Petersburg marks 200th anniversary of the first Russian round-the-world expedition

Celebrations will be held in St. Petersburg on Thursday, August 7, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the first Russian round-the-world expedition. In August 1803, following the decree of Emperor Alexander I, the schooners Nadezhda and Neva, under the command of Ivan Krusenstern and Yury Lisyansky, set off for a voyage from the port of Kronstadt (the island of Kotlin, 29 kilometres away from St. Petersburg).

As a RIA Novosti correspondent was told in the organising committee of the event, in the morning flowers and memorable jubilee signs will be laid at the tombs of Russian Emperors Peter I and Alexander I in the St. Peter and Paul Cathedral for their contribution to the development of the Russian fleet. One side of the sign depicts the portraits of the commanders of the expedition - Krusenstern and Lisyansky - and the other side - the ships Nadezhda and Neva.

The memorable flag made specially for this date and depicting the map of the world on which the route of the first Russian round-the world voyage is shown, will be brought to the ceremony in the Saint Peter and Paul Cathedral. Then the flag will be transferred to the monument of Ivan Krusenstern, which stands at the Peter the Great Marine Corps which was commanded by Krusenstern from 1826 to 1841.

Here the honorary guests of the event will nail the flag to its staff and hand it over to the youth Marine Council whose members are representatives of the marine higher educational establishments of Petersburg continuing the traditions of the great Russian seafarers.