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This is the oldest structure in Petersburg, as Peter the Great had only recently secured the territory at the Neva delta from the Swedes in the Great Northern War (in the heyday of Sweden's military might and political influence. Peter's first concern in the creation of St. Petersburg was with the defence of the approaches of the Neva river delta, and the Peter and Paul Fortress was the first major building project undertaken. In fact, it is entirely possible that the idea of building a new capital city on the site occurred to the young Tsar while he was living in his cottage and supervising the fortress's construction. Peter selected Hare's Island as the site for this hexagonalfortress, whose profile is perhaps surprisingly low. For this reason, the spire of the Peter and Paul Cathedral in the center of the Fortress stands out all the more dramatically. The granite facing of the Neva side of the Fortress was added during the reign of Catherine the Great.

The primary attraction within the fortress is the Peter and Paul Cathedral, begun by Peter as soon as the fortress had been constructed, though not completed until 1733. In keeping with Peter's Eurocentric bias, its design follows the pattern of Dutch ecclesiastical architecture rather than Russian. The most noticeable characteristic of this is the cathedral's tall thin spire, which was designed specifically so as to best Moscow's Ivan the Gret Belltower as the tallest structure in Russia. The cathedral is the resting place of most of the Romanov monarchs (excepting Peter II, Ivan VI, and Nicholas II), and their sarcophagi can be viewed inside.

Another romantic aspect of the Fortress is, that it is the site of the fireworks set off annually in celebration of the lifting of the Siege of Leningrad (the infamous '900 days'). Another significance the Fortress has for some of Petersburg's residents (I leave it to the reader's judgement as to whether this is romantic) is, it is a popular place for some people to take their chilling winter dips into the river. Of course, most of the time in winter this involves chopping (and maintaining) a swimming-hole in the ice of the Neva.