2. 10. Behind the Guardhouse we can see another gate. Its name is the Neva Gate. Through it we are passing1 to the bank2 of the Neva river. In the archway3 there are some marks4 on the wall. They show the level [levl]5 of the highest floods [flʌdz]6. The most ‘terrible7 of them was in 1824.
The arch takes us to the Commandants’ Pier [pɪə]8. Here we can see the walls faced with granite in the times of Catherine ['kæθ(ə)rɪn] II. The Commandant’s boat was always ready [‘redi]9 to take him across10 the Neva to the Winter Palace11. It was the ‘residence ['rezɪd(ə)ns]12 of the Russian emperors.
From this point we can see one of the best sights13 of the Neva em’bankment14. But the place is not cheerful at all15. People called this arch the Gate of Death. Some prisoners were taken by boats from here to the place of exe’cution16, mostly17 to the Schlisselburg fortress.

2. 11. The fortress is named after St. Peter and Paul [po:l] Cathedral1. The first wooden church2 was founded there in 1703. The stone building was completed3 in 1733. It’s e’rected4 in the early baroque style to the design [dɪ'zaɪn] by5 Trezzini. Once it was the ‘central6 cathedral of Russia. It’s 122 metres high (that’s 400 feet7). It’s the highest structure8 in our city but9 the TV tower10 ['tauə]. The spire11 is topped with12 a weather vane13 in the shape14 of an ‘angel ['eɪnʤ(ə)l]15 holding a cross16. The clock chimes17 every 15 minutes [‘minits].


2. 12. The cathedral is famous for its interior1 [ɪn'tɪərɪə] deco’rations2. For example it has a beautiful carved3 wooden ico’nostasis [ˌʌɪkəˈnɒstəsɪs] (= iconstand)4. It also houses mane tropheys5 captured by the Russian army.
Since6 [sins] Peter’s time the cathedral was a burial ['berɪəl] place7 of the tsars of Russia. All the tombs8 [‘tu:mz] were made of white marble9. Peter’s grave is decorated with his bust10. And only the tombs of Alexander II and his wife are executed11 [eksɪkjuːtid] of coloured12 stone. It is so because there were two reasons for13 it. The emperor a’bolished14 serfdom 15 in 1861 and was assassinated by a People’s Will terrorist in 1881.
The family of the last tsar Nicholas II killed16 by the Bolsheviks in 1918 was re-buried here in 1998.
Next to17 the cathedral is the burial place of Grand18 Dukes19 [dju:k].

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ПЕРЕВЕСТИ БЕЗ ПОМОЩИ ПЕРЕВОДЧИКА !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!