Estella Lizarra

A flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened prior to the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory. The technique is used to create suspense in a story, or develop a character.

A scene in a narrative is called a flashback if it depicts a set of events that occurred before the scenes immediately preceding it. The closely related term flashforward is used to indicate scenes that depict events taking place after the scenes immediately following it.

One of the most famous examples of non-chronological flashback is in the 1941 Orson Welles film Citizen Kane. The protagonist, Charles Foster Kane, dies at the beginning, uttering the word "Rosebud". A reporter spends the rest of the film interviewing Kane's friends and associates, in an effort to discover what Kane meant by uttering the word. As the interviews proceed, pieces of Kane's life unfold in flashback, but not always chronologically.

Peter and Paul fortress St Petersburg

The fortress was established by Peter the Great on May 16 1703 on small Hare Island by the north bank of the Neva River, the last upstream island of the Neva delta. Built at the height of the Northern War in order to protect the projected capital from a feared Swedish counterattack, the fort never fulfilled its martial purpose. The citadel was completed with six bastions in earth and timber within a year, and it was rebuilt in stone from 1706-1740.

From around 1720, the fort served as a base for the city garrison and also as a prison for high-ranking or political prisoners.