Zolotoy Rog Bay is a sheltered horn-shaped bay separated from the Peter the Great Gulf

Peter the Great Gulf

The Peter the Great Gulf is the largest gulf of the Sea of Japan adjoining the coast of Russia's Primorski Krai...

 of the Sea of Japan

Sea of Japan

The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific...

 by Shkota Peninsula on the north-west, Cape Goldobina on the east-north-east, and Cape Tigrovy on the west. The bay is seven kilometers long, with a width of about two kilometers and a depth ranging from 20 to 27 meters. The Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n port of Vladivostok

Vladivostok

The city is located in the southern extremity of Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, which is about 30 km long and approximately 12 km wide.The highest point is Mount Kholodilnik, the height of which is 257 m...

 lies on the hills at the head of the bay.

Until the mid-19th century, the bay had been known to the Chinese as the "Gamat

Gamat

The word Gamat, the Malay word for sea cucumber, refers to medicinal remedies derived from several species of the Holothuroidea family. The golden sea cucumber is commonly used...

 Bay". The first European ship known to have anchored in the bay was a French whaler in 1852. During the Crimean War

Crimean War

The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...

, the British ship Winchester visited the bay while searching for Vasily Zavoyko

Vasily Zavoyko

Vasily Stepanovich Zavoyko was an admiral in the Russian navy.Born to a noble family of Poltava Governorate, in 1827 he took part in the Battle of Navarino, and in 1835-1838 he twice circumnavigated the Earth....

's squadron. The British sailors called it Port May. In 1859, Count Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky

Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky

Nikolay Nikolayevich Muravyov-Amursky was a Russian statesman and diplomat, who played a major role in the expansion of the Russian Empire into the Amur River basin and to the shores of the Sea of Japan.-Surname spelling:The surname Muravyov has also been transcribed as Muravyev or Murav'ev.-Early...

 gave the harbour its present name, which means "Golden Horn

Golden Horn

The Golden Horn is a historic inlet of the Bosphorus dividing the city of Istanbul and forming the natural harbor that has sheltered Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and other ships for thousands of...

" in Russian, alluding to a similarly shaped harbour in Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

.