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Vladivostok Fortress is a complex of defensive structures built in the city and its surroundings in late XIX-early XX centuries. It was designed by Russian military engineers, builders, de-miners and soldiers.

Today the complex of fortification constructions of the Vladivostok fortress is a monument of federal significance.

A museum dedicated to the history of Vladivostok Fortress was opened in the city at the “Bezymyannaya” fortress battery on October 30, 1996. The museum exhibits the samples of artillery weapons deployed in 1930s-1990s on the ships of the Pacific Fleet and in coastal defense.

The interior expositions of the museum tell about the history of the city. The main interior exposition is located in 3 separate casemates of the “Bezymyannaya” fortress battery. The sailors of the Pacific Fleet take the oath on the territory of the museum every year (in spring and in autumn).

 The “Bezymyannaya” fortress battery is one of the oldest fortifications of the Vladivostok Fortress. In 1862 the hill of “Bezymyannaya” was used to place smoothbore guns and deploy a platoon of mountain artillery. Since that moment the hill has been called “Battery”.

A more powerful line of coastal fortifications was erected on this place in early 1880s under the leadership of the military engineer Captain V.P. Shirokov. After the construction of powerful batteries armed with modern weapons on the Russky Island in 1909-1914, the “Bezymyannaya” fortress battery largely lost its combat importance.

The builders of the Vladivostok Fortress took into account the disadvantages that led to the fall of the seaside fortress of Port Arthur in 1905. All the main facilities were interconnected by roads, underground communication cables, and supplied with electricity. This made it almost impossible to attack Vladivostok from the sea.

In 1917 the works in the fortress almost stopped, and in 1923 after the Soviet power established in Primorye, the fortress was altogether dismantled, according to the agreement between the Japanese command and the command of the People’s Revolutionary Army of the Far Eastern Republic concerning the demilitarization of Vladivostok.

The remaining arms were dismantled, and the fortifications were abandoned for a long time. The “Bezymyannaya” fortress battery was forgotten during the Civil War; in 1923 it got completely disarmed. In 1930s the “Bezymyannaya” fortress battery was partially destroyed and rebuilt as several auto repair shops.

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