Kruzenshtern Avenue Will Be Opened in St. Petersburg

Admiral Ivan Fyodorovich Kruzenshtern
Admiral Ivan Fyodorovich Kruzenshtern

July 27, on the eve of Russia’s Navy Day, commemorative events dedicated to the opening of Kruzenshtern Avenue will be held in St. Petersburg. The avenue will continue Makarov embankment after Admiralsky proezd and Vasilievsky Island.

Ivan Fyodorovich Kruzenshtern (1770 — 1846) was a Russian researcher and admiral, one of the originators of the Russian oceanology, one of the founders of the Russian Geographical Society. Together with Yuri Lisyansky, Ivan Kruzenshtern headed the first Russian around-the-world voyage on ships "Neva" and "Hope” in 1803-1806. The expedition made a huge contribution to the geographical science. It "erased" non-existent islands from the world map and defined the coordinates of real Islands. Ivan Kruzenshtern described some of the Kuril Islands, the Islands of Japan and the coast of Sakhalin. Thanks to this expedition there appeared a new science, oceanology; nobody had studied the deep sea before him. And the expedition members collected valuable collections: botanical, zoological and ethnographic.

Descendants of Ivan Kruzenshtern, military, political and public figures, representatives of the Russian Geographical Society will take part in the events to perpetuate the name of the captain of the first Russian around-the-world expedition.

The celebration will begin at 12:00 p.m. when a shot in honor of the opening of the avenue will be fired from the Naryshkin Bastion in the Peter and Paul fortress.

water-3250971_1920.jpg

Vasilievsky island. Photo from pixabay.com
Vasilievsky island. Photo from pixabay.com

At 12:45 p.m. flowers will be laid at the monument to Ivan Kruzenshtern on Lieutenant Schmidt embankment. The monument was erected in 1873. The granite pedestal with the inscription "spe fretus" ("living by hope") was designed by architect Ippolit Monighetti, and the bronze figure was made by sculptor Ivan Schroeder. The monument is located in front of the cadet military school, and it is no accident – Ivan Kruzenshtern was its director for more than a quarter century.

From 12:45 p.m. to 14:20 p.m., a number of other events will take place: the opening of a Foundation stone, performance of a military brass orchestra, lining of the units of the St. Petersburg garrison troops, the Baltic fleet and corps of Peter the Great.

In the evening, from 19 p.m. to 20 p.m., a Solemn Peter's Assembly of the world club of St. Petersburg will be held in the Menshikov Palace in honor of Russia’s Navy Day.

Do you know that in 2017 a number of streets in the Vasilievsky district were given "sea " names. The central street is Kruzenstern Avenue. The second longest is Lisyansky street. Also in Russia’s northern capital there are streets named after Chirikov, Goncharov, Chelyuskin, Aivazovsky, as well as Golovnin and Vilkitsky boulevards, Kruizny and Paromny lanes. These changes were initiated by the Toponymic Commission of St. Petersburg.