Port of liepaja latvia. Liepaja Military Port (Karosta). Technical characteristics of the seaport of Liepaja

At the quay wall of the port. Photo by O. Pukhlyak

Libava as a sea harbor, thanks to its natural natural conditions, has existed since ancient times and was called Portus Liva (Port of Liva) in Latin written sources. In the historical chronicles of the second half of the 13th century about the division of Kursa (Kurzeme), Liva was first mentioned as an episcopal harbor.

The main advantage of this port is its non-freezing water area. Only sometimes, during severe and prolonged frosts, a crust of ice appears here, and then for a short time. Previously, the Livas River naturally connected Lake Liepaja with the sea. Gradually, the forest that covered the banks of the river was cut down, the soil became bare, and wandering sands moved to the sea. In a matter of years, the harbor became so shallow that it became inaccessible to ships. I had to move the port to the south, digging an artificial channel for the river. In 1697-1703, at the behest of Duke Jacob, a canal was laid on the site of the covered river and a pier for ships was built. Even then, its banks were covered with berths and warehouses, the canal became a merchant port. In 1700, about 100 ships visited it. The small fishing village of Liva began to confidently turn into seaport. Foreign merchants appear here, a trade guild is created and the first school is opened. Grain, timber, leather, agricultural products are exported from Libava, and salt, herring, building materials, hardware and other goods are imported. After several decades, the entrance to the port was again blocked by bottom sediments. Capital construction work in the port of Libava began under the Duke of Courland Biron in 1737. The fairway was deepened and two parallel piers were built to protect the water area from shallowing. It is believed that from that time the first trade lines from the Baltic to Europe began to operate. However, many Baltic ports were actively working much earlier, since the time of the Hanseatic Trade Union, which gave them certain advantages.

In 1795, after the annexation of Courland to the Russian Empire, the tsarist government took over the state of the commercial port of Libava (as the city was now called). However, it was only in the reign of Nicholas I that it was possible to widely expand work on the reconstruction of its structures, when a stone pilot tower was built and another lengthening of the piers was made. In 1831, the port received the rights of a first-class harbor, goods came here not only from the surrounding provinces, but also from Oryol, Kaluga, Smolensk, Poltava and Chernigov, and were exported to England, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Sweden, France and others European countries. In 1839, the local merchants even petitioned, albeit unsuccessfully, for the construction railway, which would link the city with central regions Russia. In 1800-1850, the cost of goods exported from the port of Libava, under favorable weather conditions, reached 5-6 million rubles. The population of the city also grew.

The Crimean War (1853-1856) dealt a strong blow to local trade. English fleet then he not only blocked the port, but also robbed the merchants, taking away the ships along with the goods. New stage in the development of the port and the city began with the opening of railway lines: in 1871 with Vilna, in 1873 - with Riga. In 1876, the Libava - Romny highway began to operate, which opened a new outlet to foreign markets for bread in the northern part of Ukraine and the black earth provinces. The trade turnover of the port has more than quadrupled. Libava had the opportunity to compete with Koenigsberg, through which a significant part of Russian exports had been going since the Crimean War. In 1877, the plan for the expansion of the port was considered by the Special Meeting, chaired by the Minister of Railways, Adjutant General K.N. By 1881 the city's population had reached 27,500. During this period, the port of Libava was already able to compete with the port of Riga. According to statistical annual reports, grain imported to Riga from interior areas Russia, in 1879 was 3.5 million quarters, and by 1880 - only 1.5 million, since 2 million went to the ports of Libava and Königsberg. True, the assortment of export goods to Germany, England, Holland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, exported from Riga, was still much wider than that of the Libau residents, who handled mainly flax, flax and hemp seeds, linen and hemp yarn, grain grain and various forest material.

In 1881, the port handled 959 ships, and in 1896 - 1094. Many local merchants mastered new professions for themselves, becoming the founders of forwarding offices. By this time, its own shipyard was already operating here, where both light ships and large-capacity ships were built.

By the beginning of the 20th century, the port of Libava was already one of the five largest in the Russian Empire along with the ports of St. Petersburg, Odessa, Revel and Riga. This was preceded by extensive work on the further construction and modernization of the port facilities. In particular, another canal was dug, along the banks of which a military port was located, a repair base with dry and floating docks, a repair shop and a drawbridge were built. Barns were erected right on the embankments of the old harbor. This contributed to the acceleration of cargo handling on ships, respectively, their freight was cheaper. We also strengthened the service of the harbor by acquiring an icebreaker and a steamer to manage port operations. In addition, piers and breakwaters were built, which are still in use. The grandiosity of their construction is worth illustrating with numbers: 12,000 units of concrete mass, 114,000 cubic meters of stone, 40,000 cubic meters of sand, 18,000 cubic meters of gravel, 80,000 tons of cement were used.

Perhaps it is interesting to look at the port area of ​​the city at the beginning of the last century. IN south side Canal, near the railway bridge, located "Gas Plant" and "Southern Expedition of Goods". Barns and speakers stretch to the city bridge, and, very close to it, residential areas. The berths are busy: warehouses, customs and the "Customs Yard" are working. Immediately behind them is the Ezinger Dye Plant and Company, at the South Pier - the Big Lighthouse. On the north side of the canal there is a goods station, near the city bridge - the "Brewery". Further - a residential quarter, an Orthodox cemetery, barns of the Libavo-Romenskaya railway. To the north of them - the plant "Linoleum", "Cork Plant", "Tin Plant". A little further - the warehouse of the city, in the neighborhood - "Mechanical workshops". Closer to the raid embankment settled "Oil warehouses Nobel and K." and Butter Mill Keeler and K.

The progressive development of this port in the Baltic continued until the outbreak of the First World War. In 1913, 1,738 ships visited here, and 1,548,119 tons of cargo were reloaded. Before and during the hostilities, many ships carrying emigrants left here. In search of a better life, up to 40,000 people annually went to the West from Libava.

After the end of the war and during the period of Latvia's independence, Russian transit through Liepaja sharply decreased. Until 1929, the average annual turnover of cargo was 240,000 tons per year. Intensification of work was facilitated by the assignment of the status of free port in 1931. After the Second World War, the port economy was almost not affected and it began to operate in 1946. In 1967, the Liepaja commercial port was liquidated, and the city, due to the location of the base of the USSR Navy, acquired the status of “closed”. The port was served by the Baltic Fleet Auxiliary Vessel Detachment. In 1991, a civil administration was established here - the Liepaja Port Authority, and a year later the first foreign merchant ship under the Polish flag entered the water area.

In order to promote the development of trade, industry and shipping, in 1997, by decision of the government, the Liepaja Free Port was opened in the port. economic zone. Now metal products, bulk cargo, wood, mineral fertilizers. Work is underway to deepen the water area in order to make the port accessible to ships with deep draft and significantly increase cargo turnover.

A. Rakityansky

See: Baltic Russians: history in cultural monuments (1710-2010). - Riga, 2010.

Information sources:

1. Gnusin D.D. Libau port. Materials for the description of Russian commercial ports. S.P. 1898

2. Picturesque Russia, vol. 2, part 1. Northwestern outskirts of Russia. S-P. and M. 1882

3. Freiberg G. The first pennants (Harbor of the Amber Sea) Liepaja, 1963. P. 27.

4. Report on the Libava commercial port for 1908. Libava, 1909. S. 3-5.

5. "Nedēļa" No. 12. 1925. (in Latin). To the 300th anniversary of Liepaja.

6. Tourist guide for Latvia. Riga. 2001.

7. S. Korklysh. Liepaja. Riga, 1966.

Apparently, things are going really well in the port of Liepaja, if the Liepaja FEZ reports on the results of the port's work for two months in a row. Last year, when things were not going well in the port, the FEZ bothered to tell how things were going in its main area of ​​responsibility only in May, November and December - exactly when life in the port noticeably revived.

So, how did the port of Liepaja survive the first two months of this year - January and February, when the cargo turnover, compared to the rest of the year, usually drops noticeably?

In January and February, the port handled 939,006.36 tons, which is 14.9% more than a year earlier. In percentage terms, by type of cargo, this amounted to bulk cargo - 72%, general cargo 23%, liquid cargo 5%. In just two months, port companies served 219 ships, 5141 passengers and 489 containers.

Specifically for months, it looks like this. In February, a total of 498,912.16 tons of cargo was handled, which is 13.4% more than in January and 20.8% more than in February 2014. In January 2015, the port handled 440,094.20 tons of cargo, which is 8.9% more than a year earlier and 12.8% more than in December. In February, the port served 117 ships and 2148 passengers, in January - 102 ships and 2723 passengers.

We live on grain. no metal

In February, among the types of cargo, bulk cargo traditionally had the largest volume - 352.7 thousand tons, of which the largest share was in grain and grain products - 264.4 thousand tons or 75%.

In other words, more than half of the port's cargo turnover came from grain products (including soy flour). This means that the port operates in exactly the same way as a hundred years ago, at the beginning of the 20th century, being a port for the export of grain from Russia.

Even in the bulk cargo group, building materials had a stable turnover - this is cement from the Broceni plant, transshipped in Tosmar: in February, 47.5 thousand tons, or 13.47%. And in February of this year, sugar cargoes returned to Liepaja port - 28.3 thousand tons, or 8% of bulk cargo. In January, the volume of bulk cargo amounted to 322.3 thousand tons, of which 271.7 thousand tons of grain and grain products.

Cargoes of sugar returned to the port thanks to Liepaja Bulk Terminal operating at berth 51. The company is constantly looking for new types of cargo to ensure the continuous and efficient operation of the terminal - built, as we recall, on the site of the former separation pier in the northern part of the Free Harbor just a few years ago. The terminal is designed in such a way that it can accept the widest possible range of bulk cargo and work with full load not only during the active grain harvest season. In February, the company handled a cargo of raw sugar for the first time, and now it expects such cargoes in the future.

Within a few years, Liepaja Bulk Terminal has become one of the largest stevedoring companies in the port, having taken the lead from Liepajas osta LM. In 2014, it handled 2 million tons, the growth for the year was 68.6% - in 2013, the annual cargo turnover was 1.2 million tons. In February, the company handled 257,132.48 tons (33.7% more than a year ago), in January - 211,043.10 tons (43% more than a year earlier).

In fact, the company "Liepaja Bulk Terminal" serves half of the entire cargo turnover of the port of Liepaja.

According to the leaders of the Liepaja SEZ, such volumes of transshipment of bulk agricultural cargo - wheat, barley, flaxseed, soy products - can be maintained until March or April of this year. Liepaja Bulk Terminal and Dan Store Latvia, which rents a berth on the opposite bank of the Free Harbor from Liepajas osta LM, are maintaining the momentum taken at the end of 2014. Cautious forecasts are already being made that in 2015 the flow of this type of cargo through the port of Liepaja will increase.

200 - 250 thousand tons of cargo - is it a lot or a little? To understand this, it is enough to remember the year 2008, when at the height of the crisis in the leader of that time in terms of cargo turnover - "Liepājas osta LM" considered it a great success to stay at the level of 100 thousand reloaded tons for a month.

The volume of general cargo in the port of Liepaja in February amounted to 121.2 thousand tons, or 24.3% of the total cargo turnover, in January - 98.6 thousand tons and 22%. This group is dominated by Ro-Ro cargo, which, however, with the depreciation of the Russian ruble, has seen a slight decrease compared to last year. In other words, there were fewer cars on the ferries. On the other hand, a stable increase has been observed in the timber segment for several months already: in February alone, 53.7 thousand tons were shipped, compared to February 2014, this is twice as much - an increase of 105.8%.

Along with the resumption of work of KVV Liepajas metalurgs, metal cargoes are also returning to the group of general cargoes. At the moment, the cargo volumes are not large, but the company plans that already in the middle of summer, both raw materials - scrap metal, and finished products- steel building fittings.

The share of liquid cargo in our port is negligible. In January - 19.1 thousand tons, or 4% of the total cargo turnover, in February - 25 thousand tons, or 5%. According to representatives of the port authorities, such low level due to the fact that the transportation of this group of goods is directly related to the political and economic situation in the world. Thus, Janis Miller, member of the board of the DG Terminal company, believes that the price of oil on the world market, as well as other economic and political factors, directly affects the turnover of liquid cargo. That is why his company diversified its business activities and started the production of bio-diesel fuel from rapeseed oil, which is a friendly product for the future (but not friendly, we note, for direct consumers of products Agriculture- people who are deprived of a significant number vegetable oil).

One more fact can be mentioned: the stevedoring company "Mols L" in February achieved the highest increase in cargo turnover in the port - 187% compared to February last year. This is explained by changes in management, more effective work and successful attraction of new cargoes.

904 railcars at a time

On February 23, an extraordinary event took place in the port of Liepaja. The tugboats put the Belo Horizonte ship into the sea with the largest cargo in the history of our port - 54.2 thousand tons. If we translate these figures into standard 60-ton railcars, we get 904 cars.

A huge Panamax-class vessel sank 11.1 meters into the water, taking on board 43.7 thousand tons of wheat and 10.5 thousand tons of barley at berth 51, where Liepaja Bulk Terminal operates. It took ten days to load this cargo, it was sent to Abu Dhabi.

The amount of cargo is directly related to the depth of the port. The deeper the fairways, the greater the available allowable draft for ships, allowing more cargo to be loaded. This is the result of the work that the Liepaja FEZ Administration has been carrying out for several years, implementing projects to deepen the water area of ​​the port of Liepaja and the approach fairways to it up to 12 meters.

Before big ships Panamax class also called at Liepaja port and, as a rule, moored at berths 42 and 43, which are shared by Liepājas osta LM and Dan Store Latvija. Then, having loaded by two-thirds, the ships left the port of Liepaja and were reloaded in other European ports. At present, ships deep draft cannot fully use the berths of “Liepājas osta LM”, because at one time, due to the financial problems of the parent company “Liepajas metalurgs”, the stevedoring company could not reconstruct its berths, adapting them to ships with a draft of 11.5 meters. In the summer of 2014, 95.2% of the shares of "Liepājas osta LM" were acquired by a Russian private person, Konstantin Goncharov, and we can hope that in 2015 the company will resume stable operations.

In the meantime, ships with the largest cargoes leave the berths of the stevedoring company “Liepājas Bulk Terminal”. The previous record cargo was taken out on November 1, 2012, when 48.55 thousand tons of grain were also loaded onto the vessel THOR at the Liepājas Bulk Terminal berth, due to which the vessel took on a draft of 10.6 meters.

2014 is the second highest scoring year in history

Liepaja port handled 5.3 million tons of cargo in 2014, which is the second highest cargo turnover in the history of Liepaja port. You can even give an exact figure - 5,299,899 tons and 470 kilograms, or 9.5% more than a year earlier. It could have been more if the flow of goods throughout the year had been kept at the same level as it had been in the first months of the year. 42305 passengers were served during the year.

Compared to previous years, the results look like this:

The largest cargo turnover was in the bulk cargo segment - 3.64 million tons, or 69%. Most of them were formed by grain and grain products - 52%. In second place were building materials, mainly cement - 10%. Other bulk cargoes include wood shavings, mineral fertilizers and coke. The bulk cargo segment showed a 30% increase over the year, while general and liquid cargo showed a decrease. The share of general cargo was 25%, or 1.3 million tons.

In 2014, the Terrabalt company, which provides ferry service and Ro-Ro cargo, worked steadily. The ferry line to Germany "Liepaja - Travemünde", as well as the line to Sweden "Liepajas - Nynashamn" operating in test mode, operated with a growing load. The share of Ro-Ro cargo in the annual turnover was 14%, or 759 thousand tons. The share of liquid cargo was only 7%, 352.6 thousand tons, which was affected by the fall in oil prices on the world market.

The structure of cargo handled in our port in 2014 looked like this: grain and products from it - 52%, building materials - 10%, Ro-Ro cargo - 15%, timber - 10%, oil products 3%, crude oil 2% , mineral fertilizers - 2%, metals and metal products - 1%, coke - 1%, other cargoes 4%.

Of the port stevedoring companies in 2014, Liepaja Bulk Terminal provided the largest cargo turnover - 2,025,560.05 tons, confirming the effectiveness of its activities - the company continued to develop the terminal, storage facilities and expand logistics areas. The increase in its cargo turnover for the year amounted to 68.6%. Another significant increase was shown by the company "Duna" - 14.3% and "Terrabalt" - 12.6%.

In the middle of last year, the cargo turnover in the port fell significantly, the most critical month was July, when 301,000 tons were handled throughout the port. The port returned to more or less decent indicators in October and November, and in December the cargo turnover halved again.

Observations of trends in the port and in the market allow us to expect that in 2015, 6.3 million tons of cargo will be handled in the port of Liepaja, or 19% more than in 2014. But the record turnover of 7.4 million tons reached in 2012 is planned to be exceeded no earlier than in 2018.

Based on the materials of the Liepaja FEZ

Illustrations from available sources

Karosta is a part of Liepaja, but at the same time it is a completely separate world. This amazing, paradoxical and unique place, and therefore Karosta is one of the most unusual objects in Latvia, which is very popular among tourists.

Feel the enchanting severity of Karosta!

• Cross the Oskar Kalpak drawbridge over the Military Port Canal;
• Wander along the cobbled streets of Karosta, admire the alleys and architecture of the times of Tsarist Russia;
• Feel the powerful breath of the sea as you walk along northern pier on a windy day;
• See impressive fortifications - and forts on the seashore;
• Combine your visit with an active holiday by cycling along the 12-kilometer route "The enchanting severity of Karosta"!

Karosta Prison

One of the most unusual attractions of the Military Port, where tourists are offered a truly unforgettable experience. Here you can wear a gas mask or tie pioneer tie, as well as deliver for interrogation to the head of the guardhouse.

Tourists can take part in various reality shows:

• spend "Extreme Night" as a prisoner;
• experience the thrill in the Northern Forts - arrest, interrogation in prison;
• thrill-seekers can join the 24-Hour Army.

Northern pier

The northern pier is a functionally important hydraulic structure of the port of Liepaja.

Mole is great for:

• for walking;
• to watch sunsets and storms;
• for fishing.

You can also see fragments of the Northern Fort and Liepaja Free Port in the sea.

History of Karosta

In 1905 from Liepaja to Pacific Ocean sent a large Russian flotilla to take part in Russo-Japanese War. In this war Russian fleet suffered significant losses and Russian emperor in 1908 he ordered the destruction of the fortress. They tried to blow it up, but it was such a monumental and reliable structure that this plan failed.

The remains of the Liepaja fortifications have survived to this day.

Liepaja military town, aka Karosta (military port - lat.), aka former port Alexander III, in my opinion, the most impressive and famous part of the city, formed at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as a major naval port and an outpost of the Russian Empire in the Baltic. Liepaja (then the city was called Libava) had an ice-free commercial port and a dubious decision was made to equip the support base of the Baltic navy right here. Doubtful, because it (the base) could not provide a reliable and safe cover due to its extreme proximity to the Prussian border, which was 60 kilometers from Libava. Yes, and for the fleet of a potential enemy it was not difficult to block access to the sea for the Russian squadron. By the way, several decades before the construction of the military port of Libava, preference was given to Vindava (Ventspils) in choosing the main Russian commercial port in the southern Baltic, since it froze less and was closer to European markets.

At the end of the 19th century, Libava again came to the fore - it was decided to build a military port here, and a special Commission "On Communications and Joint Actions of Land and naval forces in the defense of the state" rejected such options as Vindava, Moonsund and Catherine's harbor, which is already in the north Kola Peninsula. As a result, the fate of history played a cruel joke with Liepaja after the collapse of the USSR - I won’t say anything about Moonsund and Catherine’s harbor, but Ventspils, which is 100 km north of Liepaja, in Soviet time turned into a powerful trading port with modern moorings and piers, and experienced a truly stormy flourishing, which, with the skillful management of the legacy left, had a positive effect on the well-being of the city today - and Liepaja, having received the status of a closed city as the base of the USSR Navy, remained in 1991 with a broken trough. One of the confirmations of this is the most severe desolation of the military camp (aka Karosta) in the last two decades.

One way or another, today it is an impressive and unique architectural monument, an area with its own characteristics and a peculiar aura, which survived the troubled 90s, and now, as Latvian sources of information say, is gradually turning into an integral tourist attraction. However, it is still far from great fame, because with all the desire, the phenomenon of two and a half Balts and one and a half Germans, who come to visit the most famous object of the town of Liepaja garrison prison, I cannot call massive. Attracting a tourist is a difficult and creative task, it takes more than one decade. So you can consider that with this post I am promoting Liepaja on the Internet, although I did not receive a penny from the local tourist center. Joke!

In fact, the walk turned out to be not quite complete, because I planned to come here again the next day, but it didn’t work out, so I’ll catch up next time, which will hopefully be in the summer.

I'll tell you this - until recently, five years ago, the military town was a terrible hole, but in Lately local authorities seem to have taken up the gentrification of the area. Roads are being repaired, new sidewalks are being laid, housing is being allocated to the poor. Personally, I expected to see the situation much sadder, but I noticed that the process is slowly moving in a positive direction. Very slowly, but moving forward. There is a long way to go when a mass tourist, and what a tourist is an ordinary Liepaja citizen, will be able to come to the town and say that it is cool here.

The administrative building of the shipyard, which once repaired warships. Now the enterprise seems to be working, but far from being on the scale of the past. With the collapse of the USSR and the formation of a planned economy, thousands of military personnel and civilians left the city, for whom there was no work left, and the 90s were marked by a wholesale exodus of the active, able-bodied part of the population.

Nearby you can see a depressing sight on the spot former home culture "Baltic". There are many similar boarded up and forgotten buildings in Karosta and Tosmar (Tosmare - the adjacent area), but again, I repeat, time is needed.

In the days of the USSR, the military, their families, workers from the surrounding industries and civilian civilians lived in the military town. The area was pleasant and well-groomed, and in the mid-90s it was dangerous to meddle here. Suddenly, a huge number of various gopniks, lumpen and outcasts appeared, the criminal situation was extremely unfavorable.

Now about 7 thousand people live in Karosta. I talked to people who live there. They are positive, they do not complain, there are shops, transport links with the main city are good and regular. Poverty is just that, salaries are quite low, pensions are also small, there is little work.

This is a Tosmare residential area, a courtyard between five-story buildings. The graffiti with the Russian flag, which stands out brightly against the background of the February dullness, attracts attention. By the way, the national composition of the current residents of the town is approximately the following: 70% are Russian speakers, and for the remaining 30%, Latvian is their native language.

One of the local attractions is the water tower, built in 1905 and providing water to the entire territory of the Military Port.

The territory of the military camp is literally stuffed railroad tracks especially when approaching it. Those paths in the picture lead to the grain loading terminal on the banks of the Military Canal, which is just below.

The so-called Red Store in the common people, by color building material. Nearby there is also the White Store, in the sense that there is also some kind of local trading network, but locals The shops are still called red and white.

Some part of the town is occupied by a similar housing stock - houses built after the war.

Some roads in Karosta are still paved with concrete aviation slabs, which are being gradually removed.

Major repairs, replacement of pavement and communications on the street where Podplav was located - military base scuba diving. Let me explain that in 1906, the first Russian diving training detachment was organized in Podplav. The birthplace of Russian scuba diving is located here, in Liepaja. And in Soviet times, there was a base for submarines of the Baltic Fleet.

This part of the town is the busiest. The condition of the buildings is deplorable.

Podlav services and barracks were located here, once the newest submarines of the Baltic Fleet were based here. Now in the military town submarines, no Podplav, but the only diving training center in the Baltics. And sappers are also trained there.

There was a large swimming pool around here somewhere, but not a trace of it remains. Here, by the way, there seems to be an open passage to the harbor of Podplav, but there are also prohibitory inscriptions. So I didn't go any further. closed area port.

A little more of the Soviet housing stock of Karosta. Do you want to know how much real estate in such houses costs? A 2-room apartment of 48 square meters requiring minor cosmetic repairs can be rented for 4-5 thousand euros. So far, there are very few applicants.

Liepaja St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral, which was consecrated in 1903 in the presence of Emperor Nicholas II and his family. During the times of the Latvian USSR, the cathedral housed an ordinary sailor's club and a cinema.

From the cathedral in a straight line 300 meters to the coast. On the horizon you can see the northern pier, protecting Liepaja port from wind and sand drifts.

Then I headed to the ruins of Libavskaya, and left the military town already through the famous drawbridge on the Military Canal. The bridge was designed according to the sketch of the same Eiffel and was intended to provide navigation through the canal of the military camp of the Libau base and land communication between Karosta, which is a separate administrative unit, and Libava. The bridge is formed from two identical movable trusses, which rotate 90 degrees each in its own direction.

Some information about the bridge. It is considered a technical monument and is the only surviving drawbridge in Latvia. Interestingly, Alexander Gustav Eiffel himself only sketched a technical sketch, according to which the final project was developed in St. Petersburg, and metal constructions brought from Bryansk.

The bridge repeatedly failed, it was damaged by the German army during the First World War, and during the Great Patriotic War. A little less than 10 years ago, a completely anecdotal incident occurred - the tanker "Anna", sailing under the flag of Georgia, crashed into the northern span of the bridge, damaging it again, and this happened before the long-awaited large-scale reconstruction. The reconstruction project had to be revised again.

The military canal, the construction of which required grandiose expensive hydraulic engineering works.

Gloomy but calm Baltic on the horizon.

Then I'm heading to the "mainland" Liepaja and with the hope of returning to the town in the summer. What can be said in summary? The area is not easy and ambiguous, little by little changes are taking place for the better. Of course, there are many terrible neglected corners in the town, there is a lot of work ahead, but ... perhaps now there is a slow awakening after many years of hibernation.