The first Europeans to visit the Golden Horn Bay came off two British warships in 1855. Russian and German merchants from across Europe, plus the Japanese, settled in what later became Vladivostok (pop now 610,000). The area near the Chinese and North Korean borders was ceded by China to Russia via the Treaties of Aigun 1858 and of Peking 1860.
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Central Railway Station, Vladivostok
opened in 1905
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opened in 1905
Military and History Museum of the Pacific Fleet
opened in 1950
opened in 1950
In 1860 a military supply ship arrived fully equipped to create the Vladivostok outpost. To encourage imports, Vladivostok was made a Free Commercial Port in 1862. Only 2 years later the Southern Harbours Command moved in and a shipbuilding yard was built.
In 1871 the naval port, military governor's residence and Siberian Military Flotilla base moved here and the Great Northern Telegraph Co. connected Vladivostok to Nagasaki and Shanghai by underwater cable. The fortifications went up in early 1870s.
The Aigun Treaty had ceded huge lands to Russia, worsening the already cool relations with France and Britain, but the Germans were favoured. Hamburgers merchant Gustav Kunst (1836-1905) and jeweller Gustav Albers (1838-1911) went into business together in 1865, forming Vladivostok’s first department shop. They used Art Nouveau and Baroque architecture, a successful commercial structure that Europeans loved.
By the late C19th, Jews were among the political prisoners sent by train for resettlement, establishing the Siberian communities of Omsk, Tomsk and Tobolsk. They played a prominent role in cultural and economic development, especially in the fur trade. By the late C19th, Siberia’s Jewish population stood at 35,000 people, with wooden synagogues and cemeteries in most towns. But the number of Jews who continued on to Vladivostok remained small.
Town status was granted in Ap 1880. In 1885 the Mother of God Catholic Church was a small wooden church. Later a beautiful stone building in a Gothic style was built largely for Poles & Lithuanians. [This was a house of worship that was repurposed, not destroyed by the Soviets].
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Mother of God Catholic Church
founded in 1866
Rebuilt as Episcopal See of the Catholic Diocese until 2002.
Belarusian merchant Leon Skidelsky (1845–1916) was contracted in 1895 to build the last Trans-Siberian railway section, from northern Manchuria to Vladivostok. When Leon settled in Vladivostok, he became a key sponsor of the Amur Regional Museum, a cultural exhibition arranged by gold producers for Prince Nicholas Romanov, Russian heir. The museum is housed in Kunst und Albers Trade Co site.
The Nicholas Triumphal Gates were built in 1891 to commemorate Prince Nicholas’ visit, on the spot where the prince’s got off the ship at Admiral’s Wharf. The monumental stone and brick arch was designed in the Russian and Byzantine style, light and elegant. The four foundations and walls were adorned with Old Russian patterns and a gilt eagle on top. In 1930, when Bolsheviks took over the power, these hated Tsarist symbols were blown up, and restored only in 2003.
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The Great Purge (1936) revealed extreme Stalinist oppression. While previous Stalinist purges persecuted wealthy kulaks, peasants, clerics and small manufacturers, the Great Purge saw imprisonments & executions of Communists, Red Army men and academics. After a decade of anti-religious propaganda in the 1920s, most prayer houses were closed in the 1930s or were changed into Soviet administration sites.
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In 1871 the naval port, military governor's residence and Siberian Military Flotilla base moved here and the Great Northern Telegraph Co. connected Vladivostok to Nagasaki and Shanghai by underwater cable. The fortifications went up in early 1870s.
The Aigun Treaty had ceded huge lands to Russia, worsening the already cool relations with France and Britain, but the Germans were favoured. Hamburgers merchant Gustav Kunst (1836-1905) and jeweller Gustav Albers (1838-1911) went into business together in 1865, forming Vladivostok’s first department shop. They used Art Nouveau and Baroque architecture, a successful commercial structure that Europeans loved.
By the late C19th, Jews were among the political prisoners sent by train for resettlement, establishing the Siberian communities of Omsk, Tomsk and Tobolsk. They played a prominent role in cultural and economic development, especially in the fur trade. By the late C19th, Siberia’s Jewish population stood at 35,000 people, with wooden synagogues and cemeteries in most towns. But the number of Jews who continued on to Vladivostok remained small.
Town status was granted in Ap 1880. In 1885 the Mother of God Catholic Church was a small wooden church. Later a beautiful stone building in a Gothic style was built largely for Poles & Lithuanians. [This was a house of worship that was repurposed, not destroyed by the Soviets].
founded in 1866
Rebuilt as Episcopal See of the Catholic Diocese until 2002.
In May 1891, Grand Duke Nicholas II/later Czar ceremonially opened the start site of the great Trans-Siberian Railway line, built to connect European Russia with Vladivostok for economic and political reasons. The handsome Central Railway Station was opened in 1905, to build up Russia’s Pacific defences and to bind Siberia to Russia. The stone building had an iron roof, one-storey in the middle and a two-storey on the edges. Since 1924, decorative elements of the Czarist building began to disappear: the two-headed eagle, mosaic panels with coats of arms, relief images of glazed ceramics on Russian folklore and fairy tales.
Belarusian merchant Leon Skidelsky (1845–1916) was contracted in 1895 to build the last Trans-Siberian railway section, from northern Manchuria to Vladivostok. When Leon settled in Vladivostok, he became a key sponsor of the Amur Regional Museum, a cultural exhibition arranged by gold producers for Prince Nicholas Romanov, Russian heir. The museum is housed in Kunst und Albers Trade Co site.
The Nicholas Triumphal Gates were built in 1891 to commemorate Prince Nicholas’ visit, on the spot where the prince’s got off the ship at Admiral’s Wharf. The monumental stone and brick arch was designed in the Russian and Byzantine style, light and elegant. The four foundations and walls were adorned with Old Russian patterns and a gilt eagle on top. In 1930, when Bolsheviks took over the power, these hated Tsarist symbols were blown up, and restored only in 2003.
Nicholas Triumphal Gate, 1891
Pokrovskiy Cathedral, built 1902, was second biggest church in Vladivostok and was followed by the neighbouring parochial school. In 1935 the Cathedral passed to the Naval Office and later became the site of the Military and History Museum of the Pacific Fleet.
Post-October Revolution 1917, Bolsheviks controlled Vladivostok and the Trans-Siberian Railway. During the long Russian Civil War they were overthrown by the White-allied Czechoslovak Legion, who declared the city an Allied Protectorate. The White Army regime was eventually defeated; in Ap 1920, Vladivostok was ruled by the Soviet-backed Far Eastern Republic, a buffer state between the Soviets and Japan. It became the capital of the Japanese-backed Provisional Government, after a White Army coup in May 1921. Withdrawal of Japanese forces and the arrival of Soviet rule in Oct 1922 marked the change in Siberia. Vladivostok was becoming Russia’s largest Pacific port city.
Post-October Revolution 1917, Bolsheviks controlled Vladivostok and the Trans-Siberian Railway. During the long Russian Civil War they were overthrown by the White-allied Czechoslovak Legion, who declared the city an Allied Protectorate. The White Army regime was eventually defeated; in Ap 1920, Vladivostok was ruled by the Soviet-backed Far Eastern Republic, a buffer state between the Soviets and Japan. It became the capital of the Japanese-backed Provisional Government, after a White Army coup in May 1921. Withdrawal of Japanese forces and the arrival of Soviet rule in Oct 1922 marked the change in Siberia. Vladivostok was becoming Russia’s largest Pacific port city.
The Great Purge (1936) revealed extreme Stalinist oppression. While previous Stalinist purges persecuted wealthy kulaks, peasants, clerics and small manufacturers, the Great Purge saw imprisonments & executions of Communists, Red Army men and academics. After a decade of anti-religious propaganda in the 1920s, most prayer houses were closed in the 1930s or were changed into Soviet administration sites.
Monument to Soldiers of Soviet Power in the Far East
in Vladivostok's central square, 1961.
The Monument to Soldiers of Soviet Power in the Far East was built in 1961 to commemorate the Russian Revolutions, and placed in the city’s central square. It is the largest monument in the Far East.
Vladivostok's synagogue, taken by Communist authorities in the 1930s, was given back to the community, renovated in Dec 2005 and launched by Russian PM Medvedev. Pokrovsky Cathedral, destroyed in the Revolution, was renovated and modernised in 2007. And its school!
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Vladivostok's synagogue, taken by Communist authorities in the 1930s, was given back to the community, renovated in Dec 2005 and launched by Russian PM Medvedev. Pokrovsky Cathedral, destroyed in the Revolution, was renovated and modernised in 2007. And its school!
Vladivostok Synagogue
Russky Bridge is a cable-bridge that connects Russky Island and the Amursky Peninsula across the Eastern Bosphorus. Its central span of 1,104 ms, built to serve the 2012 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference on Russky Island, was launched by Medvedev. Russky Island was a fully militarised zone for the past 150 years, now reinvented as a centre for Far Eastern Federal University and Oceanarium.
Russky Bridge, 2012
linking over to Russky Island