KRONSTADT

The town of Kronstadt is situated on the small island of Kotlin in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland, 48 km west of Saint Petersburg.

From 1323 to 1617, the island of Kotlin (Retusari in Finnish, or Rat Island) was considered as a borderland between Russia and Sweden, then uninhabited. The island was ceded to Sweden in 1617, but Russia regained it along with the Ingrian land from Sweden in the reign of Peter the Great.

The naval base on the island of Kotlin was built by order of Tsar Peter the Great. Construction of the fortness began in 1703, when Prince Menshikov set up a fort on the sandback of the south coast from a model, made by Peter himself. On 7 May 1704 the first fortifications, including two batteries, were constructed. This day is regarded as the date of Kronstadt founding. The fort had the suggestive name of Kronslott (Crown's Castle). It covered the principle approach to the mouth of the Neva River, which was the site of a new capital of the Empire, Saint Petersburg.

The first defences could protect only the south side of the gulf from the threat of invasion. Soon after a Swedish attempt to approach Saint Petersburg from the north of the island, Peter continued to reinforce the vulnerable north coast. In 1710, he ordered the fortress to be enlarged. Building work was carried out by captive Swedes and Russian soldiers under the supervision of Captain-Commander Len. In 1719, work began on canals and dockyards. In 1720, the war and merchant harbours were constructed. New streets, private houses, public buildings were also created. On the island a new town was springing up. The town, named Kronstadt (Crown's Town), was growing very large.

The fortness's strategic location gave it a great importance and ensured that it was improved with the development of military and marine engineering by all Russian Tzars, starting with Peter the Great.

During the reign of Emperor Nicholas I, between 1825 and 1840, there were constructed western forts, defensive walls, dams and military barracks. In 1854, builders added fortifications on the spit for extra defence. Soon, with the development of attacking artillery, granite forts of Kronstadt became vulnerable. These stone defences were replaced by a new earth construction. Armoured earthworks were much more secure and cheaper than their stone predecessors.

Kronstadt has always been a major training centre for the Russian Navy's staff.  The town has also been the home of important scientific inventions. At Kronstadt, the pysicist Alexander Popov, then a lecturer of the Navy's Torpedo School, invented radio in 1895, and he was the first to use wireless for communicating with and between ships over long distances.  Many distinguished people are associated with Kronstadt, among them Rimsky-Korsakov.

Mutinies of the naval garrison took place in 1905 and 1906 and played a part in the revolutions of 1905 and 1917. After a while, Kronstadt was the scene of an unsuccessful rebellion of the sailors against the communist government of the early Soviet state in March 1921. During the years of World War II (1939-1945), Kronstadt and the Baltic Fleet, based there, took part in defence of Tallinn, the island of Hanko. Artillery and naval forces of Kronshtadt played a major role in the courageous defence of the besieged city of Leningrad (the name for St. Petersburg in 1924-1990) against the Germans.

Sights to see
Fresh, light winds blow from the Finnish Gulf. The area is very picturesque looking over the water, where military ships can be seen. Kronstadt is connected to the mainland by an artificial dam. Nowadays Kronstadt is a tourist and logistical centre, a trading port, carries out ship repairs and trains naval staff.

Starting with the time of Peter the Great, Kronstadt' growth has been orderly. Many famous architects, including the French architect Jean-Baptiste Leblond and the Italian architect Dominico Tresini, were commissioned to devise a plan for the building of the town. This compactly planned town is laid out in a rectangular street grid. Kronstadt contains works of outstanding Russian architects, such as Vasili Bazhenov, Adrian Zakharov, Alexander Briullov etc. Among the town's important buildings and structures are fortification works of the first quarter of the 18th century, the 18th century harbours, the by-pass canal, the stone complex of militery barracks, naval warehouses and shops, constructed between 1785 and 1796 by Mikhail Vetoshnikov, as well as, the biscuit factory for the manufacture ship breads, built between 1795 and 1797 by Vasili Bazhenov, the Tolbaaken lighthouse of 1810 by Adrian Zakharov, and workshops of 1834-1837 by Alexander Briullov.

The town skyline is dominated by the Naval Cathedral of St. Nicholas, designed by Vasili Kosiakov and built between 1903 and 1913. Kronstadt is filled with trees and shrubs. There are many green spaces and gardens, the largest of which are the Park of Peter the Great and Summer Garden. The town owns numerous monuments: Peter the Great, Admiral Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, the Crew of Clipper «Oprichnik /Guardsman/», Admiral Stepan Makarov Monuments.

How to get there

Bus:
Shuttle buses will take you from some metro stations in St.Petersburg. to the centre of Kronstadt (about 40 minutes)

Hydrofoil:
Meteor service between St. Petersburg and the Kronstadt, located on Kotlin Island.