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All Russia Kronshtadt Kronshtadt Sea Gauge

Kronshtadt Sea Gauge

This historic system is the zero level benchmark for measuring the depths and altitudes of the Baltic.

Kronshtadt, Russia

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ahvenas
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Tide gauge pavilion.   Alex 'Florstein' Fedorov/cc by-sa 4.0
The metal rod attached to the bridge showing the actual sea level.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
The measurement rod.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
Tide gauge pavilion in Kronstadt.   Martinp1/cc by-sa 3.0
The tide gauge pavilion.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
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The town of Kronstadt is part of an old naval fortress outside Saint Petersburg that was once the city’s main seaport. For centuries the sea level town has been prone to flooding by the quick-changing water levels of the Gulf of Finland.

Beginning in the late 18th century, a sea gauge was built to monitor these fluctuations in the sea level, and it is still the zero-point benchmark for measuring the water levels of the Baltic Sea, as well as altitudes throughout the region. In the Soviet era, this reference point was even used to measure the orbits of spacecraft.

Water levels across much of Europe today are measured based on the zero level of the Amsterdam Ordnance Datum. But not so in Russia, which still uses the historic Kronstadt sea gauge. The original tool, a metal rod with marks, was used to measure sea levels until the late 1800s, when it was replaced by an updated method, a floating tide gauge instrument called a mareograph. 

The tide gauge floats within a deep well housed inside a small yellow wooden pavilion near the Blue Bridge. The original rod is still in place, however, affixed to a pillar under the bridge. Its visible marks are a fascinating historic record of the changing Baltic Sea.

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Marvelous Maps And Measures Oceans Instruments Of Science History

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The pavilion is located near the former Italian palace, next to the Blue Bridge across the Obvodny Canal. The wooden pavilion seen today is a reconstruction of the original, restored in the mid 20th century.

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ahvenas

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Meg

  • Meg

Published

August 6, 2018

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  • http://www.encspb.ru/object/2855727206?lc=en
  • http://www.visit-saint-petersburg.ru/sea-gauge/
  • https://www.rbth.com/arts/travel/2014/05/15/kronstadt_unique_summer_getaway_in_st_petersburg_35225
Kronshtadt Sea Gauge
1 Makarovskaya Ulitsa
Kronshtadt
Russia
59.989266, 29.762407
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Photo of Kronshtadt

Kronshtadt

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