St Petersburg: State Museum of the History of St Petersburg, 2010. 20 p., ill. ISBN 978-5-902671-88-6
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The booklet tells about the history of one of the oldest traditions in St Petersburg - daily 12 o'clock cannon shot from Naryshkin Bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress. Initially (since 1703) the gun, placed on Gosudarev Bastion, gave signal to begin and to end the working day, alerted the local citizens about the floods and marked important state events. Between 1873 and 1934 a cannon fired a blank cartridge at 12.00 sharp from the Naryshkin Bastion for the citizens to synchronize their watches. Then the tradition was eradicated and, after the 20-year gap, was revived during the celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the city’s foundation in 1957.
In Russian language.
Book price: 50 RUB