Friends, let's continue our journey around Fort Rif at the western part of Kotlin Island. I’ll start by saying that I’ve visited several abandoned structures around St. Petersburg, but the walk around Fort Rif felt the most unusual to me.
I’ve already mentioned how to get to the fort and how to join a tour. To summarize, we used three types of transportation—bus, taxi, and even a golf cart. The cost of a combined ticket that allows you to visit all the accessible rooms of the fort is 400 rubles (summer 2022).
You can also read about the history of the fort in my first article, but today I’d like to focus on the walk through this fortification monument.
The modern history of Fort Rif began in 2017 when its territory was leased through the "lease for one ruble" program. Under this program, a private organization receives a state-owned object for a long term at a preferential price, but is also responsible for its restoration.
Several interesting objects are located on the open grounds of Fort Rif: old weapons samples and models of equipment used for filming the movie "Air." In the central part of the fort, in the former barracks, there is an exhibition called "Our Youth Threw Us on Kronstadt Ice." This exhibit is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Kronstadt Uprising. Not far from the exhibition hall, there is an entrance to the underground galleries, where visitors can see the "Military Medicine" exhibit along the way.
We visited the fort together, and it was raining on the day of our visit, so there were almost no tourists. We decided to visit the exhibition about medicine first, and that’s when I realized that the walk would include elements of a horror quest.
In my opinion, the main part of our tour was visiting the underground galleries, located in the western part of the site, right by the shore. The site is a network of tunnels with branches leading to various rooms. In some places, there are signs with information about the particular rooms. One room with a transparent dome is particularly fascinating—it’s a block for hiding combat vehicles.
I must admit, walking through the deserted rooms and lengthy galleries, some of which are shrouded in mist, evokes mixed feelings: it’s all incredibly interesting, but the dark rooms, the echo of dripping water, and the complete absence of people almost transport visitors to the set of a creepy film.
After the underground part of the fort, visitors can climb up to the observation deck and enjoy views of the Gulf of Finland. Lastly, I’d like to note that there is a café, restroom, and resting benches for visitors on the premises.
I’ll conclude this virtual tour of this fascinating place here, but I suggest you take a look at another fortification near the city on the Neva, the Ino fort.
Have a nice trip!
