When free time and good weather coincide, there is always a great desire to escape from the big noisy city and go on a trip to see something new and interesting. Comparing the availability of free time and the desire to make boat trips, we decided on our route. We were on our way to the island of Kotlin.
Kotlin - is a small island in the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic sea. It has a length of 16 kilometers, a width of less than 3 kilometers and a total area of 16 km2 . Where did this name is now very difficult to determine. There are only a number of legends and assumptions. Scientists believe that this island was formed about 5-6 thousand years ago as a result of the consequences of the Ice age. So in fact-it is a blurred glacier area.
The first mention of this island can be found in documents of the 13th century ad. Here merchants who followed from Europe to the Novgorod lands made a stop. Since 1617 Kotlin island became the property of Sweden. During the Northern war, the Island was captured by Russian troops and it began construction of the fortress and various fortifications. It was already in the early 1700s.
Nowadays Kotlin island is connected to the mainland by a highway that runs through a Grand complex of dams and protective structures (I told about them earlier in my blog). We also chose this route and went to the island by car. The only settlement on this island is the city of Kronstadt. This is a unique port city, which was founded by Peter I. This city has played a very important role in the fate of Russia.
It is a small town, it is home to less than 50,000 people, but all people are somehow connected with the sea, with the Navy. Here live the sailors and their families, those who have already served their service and went ashore and those who build and maintain ships.
Ships here is generally a separate topic. The fact is that in addition to the warships here on the docks and piers you can see all the ships and vessels arriving in Russia through the sea gate, which I told earlier here https://steemit.com/travel/@madlenfox/my-friday-in-blue-tones-boat-trips-travel-notes-0fb4e0957c15est
Cargo is distributed to smaller vessels and they are sent to St. Petersburg and other cities.
A special place in this city is the dock for the repair of ships, which was created with the participation of Peter the great. By the standards of that time this grandiose building was considered very advanced. It could serve 10 large vessels at the same time.
Of course we visited one of the main attributes of the city - a wooden lighthouse, which is in working condition, so it is impossible to get inside, but outside it looks of course very attractive. Previously, the city of Kronstadt as a military facility was closed to the public and the entrance to it was strictly by passes, but now everything has changed and of course you can see a lot of tourists.
The light from the top of this lighthouse is visible at a distance of 30 kilometers.
Here on the pier you can see the exposition of marine equipment , military weapons and various other exhibits related to the marine theme.
The city and all its attractions are so compact that it seems that this is an open-air Museum. We wanted to visit many things in this city. I have to say that even with its small size You will not have enough one day to see everything. As my husband said-there is too much concentration of interesting exhibits per square meter.
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But the port of Kronstadt is not the ultimate goal of our journey. We have to move on. Now we are waiting for the sea route. We leave our car at the pier. We have tickets for the legendary ferry "Reeperbahn"
At first glance, this is an ordinary ferry, but its fate is quite unique. It is named after one of the streets of Hamburg, which is known as the street of entertainment, freedom and rock and roll. In the distant 60's 70's this ship received its musical status thanks to musical parties which were such famous groups as" Queen"," Rolling Stones " and the Beatles ...
To be continued
All photos are original and made with Camera SONY DSC-W350 and phone HTC Desire 628 (click on any image to view it in full screen mode)
Location: Kotlin Island, Russia, Kronstadt
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