Wandering Camera - Notes about St.Petersburg and it's suburbs

Wandering Camera

Album 317
(Translated by Straube)

More for those who love ruins :)

Here we'll talk about ruins of BIP fortress in Pavlovsk.
This is the place where the stream Tyizva joins the Slavyanka river.

Most people prefer famous parks, so this place is usually deserted.

In the beginning of XVIII century there were Swedish fortifications here. In the annals it is mentioned that

"in 1702 in August, 13 Russian army again met the Swedes on the coast of Izhora and the fight began. Enemy cavalry, having lost up to five hundred people, has retreated to strategically convenient place at merge of Slavyanka with Tyizva. The Swedish army tried to fortify there. For three days they have been raising the banks and building redoubts, but were dislodged by the P.M. Apraksin detachment and fell back to Dudorovshina (Duderhof) first, and then to Nienshants fortress, which was situated where Ohta runs into Neva."

In 1778 a small palace called Mariental was built here.

In 1785, by Paul's I order and according to V.F.Brenny's project, instead of the palace they started to build a fortress - with powerful fortifications, towers and drawbridges. Construction was completed in 1798.

In 10 years after Paul's I death the fortress has been abolished (as a fortress).

BIP fortress in Paul's times.
At first had the same name as a palace - Mariental.

Both illustrations were taken from here.

In 1807 - 1910 the former palace accommodated the first Russian school for deaf and mute children.

Since 1833 it functioned as an infirmary for junior ranks of the Exemplary Cavalry Regiment.

In 1835 - 1851 there settled an Alexander Educational institution and then Pavlovsk municipal government.

Since 1869 - the municipal parish school.

In 1919 white general Judenich used the building for his head-quarters.

In the end of 1920 the fortress had been given to the boarding school "Smena".

In 1937, after the fortress had been repaired, the town council, bank, enlistment office and some other services were transferred to the building.

Then the war burst out and the building was destroyed.

In 1971 there were some plans to reconstruct the fortress and to give it Pioneer House but the idea hadn't been realized.

As to the name of the fortress (BIP) there are 2 versions of its origin: abbreviation for "Bastion of Emperor Paul" and "Big Paul's Toy".

However, most likely that both of them have no grounds.

During the World War II the fortress has been destroyed and there are no signs of reconstruction yet

The remnants of the towers.

Apparently there was a staircase here.

The oval tower. It's not an optical distortion as far as I remember.

Usual round tower.

In Paul times the interiors of the second floor were rich and luxurious, as they were used for receptions of imperial family and officers of the highest ranks.

On the contrary, the decoration of the first floor was rather simple.

There is a rather popular version that somewhere under the fortress there was a secret passage, which had been used by guerrillas (partisans) during World War II and then destroyed.

Nowadays people try to go down to the cellars in search of something but to no success.

Though the fortress was meant for amusement only, the service there was executed sufficiently and duly - for example, all the bridges were always drawn for the night. The fortress was protected by 28 cannons.

According to the Imperial decree the fortress was ranked as regular and since 1798 was under the jurisdiction of the Engineering Department.

(upper right illustration - Nikolsky gate)

That's what I wanted to say about this fortress. If it'll be restored - we'll look at it again :.

And finally - 2 more buildings nearby.

The building of local administration, probably 1980-s.
Funny that as I've mentioned before, the BIP fortress was also used for administrative purposes.

The Dairy Farm.

This is the main pavilion which was designed by Rossi and built in 1834.
Probably it was reconstructed. There are no other remains of the farm.

I also recommend to have a look at my new album "City Snapshots" - a few snapshots of the airport "Pulkovo-2" and the construction of the new suspension bridge across the Neva.

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