St Petersburg, Russia - The Peter and Paul Fortress, is a monument of military and engineering craft. It was laid by the  order and to the plot-plan of Peter the Great on May 16 (27) 1703 on Zayachy Island that is linked with Petrogradsky Island by Ioanovsky and Kronverksky bridges. The fortress forms an irregular hexagon stretched from West to East with 6 bastions at the corners. The new Peter and Paul Cathedral of stone appeared in 1712-33 in place of the old wooden church of St. Peter and St. Paul. The cathedral became the burial-vault of Russian Emperors. 20&21/08/00