Peter and Paul’s Cathedral

Now, let’s come closer to the Peter and Paul cathedral. There are benches in front of it - you might want to sit on one of them and relax for a while. The architect of the cathedral was Domenico Tresini - a famous architect of the city who was invited to Saint Petersburg from Italy by Peter the great. Inside the cathedral you will find a mausoleum holding the remains of the Romanov family. All the members of the royal dynasty starting with Peter I are buried here in the cathedral. Nicolas II and his family, except tzarevich Alexey and princess Mary (whose remains weren’t identified by that time) were brought here in 90s during Yeltsin’s time after DNA expertise confirmed the remains found in 1979 in Yekaterinburg indeed belonged to the final tzar and his family. The remains are buried in a special room on the right from the entrance. Princess Anastasia is also buried together with her parents in the Cathedral, so the Disney story is unfortunately just a legend. One of the latest graves belongs to Nicolas’ mother Maria Fedorovna, who escaped Soviet Russia from Crimea during the civil war together with the remnants of the White Army. She lived in Denmark and for the rest of her life could never believed that her children and grandchildren were executed by Bolsheviks. She always wanted to be buried according to Russian orthodox ceremony in Peter and Paul cathedral together with her husband, but during USSR times it was of course impossible. Her wish came true only 80 years later, in 2007. The last funeral is planned for October 18th 2015 – for tzarevich Alexey and his sister princess Mary. After bolshevik’s execution their bodies were separated from the other members of the family and buried in a different place, so their remains were only found in 2007. Finally, after almost a hundred years of being apart the tzar family will reunite under the roof of Peter and Paul cathedral.

Now Look up at the spire with the angel on top. This angel is one of the most well known symbols of the city. It’s believed that while this angel is hovering in the sky – Saint Petersburg is safe and sound. Until recently, Peter and Paul Bell Tower was the highest building in Saint Petersburg and thus often the victim of lightning strikes. It was even partially destroyed by a severe fire in 1756 and, on the order of Catherine the Great, rebuilt exactly as it had been.
In October 1830, once more the spire and angel were struck by lightning. The structure was about to fail.
As time was too short to build scaffolding around the spire, a brave carpenter from Yaroslav, (Pyotr Telushkin) volunteered to climb along the spire by the sole strength of his hands and toes and with the help of a rope to straighten the angel.

He managed to create a loop around the spire and was able to get to the top by moving this loop upward. When he reached the angel, he fastened a rope ladder allowing him to climb up and down his workplace easily (you can find a picture of it attached to this track). Pyotr Tekushkin became the first famous Russian urban alpinist. According to the legend, when his job was over and he was finally back on the ground, Tsar Nicholas I rewarded him for his courage by having the imperial seal tattooed on his neck. With such a pass, Telushkin was allowed free drinks in all the taverns of the Empire. A tap on the neck and the vodka was served. You can imagine what free vodka leads to in Russia ☺