Carriage house

The Carriage House (Karetnik) in Peter and Paul Fortress is a single-storey brick building of 1846, probably designed by military engineer A. G. Batorsky. Its yellow façades with white details have a central gate passage flanked by rusticated projections and a triangular pediment with a semicircular window; each wing holds two gateways with keystones and semicircular windows. Inside were a stable with six stalls, two carriage sheds, a covered yard and an icehouse.

Built in 1846, probably to a design by military engineer A. G. Batorsky, the carriage house served the Commandant's Department with six stalls, two carriage sheds, a covered yard and an icehouse. After 1917 it kept its function as stables and warehouses of the Leningrad Military District. An aerial bomb hit it during the Great Patriotic War, causing a fire; only the roof was replaced in the 1950s. The building passed to the State Museum of the History of Saint Petersburg in 1994 and was restored in 2002–2003.

The building's official name was the Service Building of the Commandant's Department, but it was always called the Karetnik after its function. After 1917 it kept its stables under the Leningrad Military District, and from 1994 until 2002 one part housed a public toilet while the rest stood empty.

The building stands between the Naryshkin Bastion and the Commandant's House, at Petropavlovskaya krepost 3, letter P. Its gate passage opens in the centre of the west facade, with two gateways in each wing. The brick walls are plastered and painted yellow with white details; the plinth and porch steps are faced with limestone.

The building's official name was the Services Building of the Commandant's Department; "karetnik" was only its everyday nickname. From 1994 it belonged to the State Museum of History of St. Petersburg, yet until early 2002 one part housed a public toilet while the rest stood empty. A full restoration followed in 2002–2003, funded from the state budget to adapt it for museum use.