Kronstadt Tour in St. Petersburg, Russia
Kronstadt is a Russian naval port town, located on Kotlin Island, 30 km to the west of Saint-Petersburg near the head of the Gulf of Finland. It is under the administration of the federal city of Saint Petersburg and is also its main port. Kronstadt was founded by Peter the Great, who took the island of Kotlin from Sweden in 1703. Kronstadt was thoroughly refortified in the 19th century. The old three-decker forts, which formerly represented its principal defences became of secondary importance. From the plans of Eduard Totleben a new fort, Constantine, and four gun batteries were constructed to defend the principal approach, and seven gun batteries to cover the shallower northern channel. The Kronstadt Sea Fortress was considered the most fortified port in the world at some point of history. Among the most important surviving forts are the Fort Konstantin, the biggest in the Gulf of Finland; the Fort Rif on the western shore of the island; and the particularly well-preserved Chumnoy Fort (Plague Fort). The largest and the newest of the forts, constructed at the beginning of the 20th century, is Fort Totleben, named after Eduard Totleben.
Nikolskiy Naval Cathedral