Built to protect, the Nevskaya Kurtina whispers tales of resilience and transformation. Here, at the southern edge of the Peter and Paul Fortress, imagine the Neva River flowing past, a constant witness to the Kurtina’s changing role. This section of the fortress wall, connecting the Gosudarev and Naryshkin bastions, wasn’t always the granite-clad structure you see today. Originally, like the rest of the fortress, the Nevskaya Kurtina began as a humble earth and timber construction in 1703. Speed was of the essence then. Later, between 1727 and 1731, it was rebuilt in stone under the watchful eyes of architect Domenico Trezzini and military engineer Burkhard Christoph von Münnich. The Nevskaya Kurtina takes its name from the river it faces, the mighty Neva. Picture its original two-tiered casemates, twenty-two in all. These spaces have housed everything from barracks for the fortress garrison to storehouses and, chillingly, prison cells. The Decembrists, imprisoned here in 1825-1826, knew these walls intimately, as did participants of the revolutionary-democratic movement in the 1860s. Years later, in 1889-1890, military engineer A.A. Arkhangelsky redesigned the casemates into the single-tier structures we see now, altering the window openings in the process. Today, these casemates hold exhibitions of the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg. They offer a glimpse into the fortress’s past, its role in the city’s defense, and the lives touched by its presence. Stand here, at the Nevskaya Kurtina, and feel the echoes of those who walked these very stones, soldiers, prisoners, and now, you.
Центральный дом работников искусств
Step through the grand wooden doors of the Central House of the Workers of Art, and you’ll be transported to