Kronstadt Admiralty

The Admiralty in Kronstadt was built at the end of the 19th century after a terrible fire in the Admiralty building in St. Petersburg. The fire happened on May 13, 1783 and caused great destruction. There were rumors of arson. Wanting to remove such a dangerous enterprise from the palace, Empress Catherine II signed a decree: “take out the Admiralty from the capital to Kronstadt”.

The design of the Kronstadt Admiralty was entrusted to a commission headed by Admiral, commander-in-chief of the Kronstadt port, S. C. Greig. According to the General Plan, approved by Catherine in 1785, the Bypass Channel was to be built along the perimeter of the new Admiralty, which would protect buildings from fires.

The Admiralty was built by the architect M.N. Vetoshnikov, and after his death, from 1799 - V.I. Bazhenov.

In 1785–1797, the complex of buildings of the Kronstadt Admiralty included:

• rope spinning plant on the east side of the pool of Petrovsky dock;
• smolnya, near the cable spinning mill;
• part of the Obvodny Canal, lined with granite (construction of the Obvodny Canal was completed in 1827);
• seven food stores;
• rusk plant
• Stone Forest Shed
• Stone Coal Barn
• three sailing workshops
• 4 officer wings and 6 servant corps.

Big part of the buildings survived to our days.