Prison in Trubetskoy Bastion in Petropavlovskaya fortress

Prison in Trubetskoy Bastion - the main political prison of Russia was built in 1872 on the site of the dismantled inner walls of the Trubetskoy Bastion. It had 73 individual cells with very strict custodial system. Prisoners were completely isolated from one another and the outer world, so the Peter and Paul Fortress was soon called the «Russian Bastille».

However the prisoners were kept in the dungeons of Peter and Paul Fortress almost from the very beginning, as it was the most secure building in Petersburg. Secret Office, which was in charge of political investigation, was also located there.

Tzarevitch Alexei was one of the first political prisoners of Peter and Paul Fortress in 1718. Among famous names one can also mention Princess Tarakanova (she is depicted on the well-known picture of К. Flavitsky), the writer Radishchev, Biron, the favorite of Anne of Russia, the painter Nikitin, ataman Platov, admiral Chichagov.

In 19 century at the Peter and Paul Fortress there were kept nearly all participants of the Decembrist uprising, the Petrashevtsy (including a famous writer F. М. Dostoyevsky), participants of various revolutionary and terrorist organizations, such as Narodnaya Volya (People Freedom) or SRs.

In the early hours of December 26th, 1917 eighteen ministers of the Interim Government arrested at the Winter Palace, were also taken to the Peter and Paul Fortress. Under the Bolsheviks the conditions of detention were significantly eased, separate cells were converted into mass ones, and since 1918 there were no new prisoners at the Peter and Paul Fortress. In 1924 the prison was closed and turned into a branch of the Revolution Museum. The former prisoners became the guides of the museum. Now you can look there at separate cells, isolation cells, a chapel and many other prison rooms.