St. Petersburg is the second city after the capital of Russia in terms of population and significance. It is home to more than 4 million people. The city itself is divided into 18 districts, Greater St. Petersburg includes a number of small settlements: Kronstadt, Petrodvorets, Zelenogorsk and others. Due to the large number of islands in the city there are about 580 bridges: cable-stayed, drawbridge and the most ordinary.
History
An eternal question that interests many people: “How many islands are there in St. Petersburg?” There is no definite answer to this question.
Initially, in the XVII century there were 25 islands, the largest of which was Vasilievsky, or, as it was called before, Hirvisaari.
A hundred years later, when St. Petersburg began to rebuild actively, the number of islands is rapidly increasing due to the construction of new channels and channels. At the same time, some channels began to disappear at the same time (they were filled up), in particular, dug near Vasilievsky Island, in the place of its modern lines. By the beginning of the XIX century, the number of islands approached the mark of 70, later another 30 were added.
How many islands in St. Petersburg? The number reached 101 at that time, this is evidenced by a map dating from 1864. But by the end of the 19th century, their number was declining, a new seaport was being built, and the central part of the city was being built. In the XX century, some existing islands increase in size, for example, named after the Decembrists.
In 2002, they called the figure - 33, but these are only those islands that have their own names, that is, the small ones are not included in the list.
Island classification
Today, conventionally, all the islands of the northern capital are divided into two groups:
- Natural - Petrogradsky, Vasilyevsky, Krestovsky and others.
- Artificial - New Holland, Kolomna, Admiralty and others.
Naturally, the quantity is constantly changing.
Nature of use
Regardless of how many islands St. Petersburg is on now, there is an interesting classification according to the nature of the use of the territory:
- With developed infrastructure, on which there are residential buildings, office buildings, roads, for example, Bezymyanny, Petrogradsky.
- With limited access due to the availability of industrial facilities: Severny, Bely, Novo-Admiralteysky.
- Park areas with historical buildings: Elagin, Summer Garden and so on.
City Islands
How many islands in St. Petersburg and in any city in the river delta? Of course, a lot. Each such piece of land has its own amazing history of appearance and development, regardless of whether it was created by human hands or by nature itself. On such shallows there can be interesting natural monuments or man-made, in other words, any island is an original place.
However, there is one feature in St. Petersburg, often tourists do not even realize that they were on some island, especially if they crossed a drawbridge. And the schedule changes regularly, so before walking around the city it is better to take it with you so as not to be on any island and not be able to get to the hotel.
Petrogradsky district
This is one of the oldest sections of the city, which was founded under Peter I.
The largest island here is Petrograd (5.7 sq. Km). In fact, it is here that you can get acquainted with the history of the northern capital. It is washed by the arrow of the Neva, Big and Small Nevka. Partially, the sandbank is very densely built up (from the Vasilyevsky Island).
Next on the list is Krestovsky Island (3.4 sq. Km). It is washed by the Middle and Small Nevka, in the western part it borders on the sea.
How many islands in St. Petersburg in the Petrograd district? Today, there are 8 together with Petrograd and Krestovsky, including:
Title | Interesting places | Area, sq. km, ha |
Pharmaceutical | Botanical Gardens, Parks | 1.98 |
Hare | Peter-Pavel's Fortress | 0.28 |
Artillery | Formed in 1707 | 12 ha |
Petrovsky | Has its own pond of the same name | 1,2 |
Stone | Divided into two parts by a channel called Bolshoi. There are many country houses. | 1.06 |
Elagin | On the territory is the Central Park of the whole city and 9 ponds. | 94 ha |
Vasileostrovsky district
How many islands in St. Petersburg today in this area? Only two.
The most famous is Vasilievsky, its area is 10.9 square kilometers. This is one of the largest and most natural islands of St. Petersburg. On the territory of the shallows there is a harbor where the main port of the northern capital (passenger) is built and operates.
There are industrial and residential buildings on the shallows. This is where the Smolenskoye cemetery, huge in area, is located. There are also many parks: Skipper Garden, Vasileostrovets and others.
The second island of the district is called - Decembrists. In the old days, or rather, until 1926 he was called the Hunger. The total area is 627.9 hectares. Its dimensions were significantly increased in the 1970s due to the washing of the soil, and it was then that the Volny Island was added to it. Now sulfur is adjacent to it.
Central and Admiralty districts
The two districts include 13 islands.
1st and 2-1 Admiralty. They are separated by a winter groove. The 1st Admiralteysky is quite densely built up, in the eastern part is the Field of Mars. On the second island is the Winter Palace, the Bronze Horseman, the Admiralty and other interesting sights of the city.
Summer Garden is a small island with an area of only 0.12 square meters. km This is actually a park, in the middle of which is Karpiev Pond.
Kazan Island is a winding coastline that was once part of Pervushin. There are many buildings, palaces and temples.
Spassky Island is a densely built-up piece of land between the Fontanka embankment and Sadovaya Street.
Bezymyanny - an island with an area of 16 square meters. km, one of the largest in the whole city. There are two amazingly beautiful parks, large areas: Tauride and the Garden on the Neva.
The monastery (0.5 sq. Km.), Has an almost perfect square shape. Here is the Nikolskoye cemetery, small enterprises and a monastery, a hospital. But, most importantly - the Metropolitan Garden, which occupies a large area of the island.
Kolomensky (0.9 sq. Km.) - highly built up and densely populated.
Pokrovsky Island (0.4 sq. Km) is also densely populated and has only one park zone - Turgenev Square.
Novoadmiralteysky - almost completely occupied by industrial enterprises. Also, Matisov Island, on which shipbuilding and repair shops are located.
New Holland - an island that used to be used to dry wood for building ships, is now occupied by military depots. The total area is 0.03 square meters. km
Yekaterinovsky (0.42 sq. Km), formed only in the 18th century, is separated from the mainland by the Paper Channel. There are as many as 6 ponds and only 1 street.
Kirovsky district
How many islands in St. Petersburg? The name of one of the small land islands of the Kirov region is Gutuevsky. Until 1798, it had other names: Round, Novosiltsevsky, Witsasaari. In the period from 1874 to 1885, as a result of major reconstructions, the island radically changed its shape. Already in Soviet times, a number of other islands were attached to it and now the Sea Trade Port is located here.
Kanonersky is perhaps the most unique island in the whole city. This is a strip between the Gulf of Finland and the port. There are several residential high-rise buildings, and an underwater tunnel for cars.
The artificial white island , with an area of 55 hectares, is connected to the Kanonersky bridge.
Damba Grebenka Island with only 3 residential buildings. A smooth island is most likely a port complex built with the latest technology.
Dirty island - located on the south side of the Tarakanovka river. This is, in fact, the industrial zone where the Hydrolysis Plant and other enterprises operate.
Small Reserve Island covers an area of 2.2 hectares and is wholly owned by the seaport municipal district. The land is united by the Reserve Bridge with Gutuevsky Island. The Dam Curve is an artificial island with a length of not more than 1 kilometer and a width of about 100 meters. The area also includes the islands: Forest Harbor and Turukhtanny.
Kronstadt
How many islands in St. Petersburg? It is not known for sure, but without a port city on the island of Kotlin under the name Kronstadt it is impossible to imagine modern St. Petersburg. Several smaller pieces of land adjoin Kotlin. More than 44 thousand people live here and in 1990 the Kronstadt archipelago was inscribed on the UNESCO list. There are many interesting architectural monuments: barracks, Gostiny Dvor, Arsenal, Italian Courtyard and others.
Disappeared islands
Discussing the question, on how many islands St. Petersburg is located, one cannot but mention the disappeared shallows.
Cotton Island. It is believed that he was bombarded as early as the 60s. However, on the plans of 1947, he is already absent.
There is written evidence of the existence of this island as far back as 1842 - it is Galerny Island. He disappeared from the maps due to joining Kolomensky and partial backfilling of one of the branches of the Fontanka River.
Modern Uralskaya Street was once the island of Honoropulo. It was named after a single resident. According to some reports, executed Decembrists were buried here in the 19th century.
The territory of Kakhovsky Lane and KIM Avenue, was once an island called Zhadimirovsky. At the beginning of the last century, it was annexed to the island of Golodai (the modern name of the Decembrists), then the KIM stadium was built.
Golden Island - a small sandbank in the delta of the Neva River. On the old map you can see that he periodically hid under water, and after the merger of all the free islands, he completely disappeared.
Conclusion
How many islands in St. Petersburg in total? Perhaps no one will answer this question now. But the city has always been compared to Venice, which has 118 islands. And according to some reports, today in St. Petersburg - 101.
At the same time, Associate Professor of the Department of Natural Sciences of St. Petersburg State University Burkova Tatyana claims that this is just a myth. She believes that such a number of shallows in the city was only at the beginning of the XIX century. Today, answering the question: “How many islands does St. Petersburg have?”, We can only talk about the number 42, while only 33 of them have their own names.