Sestroretsk

Sestroretsk ( _ru. Сестроре́цк; _fi. Siestarjoki; _sv. Systerbäck) is a municipal town under jurisdiction of Kurortny District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia. It is located on the shores of the Gulf of Finland and Sestra River some 34 km northwest of St. Petersburg. Population: ru-census2002|40287|; 30,500 (1975).

Sestroretsk was founded by Peter the Great in 1714 due to the construction of a munitions factory (today's "Sestroretsk Toolmaking Factory"). The town is also known as a balneologic and climatic resort.

In 1812 the town was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Finland, along with Old Finland. In 1864 the town was transferred to Russia in exchange for a promise of compensation, supposedly in the form of access to the Arctic Ocean at Petsamo. [http://runeberg.org/pieni/4/0082.html] .

In 1875, Fyodor Pirotsky experimented with electrically powered railway cars on the Sestroretsk railway. The electricity was transferred over a distance of approximately one kilometer. Although the experiment did not last, this was the first use of electricity to power any railway in the world.

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