Petersburg is not only a city of rivers and canals, but also a city of islands and bridges. It can rightfully be called the city of granite embankments. The Neva shores began to dress in this outfit thanks to the Empress Catherine the Great. One of the most famous embankments of the northern capital is the Makarov embankment. It will be discussed in this article.
History of occurrence
Before the appearance on the north side of Vasilievsky Island, between its Strelka and the Smolenka River, the Makarov embankment, a lot of time passed from the beginning of land development in the Neva Delta. Initially, the city center was located on Birch Island - on Troitskaya Square, where the first port in the Baltic was located. Only after 1716 did the territory of Vasilyevsky Island begin to be developed.
According to the idea of Peter I, it was here that it was necessary to begin to rebuild the center of European Petersburg. And it was planned to move the Baltic port to Cape Arrow. Gradually, port facilities began to be erected on the cape - the exchange, warehouses, and customs. They were built at different times by different architects. That architectural ensemble, which is familiar to the modern resident and guests of the city, developed only in the first half of the 19th century. The stone masons of Samson Sukhanov and the French architect J.F. Thoma de Thomon worked on his appearance. It was then that the coastline of the Malaya Neva began to be faced with granite.
In the 18th century, along the Malaya Neva, houses were mainly built by St. Petersburg merchants, where warehouses for coal and metal belonged to breeders. The first name was given to the shore - Gostinyaya ulitsa, later Gostinyaya embankment. And on the customs building rebuilt here - Customs Embankment. After that, the name was completely canceled, and the coast of the Malaya Neva was simply called - the embankment of the Malaya Neva. Gradually, in the XIX century the number of port facilities increased, and at the same time the length of the embankment increased. In the 1880s, due to the thorough deterioration of the Makarov embankment in St. Petersburg, it was reinforced with piles. The port was moved to Gutuev island. The arrow gradually became a "calling card", a symbol, a place that all those making tours to St. Petersburg do not ignore. But until 1952, the embankment existed without an official name. Only in the middle of December 1952 she was given a name - in honor of the scientist and sailor Stepan Osipovich Makarov. One of the sights of the city that connected the embankment with the Petrograd side was the famous bridge for all residents of St. Petersburg Tuchkov.
Whose name is named?
Naval commander Stepan Osipovich Makarov, a native of Nikolaev, graduated in 1865 from a naval school in the city of Nikolaevsk on the Amur, and served for four years with the rank of midshipman on various ships. The first of these ships was the America ship. Then he received the first officer rank - midshipman and served on the frigate "Dmitry Donskoy" and on the armored boat "Mermaid". He showed remarkable analytical abilities and deep knowledge in the functional structure of ships. As a result, comparing the capabilities of ships and the features of emergency situations, he made a number of valuable proposals for creating a system of unsinkable ships. And in a situation of finding means of victorious battles with the Turkish fleet during the Russian-Turkish wars, he proposed the use of fast ships equipped with mine boats, and also for the first time applied the tactics of attacking the enemy fleet with the help of such ships. The panic sown in the ranks of the Turkish naval forces was in the hands of the Russian fleet. And Makarov was awarded new officer ranks for his services: captain-lieutenant, and then - captain of the 2nd rank.
The architectural ensemble of the Makarov embankment
The current architectural ensemble of the embankment opens with one of the facades erected by the Italian architect Giovanni Lucini in 1809 on the Spit of Vasilievsky Island in the northern warehouse. This building now houses the Museum of Soil Science. In d. 4 on the Makarov Embankment is located Institute of Russian Literature. A.S. Pushkin. Earlier, in this building, erected by the same Giovanni Lucini, the St. Petersburg Customs was located. Its turret is decorated with sculptures, in one of which the patron of the seas, god Poseidon, is recognized. True, in this case, instead of the traditional trident, he holds an oar in his hand. And next to it was the god of commerce and the messenger of the gods Hermes and the goddess of fertility Pomona.
In a neighboring house is a research institute of physiology. Academician I.P. Pavlov, followed by a whole string of historical apartment buildings. Closer to the emb. R. Smolenka stands out corner construction of gray stone, stylized as a masonry of cobblestones. It was built in the Art Nouveau style and is the former club building of the plant them. Kozitsky, whose old buildings are still located in the depths of the street.
The current state of the waterfront
In 2015, many embankments of St. Petersburg were equipped with modern lighting equipment. Among them is Makarova embankment: the facades of her houses are equipped with evening lighting.
Now the continuation of the embankment to the Western high-speed diameter is under construction . It is planned to be completed before the end of 2018. And also a new bridge will be built over Smolenka, which, like the neighboring island, will be named Serny.
Going on tourist tours to St. Petersburg, do not forget to visit this truly wonderful corner.