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Kaliningrad is a unique city of Russia.

It can be called “born again”. The city was founded in 1255 by an order of Teutonic Knights on the territory of a pagan tribe called the “Prussians”. They built a fort and named it Königsberg which can be translated from German as “King’s Hill”. The history records that Peter the Great visited this land in 1697 with the Great Embassy.

In July 1946, Königsberg was renamed Kaliningrad and in August 1946 the first echelons with migrants from all over Russia came to Kaliningrad to restore the ruins of our city. Since that time, a new history of an ancient city began. Kaliningrad is the westernmost point of Russia situated on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It’s ancestry and history, unique geographical situation, and enclave location make Kaliningrad one of the most peculiar Russian areas.

On the territory of Kaliningrad region there is a unique industrial amber deposit in the world, comprising up to 90% of the explored world reserves. Due to this sunny stone, our region is called amber land. The only Russian Amber museum is located in Kaliningrad.

In 1716, the King of Prussia presented the Amber Room to the Russian Tsar, Peter the Great. More than 5 tons of amber was used to decorate the room. Unfortunately, the amber and precious stones were lost at the beginning of World War II. A replica Amber Room has been recovered and given to the Russian President. But the wherabouts of the original Amber Room remains a mystery. The region, situated on the Baltic Sea coast, not far from the largest European capitals, has become one of the biggest tourist centres.

Tourists are attracted by the mild climate, velvet wonderful sandy beaches, the unique national park “Curonian Spit” (Kurshskaya Cape), and well-known resorts Svetlogorsk and Zelenogradsk which still echo the past, making our region an unforgettable place.

Kurshskaya Cape is a sandy peninsula 98 km long (Russian part is 48 km), 3,8 km wide. A narrow stripe of earth separates the salty Baltic Sea and the fresh Kurshskiy Bay. And here, in 1987, one of the first in Russia, the National Park “Kurshskaya Cape”, 7890 hectares square was founded.

The nature of Kaliningrad region is rich and diverse. A unique national nature park “Kurshskaya Spit” is well known far beyond the borders of the region as a place of fascinating nature landscape.

The most widely-distributed tree species in our region are spruce, pine, oak, maple, but the total number of plant species comes to 1300.

There are 20 nature reserves in Kaliningrad region-parks, alleys and groves with unique species of plants under protection.

In the streets of the city you can see rare trees and shrubs which are found in any botanical garden in the world.

The fauna of the Kaliningrad Region is represented by such big animals as deer, elk, roe deer, fallow deer and wild boar.

The autumn and spring migration routes of millions of birds lie above “Kurshskaya Spit” and in reservoirs nearly 60 fish species have been registered. Many species of Kaliningrad fauna were included in the Red Book and became endangered in other nature regions. The pride of the city is the Kaliningrad Zoo.

Why not visit our city, one that shaped the lives of Immanuel Kant and many more who lived in this amazing place? If it is entertainment you are looking for, you may visit the Drama Theatre with top-class programmes from drama to musicals.

The city also has an excellent selection of accommodation: from small and cosy guesthouses to luxurious hotels.

Good shopping and parking facilities are also provided. Kaliningrad has a lot of architectural monuments such as The Cathedral and the museum of Amber. They are valuable symbols of our city and catch the eye with such particular details as domes. Some of them have become ruined by time. And the churches are masterpieces.

A unique Museum of the World Oceans is set aboard the old research ship “Vityaz” moored on the Pregolya River in the centre of the city. And next to the ship “Vityaz” is located another scientific ship “Patshayev”. By the way, the famous cosmonauts Patshayev, Leonov and Romanenko are from Kaliningrad. And Romanenko studied in our lyceum and there is a museum of space in our school.

It has become a tradition in Kaliningrad to hold festivals of the arts “Autumn Constellation”, “Musical Spring”, “The Baltic Seasons”, “The Amber Nightingale”, “Kaliningrad-in-Rock”. Our city is indeed a five-star tourist destination.

In our region there live representatives of 132 different nationalities, and nowadays it is very important to know their customs and traditions. The only true way of tolerance is to have respect for individuals independent of complexion, or the shape of one’s eyes.

And we can tell that Kaliningrad is a city with a broad ethnic mix, which means a mixture of people from different cities and countries, cultures, races and religions. There is considerable harmony and tolerance between everyone who lives here.

Distance

To Pskov, the nearest Russian centre – about 800 km.

The European capitals:

To Moscow – 1290 km

To Vilnus – 350 km

To Riga – 390 km

To Warsaw – 400 km

To Berlin – 600 km

To Stockholm – 650 km

To Copenhagen – 680 km

To Oslo – 850 km

Teacher: E.L. Dzhalalova