Kotlin (; ) is a

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

, located near the head of the

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland (; ; ; ) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and Estonia to the south, to Saint Petersburg—the second largest city of Russia—to the east, where the river Neva drains into it. ...

, west of

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

. Kotlin separates the Neva Bay from the rest of the gulf. The fortified city of Kronstadt is located on the island and forms part of a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

that is ''Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments''. The island serves as a gateway to Saint Petersburg and as such has been the site of several military engagements.

History

The island is mentioned in the 13th century treaty of

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( ; , ; ), also known simply as Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the V ...

with

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...

and

Gotland Gotland (; ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a Provinces of Sweden, province/Counties of Sweden, county (Swedish län), Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, a ...

, once as "Kotlign" and twice as "Kotling". The city of Kronstadt was founded on Kotlin island by

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

, who took it from the

Swedes Swedes (), or Swedish people, are an ethnic group native to Sweden, who share a common ancestry, Culture of Sweden, culture, History of Sweden, history, and Swedish language, language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries, ...

in 1703. In March 1921, Kotlin was the site of the Kronstadt rebellion, which resulted in over 11,000 casualties. Off Kronstadt is Fort Alexander, an artificial island that housed a research laboratory on plague and other bacterial diseases, from 1898 to 1917.

Geography

In general outline, the island forms an elongated triangle; long by about broad, with its base towards St Petersburg. The eastern or broad end is occupied by the city of Kronstadt, and

shoal In oceanography, geomorphology, and Earth science, geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank (geography), bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material, and rises from the bed of a body ...

s extend for from the western point of the island to the rock on which the Tolbaaken

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

is built. The island thus divides the seaward approach to St Petersburg into two channels; that on the northern side is obstructed by shoals which extend across it from Kotlin to Lisiy Nos; the southern channel, the highway to the former capital, is narrowed by a spit which projects from opposite Lomonosov on the Russian mainland, and, lying close to Kronstadt, has been historically strongly guarded by batteries. The naval approach to Saint Petersburg was greatly facilitated by the construction in 1875–85 of a

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

, deep, through the shallows, whereas cars can travel overland to the island by using the Saint Petersburg Dam from the north and south shores of the

. Started in 1980, but delayed by political upheaval in the 1990s, the dam project was completed in 2010 and officially commissioned in 2011. File:Kronstadt1June1942.jpg, Luftwaffe aerial reconnaissance photo of Kotlin Island, 1 June 1942 File:Песчаный пляж на северном берегу.jpg, Beach in west Kotlin Island

Transportation

The low water depth in Neva Bay was an incentive to build a Sea Canal to accommodate large vessels, this canal allows the movement of vessels with a draft of 11 metres (to fresh water), a length of 320 metres and a width of 42 metres.Водные_объекты/961/Морской_канал_Санкт-Петербурга

References

External links

Google Earth view of Kotlin Island
{{Islands in the Baltic Sea Islands of Saint Petersburg Russian islands in the Baltic Gulf of Finland Saint Petersburg Ring Road

Kronstadt