Kronshtadt 2006

Kronshtadt is a small town standing on Kotlin island in the Gulf of Finland and connected with Saint Petersburg by means of a dam. The town was laid as a fortress in 1704 by tsar Peter The Great. There are 17 forts around Kotlin island — these are small fortresses standing on artificial islands. Kronshtadt was always a military town during tsar times, and there are a lot of military and navy institutions and camps there nowadays. Walking in the town you can see some building entrances decorated with anchors or floating mines. From the embankment you can see the real military ships.

Now the town is quiet and cozy with lots of gardens and parks, but unfortunately there are a lot of abandoned (or looking abandoned) old buildings.

There are tree churches there. The biggest of them is St. Nicolas Naval Cathedral, opened in 1913.

One Summer day (2006) I was in Kronshtadt because of my work and was lucky to have time to take some pictures of the town.