The Nevskaya Curtain is a part (section) of the fortress wall and a former defensive structure of the Peter and Paul Fortress in Saint Petersburg (Zayachy Island), intended for the defense and protection of the fortress, connecting the Tsar’s and Naryshkin bastions. It faces the Neva River, from which it gets its name. The curtain houses the eponymous Nevsky Gate and exhibition rooms. The name "Nevskaya" comes from the fact that the curtain faces the Neva River.
Originally, the construction of the Nevskaya Curtain, like the entire Peter and Paul Fortress, began in 1703, and at that time the fortress structures, including to save time, were built from wood and earth (wood-earth fortifications).
It was rebuilt in stone between 1727 and 1731 according to the design of architect and fortification engineer D. Trezzini and military engineer Minikh, replacing the wood-earth fortification. The Nevsky facade was faced with granite slabs according to the design of engineer R. R. Tomilov in 1779–1781. Initially, the curtain had twenty-two two-tier casemates. According to the project of military engineer A. A. Arkhangelsky in 1889–1890, they were rebuilt into single-tier casemates with changes to the window openings.
To the right of the Nevsky Gate was the guardroom — the cordegard. The casemates were adapted for the barracks of the fortress garrison, warehouses, and prison cells. In 1825–1826, Decembrists were held here, and in the 1860s, participants of the revolutionary-democratic movement.
Two-tier casemates have been restored and turned into a museum within the curtain; the museum of antique graphics "Pechatnya" has been opened, and exhibition spaces of the State Museum of the History of Saint Petersburg have been equipped.
Sources:
https://life-globe.com/nevskaya-kurtina-petropavlovskaya-krepost/
