Kronshtadt is the city of Russian sea glory. It Is slightly older than St. Petersburg, literally  3 months older. At the beginning of 1703 the land was owned by Swedes, but they remained there only in the summer, and went back to Sweden in the winter. Peter the Great took advantage of it. Forts were quickly built and fortress Kronshlot was founded. When the Swedes returned, they could not recapture the territory any more.

St. Petersburg was founded for the purpose of recapturing of a trade way through the Baltic Sea. Nevertheless in 8 years only 3 ships could break through – the Swedes did not give up. Then Peter thought up a very smart step. England depended on the hemp produced by Russia, this material was used to make sea ropes for the mighty English fleet. Peter the Great transferred trade with hemp from Archangelsk city to St. Petersburg, very dangerous at that time. There was nothing to do, and the English merchant ships went, protected by the military ship escort. All went through Kronshtadt.

There’s a marine territory which starts in St. Petersburg and finishes in Kronshtadt – the Gulf of Finland. There is a tunnel located at the exit of the Oranienbaum city (a royal residence also) and one to get to Kronshtadt needs to get into that tunnel. It’s very interesting because when one gets into the tunnel they know that there are cruise and military ships passing above. Another interesting point is  Konstantinovsky fort. Very often there are many people standing and watching big cruise vessels pass by. That’s exactly where the Gulf of Finland comes to an end and the Baltic Sea begins. In Kronstadt there is the biggest in Russia Navy Cathedral – St.Nicholas Marine Cathedral. An absolutely tremendously amazing internal decoration which the painter Petrov-Vodkin used to work on in due time. Entering the Cathedral one can see black and white boards with the  sea battles  described on and number of the officers and marines perished in the sea. Black boards are memory of naval officers and sailors, white ones symbolize the memory of priests.

Kronstadt was not occupied during the Siege of Leningrad, and the dome of the Cathedral  was used to fire against enemy planes and ships. There were antiaircraft installations under the dome. Near the Navy Cathedral there are the Admiralty buildings intended for storage of anchors, equipment for ships. Yakornaya Square at which once they used to dry anchors, there’s a monument to the admiral Makarov, the researcher, engineer and inventor who died in the Tsushima battle. It is possible to speak and speak about Kronshtadt, but one’d better go and see everything with their own eyes.

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