Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is the largest city on Kamchatka and the administrative center of the Far Eastern Russian region of the same name. Cossacks visited the area from the end of the 17th century, while the city is considered to have been founded in 1740 by Vitus Bering, who named the city Petropavlovsk after his expedition’s two ships, Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Petropavlovsk was founded in Avatja Bay, and the naturally good location meant that the city developed into the most important city on Kamchatka.

Petropavlovsk formally became a city in 1812, and during the Crimean War in the 1850s it was besieged by British-French forces, but the city did not fall, which was partly due to the fortifications carried out from 1847. Despite the garrison and the good location, the city had however, only approximately 400 inhabitants in the year 1900.

However, this figure rose to almost 200,000 throughout the 20th century, when Petropavlovsk became an important fishing port in the Soviet Union. In 1924, the city was officially named Kamchatsky to distinguish the city from Petropavlovsk in Kazakhstan, and in the following decades a theater, a naval school and a shipyard were built in the city, and when the population peaked, there were 273,000 citizens in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

Today, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is a big city known for its beautiful location with views of mountains and volcanoes on the horizon. Nature is also present and very present in the city centre, which lies along the coast. In the center is Lenin Square/площадь Ленина, where you can see the city’s monument to Lenin, Pamjatnik V.I. Leninu/Памятник В. И. To Lenin. The monument was erected during the time of the Soviet Union, and from the square you can see both the sea, the hills and the Kamchatka Drama and Comedy Theater/Камчатский театр Драмы и Комедии to the south in the open area.

If you go south from Lenin Square, you will pass the Kamchatka Regional Museum, Kamchatskij Krajevoj Obedinjonnyj Muzej/Камчатский краевой объединённый музей. To the north is another interesting museum. It is the city’s volcano museum, Muzej Vulkanov Vulkanarium/Музей влуканов Вулканарим, which is very relevant to see with the active underground of the Kamtyatka Peninsula. And north of the museum, you can go to the top of the hill Mishennoj Sopke/Мишенной сопке, from where there is a panoramic view of the city, the sea and the surrounding mountains.

You can also choose to take a walk in the city’s streets and enjoy the atmosphere. Along the way, you can visit several museums and churches, with the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity/Кафедральный собор Троицы Живоначальной as the city’s most important religious building. It is a Russian Orthodox cathedral and episcopal seat of the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatka Eparchy. The cathedral was built from 2000 and crowned with domes in 2007. The patriarch inaugurated the beautiful church in 2010.