People go to the Kaliningrad region for rest in the Baltic among sand dunes and pines - there are amazingly beautiful beaches and nature. But there are also many sights dating back to the Prussian past of these places: ancient castles, churches, forts and town halls.
Top 10 attractions of the Kaliningrad region
Ring of forts around Kaliningrad
Once Koenigsberg was a real fortress. Unfortunately, the war did not save anything from the walls of the city itself, but the fortifications that protected the approaches to it were preserved. These are 12 large forts and 3 small ones, which were built in the 70-80s of the XIX century.
They are in a different state: the best preserved are those located to the east of the city and not on the line of attack, the worst are the western ones. Some of them are closed - they are privately owned or owned by enterprises. Forts No. 4 (Gneisenau), No. 8 (King Frederick I) are abandoned, but open for inspection. Two forts are equipped for visiting and turned into tourist sites. These are Fort No. 11 (Dönhoff) and Fort No. 5 (King Frederick William III). The first has been better preserved, and the second has been turned into a museum center: reenactment festivals are held here, exhibitions are held and life is always in full swing.
Dancing forest on the Curonian Spit
The main attraction and the main resort place of the Kaliningrad region is the Curonian Spit. This sand spit is almost 100 kilometers long and is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. A nature reserve, where there are several different types of landscapes - from desert to swamp, along which several excursion routes are laid.
One of the main attractions of the Curonian Spit is the Dancing or Drunken Forest. By itself, it is quite young - these are pines that were planted here in the middle of the 20th century to strengthen the coastline. But for some reason, which is still unknown (they call it pests or aliens), the trees grow here bizarrely curved. You can only walk through the forest on a special wooden deck - these trees are protected.
Rybachiy village
The former German town of Rossitten on the shores of the Curonian Lagoon. It was founded back in 1372. Once there was a real castle, but it has not survived. Now it is a resort village with beautiful sandy beaches.
But besides the sea and nature, Rybachye has sights. This is the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh built in 1873 - a former Lutheran church. Old German houses, a cemetery and a pier have been preserved here. And the most important attraction is the Fringilla ornithological station.
The Curonian Spit is sometimes called the “bird's bridge”. The routes of migratory birds run above it, and one of the oldest centers for their study is located here. The first ornithological station was opened here back in 1901. Special traps for birds from huge nets are arranged at the station: birds are ringed, studied - and sent further. Every day several dozen birds fall into such a trap, and there can be thousands of them during the flight season. You can get to the station with a guided tour. One of the most popular ecological paths is laid through the forest near the village.
Baltic Spit
The second famous sandy spit of the Kaliningrad region is partly Russian territory and partly Polish. This is the westernmost point of the Russian Federation. It is no less beautiful than the Curonian one - the same clean forest, the same sand dunes against the backdrop of waves.
But the Baltic Spit is less developed by tourists: the beaches here are slightly less crowded than on the Curonian Spit, they are less comfortable. Wild tourism is much more developed here, in contrast to the Polish part of the spit, which is the most popular resort in Poland.
On the Baltic Spit, the remains of military facilities are well preserved: coastal fortifications, the old German airfield "Neitiff", which was used almost until the 80s. They were abandoned and became the main, but unofficial attraction of these places.
Settlement Yantarny
The village is located on the shores of the Baltic Sea. Amber has been mined and processed here since the 17th century. The main attraction, besides the widest beach on the coast, is the museum complex "Amber Castle". This is a small private museum of local lore, with torture cellars, German household items from the beginning of the 20th century and a story about the production and processing of amber. There is a museum at the Amber Combine - there is a modern interactive exhibition telling about the types of amber and its industrial extraction, and a collection of products manufactured at the combine since the 19th century.
Not far from the plant there is a giant pit of the quarry itself, where amber is mined - an observation deck with a telescope is arranged above it. On the site of the old amber quarry, where mining was carried out at the beginning of the last century, the picturesque Sinyavinskoye Lake has now formed.
The lake has its own diving center - the depth of the quarry reaches up to 28 meters in places, and the water here is surprisingly clear.
Baltic Fleet Museum and Pillau Fortress
The Fleet Museum in Baltiysk is located in a building of the early 20th century, built in the neo-Gothic style. Here is a large collection of exhibits, some of which were donated from the Central Naval Museum in St. Petersburg. The museum has 7 rooms that tell about the history of the Baltic Fleet and its current state. A separate hall is dedicated to reconnaissance, a separate one - to the submarine fleet, a separate one - to naval aviation.
The branch of the museum is the Baltic fortress on the shores of the strait, once called Pillau. It began to be built in the 17th century. It is a classic pentagonal fortress with five bastions, surrounded by a moat. It is believed that it was here that the young Tsar Peter I once studied bombardment.
The fortress still retains its strategic importance - it was taken by storm in 1945, and now there is a military unit here, so you can only get here with a guided tour. The old layout has been preserved here: a wide moat, five ravelins with their own names, the central gate has been restored. Inside there is a small exhibition of military equipment, a field army camp of the 17th century has been reconstructed, barracks and a tseikhgauz have been preserved.
Sovetsk - former Tilsit
Until 1945, Sovetsk was called Tilsit. The city is known primarily for the fact that it was here in 1807 that the famous Peace of Tilsit was signed between Napoleon and Alexander I, according to which Russia recognized all French conquests and pledged to help France.
Despite the fact that after 1945 only 25% of the city's buildings remained intact - this is how the war swept through it, a lot of the old buildings of the Prussian Tilsit, as well as the ruins of a medieval castle, have been preserved here. Among the old buildings, one can note the 19th century post office building, merchant warehouses, a church tower, a gymnasium, barracks …
You can just walk around this city and look at its buildings, but besides walking, you should look into the Museum of the History of Sovetsk - a small but very curious one. An attraction is the Queen Louise Bridge across the Neman, built in 1907.
Convent of Grand Duchess Elizabeth
This is not an ancient monastery, but a completely new one - it was founded in 2003. But despite the absence of old buildings, it is worth exploring.
Three beautiful temples in the Old Russian style were built here, two chapels were built, the territory was surrounded by a wall, cells and a hotel were erected. Shrines are kept in the monastery: the icon of St. Alexander Svirsky with a particle of relics, an icon of St. Elizabeth with a particle of relics, the icon of the Mother of God "Like we are with you", considered miraculously appeared and miraculous. The altar and iconostasis of the temple of Spiridon of Trimifunsky are made of amber and Karelian birch, so they are a sight in themselves.
A small museum of the Royal Passion-bearers and a gallery of paintings by the abbess have been created at the monastery; there is a monument to St. Princess Elizabeth by sculptor A. Klykov. At the walls of the monastery there is a huge worship cross - the highest in Europe, its height is 25 meters. The monastery courtyard has a bird farm with its own mini-zoo and a pond where swans and ducks swim. The farm breeds ostriches, sheep, cows and chickens.
Address. Slavsky district, pos. Priozerye, 87 a.
Insterburg Castle
The castle was founded in the XIV century by the knights of the Teutonic Order as a base for military campaigns to the east and for defense against Lithuanians. For three hundred years, he almost continuously took part in hostilities and passed from hand to hand. A village grew around it, and the castle became the center of the district. At the end of the 19th century, when the castle was already dilapidated, a museum was set up in it.
Now part of the walls and several outbuildings have survived from the fortress. But since the beginning of the XXI century, the territory has been turned into a large cultural center. There is now a museum with a colorful diorama of one of the battles of the Seven Years War and a collection of objects found during excavations, art workshops and a gallery attached to them, a stable, a picnic area, and a playground.
The reconstruction of the castle has not been carried out since 2010, when the territory was officially transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church, so the buildings themselves are dilapidated, but many interesting events are held here by the efforts of enthusiasts.
Svetlogorsk - former Rauschen
The former German town of Rauschen is one of the most popular resorts in the Kaliningrad region. An old water tower has been preserved here, which most of all resembles a castle tower - it is this tower that most often appears on souvenirs from Svetlogorsk. The neo-Gothic church of St. Seraphim of Sarov - a former Lutheran church. It has its own small museum dedicated to the history of the city - "The Wheel of History", the house-museum of the German sculptor G. Brachert.
A well-maintained and beautiful embankment leads along the sea, and it ends with a cable car, which is popular among tourists.
