Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

History

The city was founded in 1740 by members of Vitus Bering's Second Kamchatka Expedition and named after their packet boats, the St Peter and St Paul. It gained town status in 1812. In the summer of 1854, during the Crimean War, the garrison repelled an Anglo-French squadron, a defence remembered by several monuments. Today the city is home to research institutes studying volcanoes, earthquakes, fisheries and the ocean.

Culture & traditions

The Kamchatka United Museum covers the peninsula's history and nature, joined by the regional art museum and the Salmon Museum. The research museum of the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology introduces Kamchatka's volcanoes. The city has a drama and comedy theatre and a puppet theatre. Among its oldest memorials are those to Bering, La Pérouse and the Glory Monument to the 1854 defence, with an early 20th-century chapel near Nikolskaya Hill.

Sport

The main football ground is the 5,000-seat Spartak Stadium. Snowy winters make the city a base for cross-country skiing and biathlon: it has ski and biathlon courses and hosted international biathlon races in memory of Vitaly Fatyanov from 2009 to 2012.

Food & drink

The city grew up on fishing, and salmon rules the local table. Kamchatka's bond with the fish is the subject of a dedicated Salmon Museum.

Practical information

There are no roads to the mainland: visitors fly into Yelizovo International Airport, linked to the city by the A-401 road, or arrive by sea. Local time is Moscow plus 9 hours. The climate is subarctic and maritime, with winters milder than in Siberia but very snowy, and cool summers. Summer and early autumn, when routes to the volcanoes are open, are the best time to visit.

What to see

• Avacha Bay — the broad harbour around which the city grew
• Koryaksky and Avachinsky volcanoes — active giants rising right above the city
• Nikolskaya Hill — memorials to the 1854 defence and views over the bay
• Kamchatka United Museum — the peninsula's history and nature in one place
• Institute of Volcanology and Seismology museum — volcano science first-hand
• Mishennaya Hill — a climb above the city for the panorama