Vague martial theme: the Peter and Paul fortress and Siege of Leningrad memorial.
Entrance to the Peter and Paul fortress [59 57 5 N, 30 19 19 E].This fortress is the historic starting point of the city, constructed from 1703 to protect the site of Peter the Great’s future imperial capital.
A very Russian sign at the entry point to the island on which the fortress is built. It’s hard to work out from some of the pictures what you’re not supposed to do…
Curtain wall of the fortress showing the watchtower and river gate.
Roofline of the fortress looking towards the Peter and Paul cathedral.
Interior of the Peter and Paul cathedral.
The cathedral houses the tombs of nearly all the Russian emperors from Peter the Great. The nameplate on Peter’s tomb is clearly illuminated; Catherine the Great’s nameplate (to the left) is much more difficult to make out.
St. Catherine’s chapel is a memorial to Nicholas II and his family who were executed on the 17th July 1918 at Yekaterinburg during the Russian revolution. (The date and place can just be made out on the memorials. Note that the date is given in both Julian and Gregorian calendars since the Russian Orthodox church retains the older calendar for its liturgical calendar)
Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad – a Soviet memorial to those who died during the siege of Leningrad (as St. Petersburg was then known). An estimated 1.2 million civilians died of starvation during the siege. Total troop losses were also staggering, at nearly one million killed or missing.
Unfortunately the memorial is in the middle of a roundabout in a nondescript suburb of south St Petersburg [59 50 37 N, 30 19 19 E] and was practically deserted.