The Neva Gate of the Peter and Paul Fortress

Tourists always stop at this place to read the memorial plaques on the wall and imagine the events they are reminded of. This is the Neva Gate of the Peter and Paul Fortress. It connects the fortress with the Commandant Pier. A graduation column for measuring the water level was installed in 1715. The height of the rising water during flooding was determined with the help of this tool.

These boards are installed in memory of the catastrophic floods that occurred in St. Petersburg. A recess was made near the wall of the gate to make it easier to see these signs. Since the first of these plates was installed, earthworks were carried out in the fortress and the soil level rose, a fragment of the old pavement is visible in the pit.

The lines show how high the water rose. Text on the plate:

1777 September 10, at 7 o'clock in the morning, the water stood along the red line above the ordinary water of 9 feet and 11 inches.

1752 October 23, at 10 o'clock in the evening, the water stood on the green line, above ordinary water, 8 feet and 5 inches.

A particularly strong impression remains from the top plate:

1824 November 7, at 2 o'clock, the water stood above the horizon of ordinary water 12 feet and 10 inches along the marked line between letter A and B.

If we translate feet and inches into meters, we get 4.2 meters. Water has risen above human height in low-lying places. This flood was the most devastating in the history of St. Petersburg. The whole central part of the city was flooded. «The Neva River was one huge lake with the Palace Square, which poured out on Nevsky Prospect, like a wide river» — recalled an eyewitness. You can imagine the feelings of the inhabitants of the city if you read the poem by Aleksandr Pushkin «The Bronze Horseman. A Petersburg Story».

The dam complex in the Gulf of Finland was built at the beginning of the 21st century, catastrophic floods do not occur in St. Petersburg anymore.