Fort Krasnaya Gorka
A coastal fortress built against the German fleet.
The huge fort in the forest on the shore was built in 1909–1914 under the direction of General Apollon Shishkin: it was to close the approaches to St. Petersburg from the fleet of the German Empire. By the start of World War I, 2,000 artillerymen and 2,000 infantrymen were stationed here, and by 1917 the garrison had grown to 5,500 people. In that war the fort did not fire a single combat shot. But in 1919 its garrison raised a mutiny against the Bolsheviks, and in the Great Patriotic War the fort became a stronghold of the Oranienbaum bridgehead. Now there is an open-air museum here: gun courtyards, concrete casemates, and a railway to the batteries.
Walks in Peterhof / Day trips
🌲 The Western Shore: Lomonosov, Lebyazhye and Krasnaya Gorka
A completely non-touristy day: the place where Lomonosov made glass for mosaics, the pine dunes of Lebyazhye and a huge coastal fort in the forest.
🛡️ Fortresses of the West: Koporye and Ivangorod
Along the gulf to the border: a huge coastal fort, a knight's fortress on a cliff, and two fortresses across the river.