St. Petersburg Inspectors Find 19th-Century Cannon on Playground

While inspecting the cleanliness of playgrounds, employees of the State Administrative and Technical Inspectorate (GATI) came across an unexpected object in the courtyard of building 32 on Prosveshcheniya Avenue. A vintage artillery piece was installed next to the play area.

On February 4, the inspectorate explained that, according to longtime residents, the cannon appeared here in the 1980s after the construction of the dam began. Workers on the protective structure, who were working near the Prosveshcheniye metro station, discovered it at the bottom and decided to install it in the courtyard.

Consultations with historians established that such cannons were in service with casemated forts and batteries of Russian naval fortresses in the mid-19th century and at the time were considered among the best in the world.

At the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps, the find was not considered a sensation. There they noted that «everyone has known about this cannon for ages,» and there is indeed a lot of information about this story on the internet.

The cannon on Prosveshcheniya Avenue is not the only historical artifact in the area. Another cannon, complemented by an anchor, is installed at 21, building 4, Kultury Avenue. Next to it is an information plaque stating that this 24-pound cannon was cast by the famous master and modernizer of Russian cannon-making, Charles Gascoigne, in 1798.

According to the data on the shield, in 1987, during an inspection of the bottom of the Gulf of Finland before the start of fill work on the dam construction, divers discovered five cannons in the area of the 7th Northern Fort of Kronstadt. One of them was later installed at the address on Kultury Avenue.

In 2016, the administration of the Severny municipal district was engaged in restoring this memorial object.

Another of the five raised cannons can be seen in Sestroretsk at 5 Polevaya Street, also on the territory of a playground. This 24-pound cannon was cast by Gascoigne later, in 1805.

Traces of the two remaining cannons from that find are lost. There are mentions that two cannons were installed on Kultury Avenue and in Sestroretsk, but enthusiasts who tried to find them were unsuccessful.