keeps evidence of Russia’s political life from the late 18th till the early 21st century. The Museum collection counts over 460,000 items. They reflect the history of the state system reforming, fates of the most prominent historical figures, processes of development of revolutionary, democratic, social and political movements and parties.