The Dry Peter Dock is an interesting technical structure of the 18th century. Naval ships sailed inside the Peter Dock. After that, water was pumped out of it, and the bottoms of the ships were repaired. Peter the Great began the construction of this dock in 1719, but it lasted for several decades.
The engineering structure for the repair of ships was necessary for the development of trade in the Baltic Sea. The first fortresses in Kronstadt appeared in 1704, but after the end of the Northern War, the creation of infrastructure for merchant ships was required. A merchant harbor was built on the southern shore of the island. Its most beautiful part is now called the Italian Pond.
Along the Italian Pond, the Peter Canal was dug deep into the island. It is filled with water up to the Dock Bridge. Behind it, you can see the sluice gates that separate the dry Peter Dock from the Baltic Sea. On this gate is written "Peter Dock 1752". This is the date of acceptance of the dock into operation. There is a memorial plaque near the gate.
Peasants, soldiers and Swedish prisoners began digging the canal by hand in 1719. However, after the death of Peter I in 1725, the work was stopped. With the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth in 1740, work on the construction of the Peter Dock resumed. In 1752 Empress Elizabeth personally launched water into the canal.
Peter Dock has the shape of a cross. In the center there is a rotary mechanism. The length of the dock is 384 meters, width – 34 meters, depth – 10 meters. It was all dug by hand. Vessels were repaired in Peter Dock until the end of the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, the hulls of ships began to be built of metal, so their repair in Peter Dock became impossible. Now all the structures of the dock are abandoned.
Nowadays, access to the Peter Dock is prohibited. Tourists can only see the sluice gates from the Dock Bridge, as well as part of the dock channels from Patriot Park in the Admiralty of Kronstadt. There are plans to reconstruct Peter Dock and create a museum exhibition here.
