BAZAROVA T.A. Kotlin Island – The Sea Gate of Peter the Great’s Saint Petersburg: Оn the History of the Formation of the Trading Port

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu4.2026.1.20

Tatyana A. Bazarova, Candidate of Sciences (History), Senior Researcher, Saint Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Petrozavodskaya St, 7, 197110 Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation,

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Abstract. Introduction. Kotlin Island played a significant role in Peter I’s plans related to the foundation and development of an international trading port and a base for the Baltic Fleet. The location of the island, near the southern shore of which the only shipping channel passed, provided opportunities for their implementation. Methods and materials. The source base was based on the reports of the Kotlin commandant V.I. Poroshin to the Saint Petersburg governor A.D. Menshikov, stored in the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts (f. 198), as well as published materials: decrees and instructions of Peter I, his correspondence with his associates, and eyewitness accounts. An analysis of a set of archival and published sources made it possible to establish the role of the Kotlin commandant in solving problems related to the implementation of the sovereign’s plan to create an international trading port. Analysis. At the beginning of the Great Northern War, due to the Swedish blockade, foreign merchant ships rarely entered the Neva Delta. The victories of the Russian fleet and the lifting of the Swedish blockade in 1713 opened up opportunities for the development of international shipping. In 1714, Peter I signed instructions determining the procedure for the actions of the Kotlin commandant, V.I. Poroshin, when foreign merchant ships approached the island. He was charged with organizing the inspection of merchant ships, escorting them to the Neva Delta, collecting information about the route, crew, and goods, and delivering reports with information received from skippers to the St. Petersburg governor. Reports of the commandant allow us to trace the gradual development of international trade relations of the new Russian capital and their geography. The brandvachta, created by the Tsar’s decree, carried out control and inspection of all ships. A merchant harbor was built on the island, and the necessary infrastructure for receiving and servicing foreign merchant ships was created. After the end of navigation, skippers could leave their ships for the winter in a protected harbor. Results. An analysis of Peter I’s decrees and instructions allows us to assert that he did not have a project to create an independent trading port on Kotlin. The fortress city of Kronstadt, founded on the island, became the outer port of St. Petersburg, where large merchant ships, whose draft did not allow them to enter the Neva, were received and serviced.

Key words: Peter I, A.D. Menshikov, V.I. Poroshin, Kotlin, Kronstadt, merchant shipping, international seaport, Northern War.

Citation. Bazarova T.A. Kotlin Island – The Sea Gate of Peter the Great’s Saint Petersburg: Оn the History of the Formation of the Trading Port. Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya 4. Istoriya. Regionovedenie. Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya [Science Journal of Volgograd State University. History. Area Studies. International Relations], 2026, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 232-243. (in Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu4.2026.1.20

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