The professor finished his remarks, and the party, after a glance at the handsome gardens of the palace, resumed their places in and on the omnibuses. Looking down the street, the students could see the Smolni Church, on the bank of the river, which here makes a sharp turn to the south. The structure is of white marble, with fine blue domes, spangled with golden stars. At one side of it is a large building, in which the daughters of citizens are educated; at the other, one in which those of the nobles are educated. The procession moved through several streets, and passed between the Michael and the Summer Palace, attached to the latter of which are the gardens of the same name, forming the park most used by the people of the city. The middle one of the three openings at the grand gateway is now occupied by a small chapel, dedicated to St. Alexander Nevski, for on this spot an assassin attempted to take the life of the present emperor in 1866. Over the principal entrance is placed, in gold letters, the text, "Touch not mine anointed." The chapel was built by subscription, as a token of the love of the people for their sovereign. The omnibuses crossed the river on the Troitsa, or Trinity Bridge, which is built of boats, and removed in winter, when the people cross on the ice, and stopped at the cottage of Peter the Great, where the students alighted. The original house is contained within another, built by Alexander I. to preserve it from decay. It is fifty-five feet long by twenty in breadth, and has three rooms. One of these is now used as a chapel, and contains the miraculous image of the Saviour which Peter carried with him in his battles, and to which he ascribed his victory at Pultowa. In front of it is a circular board, full of holes of all sizes, in which the faithful place their lighted candles, as a votive offering to the picture. Near the door is a stand for the sale of these candles, which are in size from twice the thickness of a pipe stem, up to double the ordinary size. They are sold at from five to twenty-five copecks apiece. Near the picture are some glass cases, in which are a great many small legs and arms of silver, and other valuable articles, presented by people who had recovered from various maladies, in token of their gratitude. These cases were robbed by a soldier in 1863, who murdered the two keepers of the house. The building contains many relics of the great Czar. A short ride brought the tourists to the fortress and Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul. The fortress is separated from Petrofski Island, on which Peter's cottage is situated, by a moat crossed by two bridges. It is completely walled in, and has been used as a state prison. In one of its gloomy dungeons, Alexis, the son of the great Czar, perished by the hand of his father, and the rebels of 1825, who conspired against Nicholas, were confined, tried, and some of them executed in this castle.