Duration: from 5 hours
Route:
Winter Palace -> The Spit of Vasilievsky island -> Petrovsky Stadium -> Zenit Arena -> Gulf of Finland -> Fort Constantine -> Fort Alexander -> Fort Peter the Great -> Kronstadt Lighthouse -> Prince Menshikov Battery -> Fort Kronshlot -> Kronstadt Lighthouse -> Fort Paul I -> Fort Count Milutin -> Gulf of Finland -> Gunwale of Vasilyevsky Island
There is a really exciting journey around famous forts and lighthouses of Kronshtadt by boat with a possibility of going to some of them (if weather conditions are suitable)! We know very well the location of all the forts and lighthouses and are ready to show you the most interesting of them! The trip starts in the historical part of St. Petersburg, then proceeds across the Gulf of Finland to the forts of Kronstadt, and then back to the centre of St. Petersburg.
Great and handsome, the Winter Palace was built in 1754-1762, by order of Empress Elizabeth. The architect was Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli.
It is the largest state museum in St. Petersburg, which is located in the center of the city, on Palace Square. The beauty and grandeur of the Hermitage leaves no one indifferent. The museum have got a collection of over three million works of art and world culture monuments.
The Spit of Vasilevskiy Island in Saint Petersburg is one of the most beautiful ensembles of the Northern capital. From here begins two embankments diverge – Universitetskaya embankment and Makarova embankment. This is the one of favorite places St. Petersburg’s residents and guests.
The Rostral Columns (each 32 meters high) and the building of the Stock Exchange are center of the architectural composition.
This is a little cape who located in the south-eastern part of Vasilevskiy Island, surrounded by the Big Neva River and the Small Neva River.
Petrovsky Stadium is the St Petersburg football arena that hosted the first international matches of the USSR national football team.
Before the introduction of the Zenit Arena, Petrovsky was the home ground of the Zenith team. Currently, World Cup and European Championship qualifying matches and friendly games are played here.
The football stadium which is located on the Krestovsky Island is one of the most high-tech sport buildings of the world. It is a unique complex, during its construction the most modern technologies were used. Such technologies consider qualities of our climate zone.
The stadium has the highest category “A” (according to international qualification “Elites”). The newest development are technologies of pullout roof and field in the north climate.
Also it is one of the newest and the most beautiful building of St. Petersburg.
It is one of the artillery forts that protect Kronstadt harbours from the south. Until recently, it was not easy to enter the fort.
Later, the area was taken over by a commercial company and a floating hotel was built on it. Next to it, a helipad.
Fort Alexander I, also known as «The Plague», is one of the long-term defences of the Kronstadt defence system. It is situated on a small artificial island to the south of Kotlin Island. From 1899 to 1917 it was used as a plague research laboratory.
Also known as the Citadel Fort, it is a historical and architectural monument dating back to the 18th century. It is protected by the state. It was created to protect the Merchant’s Harbour from the south. At the moment, it is one of the few inaccessible forts. It is a barbed-wire fenced security facility, with round-the-clock guards.
This shaft sign is 41 metres high and can be seen 30 kilometres away from Kronstadt. The building was erected in 1898 and rebuilt in 1914.
The lighthouse in Kronstadt is the Rear Gatehouse of the Kronstadt Bay. Here, on the promenade pier, tourists are often photographed and honeymooners like to hold a photo session.
This long-term defensive construction in the fortress’ defense system «Kronstadt».
The battery «Prince Menshikov» together with forts «Paul I» and «Alexander I» covered with fire of the guns a mine position (three obstacles) in area of Southern fairway.
In 1896, when due to the development of artillery battery lost its defensive value, the War Minister signed a decree on its exclusion from the defenses. Until the beginning of the Great Patriotic War it was used to store ammunition and military property.
It is a monument of history and architecture of the 18th century. The oldest fort in Kronstadt, it was built by Peter the Great to protect the city from the Swedes during the Great Northern War. It is protected by the state.
One of the city’s symbols, this tall white tower is the most romantic of Kronshtadt’s many lighthouses.
It is located on the Petrovskaya Embankment on the bank of the Petrovsky Channel.
It was built in 1888 and is among the oldest surviving wooden lighthouses in the world.
The light of the Kronshtadt wooden lighthouse, which never received an official name during its years of service, can be seen from a distance of 30 kilometres.
It is a monument of history and architecture of the 19th century. It was created to protect Kronstadt from the south, and was almost completely destroyed in 1923.
At the end of the 18th century a new method of warfare at sea was the use of shallow draft vessels which could bypass the fairway. With this in mind, it was decided to build two forts which could prevent this manoeuvre.
The first building was a battery on rows with two bastions connected by a curtain wall, south of the fairway, 2km west of the Cronplot.
It was completed in 1801 on a battery with defense front of 408 m placed 66 cannons and mortars.
The name of the battery was Riesbank, translated from the German as «shoal spotting». It was followed in 1808 by another battery built to the rear of the Riesbank, armed with 19 cannons.
A World Heritage Site of federal importance, cultural heritage of the peoples of the Russian Federation.
Located to the south of the main fairway leading to St Petersburg, it was one of the most advanced and modern fortresses of Kronstadt.
The fort is an artificial island built on rows with pile fortification. The fort was used in the construction of other naval batteries as well.
The fort began to take its modern shape when, in 1868, by order of Emperor Alexander II, the Naval South Battery No.3 «The Tower Battery» was built on it.
The Gulf of Finland is one of the most spectacular and beautiful places in Russia.
A big amount of people, who visit St. Petersburg, want to rest on one of the beaches of this gulf or at least visit the cities which are located along the seafront of the Gulf of Finland.
The route of our trip goes through the exit of the Gulf of Finland where you can enjoy land monuments of the city.
The Spit of Vasilevskiy Island in Saint Petersburg is one of the most beautiful ensembles of the Northern capital. From here begins two embankments diverge – Universitetskaya embankment and Makarova embankment. This is the one of favorite places St. Petersburg’s residents and guests.
The Rostral Columns (each 32 meters high) and the building of the Stock Exchange are center of the architectural composition.
This is a little cape who located in the south-eastern part of Vasilevskiy Island, surrounded by the Big Neva River and the Small Neva River.
