Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony on Future Kruzenshtern Avenue
27 July 2018
Today, the Passenger Port’s adjacent area witnessed the solemn ceremony of opening Krusenshtern Avenue in St. Petersburg. The ceremony was arranged for by the International Public Committee for Krusenshtern Avenue Opening and the World St. Peterburgians' Club. The event was attended by the Administration of St. Petersburg, the Administration of the Vasileostrovsky District, the Russian Geographical Society, the Committee for the Development of Tourism of St. Petersburg, the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg, Krusenshtern’s direct descendants from different countries, and representatives of the Port.
“Passenger Port of St. Petersburg “Marine Façade” PLC had applied to the Toponymy Commission with the initiative to assign the name of Krusenshtern Avenue to an unnamed passageway running along the territory of the Passenger Port of St. Petersburg and it had been approved by the Administration of the Vasilievsky Island in 2016. The opening of the avenue named after legendary navigator Ivan F. Kruzenshtern also became possible thanks to the efforts of the members of the World St. Peterburgians' Club and Alexey Kruzenshtern, a direct descendant of the great Russian navigator, who brought a petition in order that one of the streets on the Vasilyevsky Island was given the Admiral’s name.
Ivan F. Krusenshtern gained the world fame when he had taken his around-the-world voyage started on July 26, 1803 and lasted for three years. The great Russian navigator was one of the originators of the Russian oceanology and a founding member of the Russian Geographical Society. The avenue bearing the iconic historical name will adorn the actively developing marine part of the Vasilievsky Island that is adjacent to the Passenger Port.
The solemn event began in the morning, with a cannon shot that was fired from the Naryshkin Bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress, and flowers were then laid at the Admiral’s monument on Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment. The central point of the event was the opening of the foundation stone at the site of future Kruzenshtern Avenue that would continue Makarov Embankment and run along the entire alluvial area of the Vasilievsky Island.
