Kronstadt (Leningradskaya oblast)

Kronstadt – from the German “krone” (crown) and “stadt” (city) – is a municipal seaport town located on Kotlin Island near the head of the Gulf of Finland. To visit Kronstadt, you can take one of the bus or water tours that depart from Saint Petersburg every day.

This town was founded by Pete The Great, after taking the Island of Kotlin from the Suedes. It’s most famous landmark is certainly the Naval Cathedral, built from 1908 to 1913.

To the west of the island of Kotlin you can visit the Tolbukhin lighthouse – one of Russia’s oldest lighthouses – located on an artificial island. The lighthouse was once called Kotlin, but was renamed after Colonor Fedor Semenovich Tolbukhina – the hero of the Russian-Swedish war.

You will not be able to miss the Kronstadt’s forts, built very quickly to increase the town’s protection. It is actually a fun experience to visit Kronstadt’s forts in winter, because the Gulf of Finland completely freezes and walking on ice becomes quite the adventure.