Kaliningrad (Калининград)

Kaliningrad is the capital of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian enclave between Lithuania and Poland. The city was originally founded as Königsberg in 1255 and it had been German territory until 1946, when Russia took over. It sits on the Pregolya River, at the head of the Vistula Lagoon and it is an important marine base, as it is the only ice-free port the Russians possess on the Baltic Sea.

In 1946, after WWII, the Russians renamed Königsberg into Kaliningrad in honor of Russian Bolshevik leader Mikhail Kalinin and started repopulating the city with Russians, while the German population was expelled.

kaliningrad serves as the headquarters of the Baltic Fleet of the Russian Navy and it is one of Russia's most important industrial centres.

Despite of this, there are many intersting places in Kaliningrad. The city center (former Altstadt and Kneiphof) boasts several parks, wide avenues, a square on the site of the destroyed Königsberg Castle, the House of Soviets ('Dom Sovyetov') and the restored Königsberg Cathedral. Immanuel Kant's grave is right next to the cathedral. Kaliningrad's historic city center has numerous restored German-era buildings. Königsberg Synagogue was restored to its former glory.

The city new center is focused on Victory Square, where the Cathedral of Christ the Savior is located. It was contructed in 2005. The Juditten Church dates from at least before 1288. The former Stock Exchange is also a beautifully restored building. The old city gates are well worth a visit. They are the Sackheim Gate, King's Gate, Rossgarten Gate, Attack Gate (or Ausfallstor, also known as Sally Port), the Railway Gate (Eisenbahntor), Brandenburg Gate and Friedland Gate (Friedländer Tor). Other parts of the city walls include the Dohna Tower, which houses a museum and the Wrangel Tower.

An interesting monument is the statue of Immanuel Kant. The statue was originally erected in 1864, but it was destroyed during WWII. In 1992, it was remoulded and returned to its former location. The Cosmonaut monument commemorates local cosmonauts Alexey Leonov, Yuri Romanenko and Aleksandr Viktorenko. Other statues in the city include the statue for Duke Albert, the statue for Friedrich Schiller, the statue for Mikhail Kalinin, the statue for Tsar Peter the Great, Vladimir Vysotsky, the 'Mother Russia' monument and the Monument for the 1200 Guardsmen, erected to commemorate the WWII Battle of Königsberg.

There are numerous parks in Kaliningrad. One of the most popular ones is the Youth Recreation Park. It is located in the city's Leningradsky area. It is connected with the Lower Pond, an artificial lake surrounded by a promenade. The lake is especially popular during the summer. North of the Lower Pond is the larger Upper Pond. The Kaliningrad Zoo started its life as Königsberg Zoo in 1896. The zoo also includes an arboretum. There used to be seven historic bridges in Königsberg, but nowadays only 2 of the bridges remain.

There are many museums in Kaliningrad. The oldest museum is the Kaliningrad Regional Museum of History and Arts. It was founded in 1946. The former defensive tower of the Don houses the Kaliningrad Regional Amber Museum. The Kaliningrad State Art Gallery has become very popular in recent years. It was opened in 1988. The Museum of the World Ocean indludes 6 vessels: the Research ship-museum 'Vityaz', Submarine B-413, Space communication vessel 'Cosmonaut Viktor Patsaev', Fishing boat-museum 'SRT-129', Floating lighthouse 'Irbensky' and Icebreaker 'Krassin'. That last vessel is moored in Saint Petersburg. The museum of ancient archaeological finds is located at the Friedland Gate, which itself is an ancient monument. A museum dedicated local writer E.T.A. Hoffmann is located in the building of the former Leningrad Cinema. The Einstein Museum of Entertaining Sciences is located on the first floor of the Mega-Market shopping center.

Kaliningrad offers several hotels and restaurants. The city is 980 km west of Moscow.