Postcard Traveller: Leningrad Oblast

onsdag 17. april 2019

Russia - Unesco Struve Geodetic Arc in Hogland Island, Russia

Hogland (or Goglad) island is an island in the gulf of Finland in the eastern Baltic Sea, west of St. Petersburg. It belongs to Russia's Kingiseppsky District in the Leningrad Oblast.

Hogland's tourist industry is growing in importance, with most tourists coming from St. Petersburg, and some from Finland. In 2006, however, Russian authorities declared Hogland a "border area", which means that foreign nationals are not allowed to travel to the island without special permits. This limits tourism from abroad to small groups, admitted one at a time, and adds extensive bureaucracy to applications for permission to visit the island.

Hogland has been inhabited by ethnic Finns since at least the 16th century, but it has changed hands several times. Throughout much of its history the island was part of the Kingdom of Sweden, which controlled Finland; however, after the Great Northern War (as part of which, the Action of 22 July 1713 took place near the island),the Russian Empire, under Tsar Peter I, claimed the island. Peter then had the island's first lighthouse built in 1723.

Sender: Julie K.