The pier is located at the Nevskaya Curtain between the Tsar’s and Naryshkin bastions. It is the only pier at the fortress. The first wooden gates and pier at this location were built between 1714 and 1716. The existing granite pier was constructed in 1774–1775 during the work on facing the fortress walls. Its design was developed by architect D. Smolyaninov and engineer N. Muravyov. Between 1762 and 1767, architect D. Smolyaninov and engineer N. Muravyov created a project for a granite pier to replace the wooden one. The project was implemented in 1774–1775 during the fortress wall facing works. The pier was built under the supervision of engineer R.T. Tomilov. The pier was named the Commandant’s Pier in 1860. The Commandant’s Pier of the Peter and Paul Fortress is a grand three-arched granite pier with parapets, icebreakers, and a platform with three stairways leading down to the water. Members of the imperial family arriving by the Neva from the Winter Palace entered the fortress here. Originally, the pier was called the Tsar’s Pier, later the Nevskaya Pier, and from the 1760s onward, the Commandant’s Pier. The commandant’s (fortress chief’s) boat was moored here. One of the oldest city ceremonies began at this pier — the celebration marking the opening of navigation. This event was especially significant for the city, which grew on islands and until the mid-19th century had no permanent bridge across the Neva. When the Neva finally cleared of ice, the commandant would set off in his boat to the Winter Palace to report to the emperor and present him with a cup of Neva water. According to legend, the emperor would return the cup filled to the brim with silver rubles. After that, a highest decree would be issued announcing the opening of navigation. Cannons were fired from the fortress walls, fireworks were launched, and the water area filled with ships and boats of all kinds under multicolored flags.
Ivanov I. A.: View of the Neva Embankment on Mid-Pentecost Day
At this time, the “Mid-Pentecost” was usually also celebrated — an ancient church holiday “halfway” between Easter and Trinity Sunday. Clergy from all parish churches of Petersburg gathered at the Commandant’s Pier to bless the Neva water. At the festive meal in the fortress, huge sturgeons were served, “caught not in any other river, but necessarily in the Neva.” As early as 1715, by decree of Peter I, a staff gauge was reinforced on the eastern side of the pier — a post with markings allowing measurement of the water level. This made it possible to determine the average (“ordinary”) water level in the Neva and marked the beginning of regular hydrological observations in Russia. It was by the markings on this staff gauge that the height of floodwaters was determined.
Sources:
https://love-gorod.ru/saint-petersburg/obj/komendantskaya-pristan
https://xn----stb8d.xn--p1ai/tag/komendantskaya-pristan/
