The Neva Gate – the gala entrance into the Fortress on the Neva side – was rebuilt in granite according to the design by N.Lvov in 1779-1790s.

In the archway there are wall-plaques marking the maximum waterlines during the most severe floods of the Neva. Adjacent to the Neva Gate is the Commandant’s Pier called so because the Commandant’s boat would be moored here.

Since the second half of the 18th century every spring a pompous ceremony was held to mark the freeing of the Neva from ice and the beginning of navigation. It was from the Commandant’s Pier that at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century the Fortress prisoners sentenced to death sailed off to the execution sites.