The Commandants’ Cemetery is situated near the East facade of the St. Peter and St. Paul’s Cathedral. Buried here are 19 out of 32 Commandants of the Fortress. This position was honorable and often granted for life to the most trust-worthy servants of the ruling monarch.

In 1966 the old cemetery was investigated under the supervision of the archaeologist A.Gratch. As a result the grave of the first Commandant of the Fortress to have been buried here R.Bruce – Peter I’s closest associate – was discovered. In 1979 the tombs of the next two Commandants – M.Chemezov and J.Bakhmiotov – were identified.