The Cathedral named after the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul was designed by D. Trezzini and erected in the central part of the fortress in 1712-1733.

The Cathedral bell-tower is the city’s highest architectural monument (122,5 m). Since the 18th century the banners captured as trophies as well as the keys to the defeated cities and fortresses were kept there.

St. Peter and St. Paul’s Cathedral served as a burial-vault for the members of the Romanov dynasty. Here are the tombs of Emperors - beginning with Peter I (except for Peter II and Ioann VI Antonovitch) – and many members of the Imperial family. On July 17, 1998 in the Catherine wing of the St. Peter and St. Paul’s Cathedral the remains of Nicholas II, his family members and servants killed in Ekaterinburg in 1817 were buried.

In 1922 the Peter and Paul Fortress became a museum.