This river in the XVIII century bore an established name - Mayakusha. In the first half of the next century, others began to use: Deaf, Black. To eliminate the same name and to avoid confusion in the names with another Black River, it was called Smolenskaya, located next to the cemetery of the same name. A little later she acquired the current name.
This is the Smolenka River. The river embankment (photo, location, description) will be discussed in the article.
Location
The Smolenka River is one of the rivers of the Neva Delta. It is located in St. Petersburg. It starts in the Malaya Neva, and the mouth is the Gulf of Finland. The pond divides between itself two islands: Decembrists, Vasilyevsky. The riverbed itself is quite winding, and its total length today is 3,700 meters. Before the coastline changed in the bay area, the reservoir was 33 00 meters long.
St. The embankment of the Smolenka River in the Vasileostrovsky District stretches along the coast, originating from the 4th and 5th line of the island to the Smolensky Bridge. In fact, this is a continuation of the Makarov embankment.
History
Before we proceed to the description of the embankment of the Smolenka River, we recall some moments in the history of this reservoir. Before the foundation of St. Petersburg, on the right coast was the village of Chukhonskaya. At the end of the XVIII century, the first industrial production enterprises began to appear here, and in the second half most of the banks were occupied by private enterprises, most of which were reorganized and merged into large factories before the First World War. One of these enterprises was the Vasilievsky branch of the St. Petersburg cartridge plant (later the Pipe Plant), which under the authority of the Soviets received the name of M. I. Kalinin.
It is a known fact that since 1805, at the Smolensk Cemetery Church, on the first day of August, a procession to the river took place annually to bless the water. Twice in the whole history the riverbed was changed (in the 19th-20th centuries), as a result of which the waters immediately began to flow directly into the Gulf of Finland. Earlier, the mouth of Smolenka was located on the Volny island, in the Malaya Neva.
In the 70s of the 20th century, the northern bank of the river was fortified along a memorial cemetery called the “Island of the Decembrists”. For this purpose, a granite wall-parapet was erected. But on the side of the Orthodox cemetery, the riverbank remained the same - unpaved, with the visible remains of old wooden piles.
Bridges
The embankment of the Smolenka River in St. Petersburg is amazingly beautiful. A total of 5 bridges were thrown across the river itself, and 4 bridges were built on the artificial arms of Smolenka, enveloping the island at the mouth of the river. The following bridges are located from the source to the branch:
- Ural
- Smolensky (formerly German);
- Novo-Andreevsky (pedestrian);
- Cash;
- Shipbuilders.
At the mouth, bridges are thrown over the sleeves:
- 1st Smolensky;
- 2nd Smolensky;
- 3rd Smolensky;
- 4th Smolensky.
These number bridges may have been temporary (at that time they were planning to build the Sea Embankment here). Many of these were built in the 70s of the XX century in various parts of the city. Many of them are still standing. Due to the fact that the embankment was not completely built, these number bridges remained abandoned, being away from the routes, and they are practically unfamiliar to many residents of the city.
Waterfront Features
The embankment of the Smolenka River in St. Petersburg, stretching along both banks of the river, originates from the source of the river. Small Neva River and stretches to the foundations of the Nalichny Bridge.
The shores are reinforced with wooden piles, which are clogged every 3 meters. Wooden potholes were installed between them, and piles with bars were anchored to the natural bank of the river. Some areas are reinforced with more reliable and durable materials. For example, at the very source of the river there is a high wall of granite. Its length is 40 meters. It is similar to the strengthening of the neighboring embankment of Makarov. A similar wall, but 294 meters long and with one run, was installed along the left bank downstream of the house No. 6. The sections near the Ural bridge are also fortified.
Historical Buildings
On the embankment of the Smolenka River, there are ancient houses:
- No. 5-7 - the industrial building of the merchant of the second guild Kebke I.G. (structure of 1894, architect B. Furman, architect).
- No. 10 - a tenement house in which its left part was built in 1899 (project by P. Mulkhanov).
In conclusion, about the sights of the embankment of the Smolenka River
In addition to the old bridges (Smolensk and Ural), the following architectural and historical objects located on the embankment are noteworthy:
- Schroeder House (cultural center);
- Puppet Museum
- Garden "Kamsky" along the street of the same name;
- Monument to Armenian composer and poet Komitas;
- Cemetery Armenian-Gregorian;
- Khachkar (cross-stone) "St. Petersburg from Yerevan";
- Cemetery "Smolensk" (Lutheran).
It should be noted that in the XVIII century Armenians settled on Vasilievsky Island. Then the Armenian Church of the Holy Resurrection was opened and a cemetery was created, which continued to operate until 1939.