Description of the attraction
Among several dozen islands that are part of St. Petersburg, New Holland occupies a special place. All this man-made island is a unique attraction. It contains architectural monuments of the early classicism period (more precisely, we are talking about industrial architecture). The island's area is just under eight hectares.
The history of the island
The story of an unusual sight has begun in the 18th century: the man-made island appeared just then. Rather, it was even two islands located side by side, but they were immediately united by one name; for a long time they have been perceived as a single whole and are spoken of in the singular.
The island was created as a result of large-scale construction work: for one of the construction projects in the northern Russian capital, the construction of two canals was required, as a result, a new island appeared between them and the Moika River. According to legend, the name of the man-made island was invented personally Peter the Great … However, there are no documents confirming this.
In the 30s of the 18th century, the construction of pools and warehouses on the island began. It was necessary for the needs shipbuilding … On the territory of the island there were many sheds, in which various devices for the repair and construction of ships were kept. Special barns for sawn timber were built. The walls of these barns were lattice (to improve air circulation); in the cold season or in inclement weather, all the holes in the walls were covered with canvas.
More and more new premises were built, soon there was very little free space on the relatively small territory of the island. In the 50s of the 18th century, a grove was completely cut down on the island: this was done so that the trees did not obscure the warehouses from the winds and did not interfere with the free circulation of air.
Around the same time period, it was decided to demolish all wooden buildings and replace them with stone ones (many sheds were badly dilapidated). So on the island a whole complex of buildings appeared, erected in accordance with the canons of classicism … The construction of these buildings began in the mid-60s of the 18th century and ended in the 80s of the named century (according to other sources, the warehouses were completed in the late 70s). Up to five hundred workers worked at the construction site every day. The new buildings were brick, unplastered (which was unusual in the 18th century).
In the new warehouse complex the timber for the construction of ships was dried upright: it was an innovative idea, a departure from tradition. Previously, timber was always stacked for drying. The new method had two big advantages at once over the old method: prevention of wood decay and an increase in the storage capacity.
At the end of the 70s, the construction of a huge arches, which was supposed to connect the banks of one of the canals. Construction was completed in the second half of the 80s of the 18th century. To be more precise, the arch was completed back in the 70s, but pretty soon it became necessary to make some changes to its design (which was immediately implemented). For the construction of the arch, brick and hewn granite were used - a rather unusual combination. The height of this monumental structure, which has survived to this day, is twenty-three meters, and the width of its span is more than eight meters. It was planned to build a second arch, which was supposed to connect the banks of the second canal, but for a number of reasons its construction was never started.
In the 20s of the XIX century, the island was built prison … The author of the building project called it quite poetically: "prison tower". But among the people a completely different name was assigned to this structure - "bottle" (the ring-shaped building evoked associations with the shape of the named vessel). In the middle of the 19th century, not far from this building was erected brick forge.
In the 90s of the XIX century, appeared on the island special pool, intended for carrying out shipbuilding experiments in it: at that time one of the Russian shipbuilders tried to create an unsinkable ship and carried out relevant experiments here.
The island was equipped powerful radio station … It was actively used during the First World War.
In Soviet times, the island was a closed territory. Many warehouses were located here, which were under the jurisdiction of the naval base of Leningrad.
Reconstruction of the island
At the beginning of the XXI century, the rights to the man-made island were transferred to the city administration. She announced competition for the best design for the use of buildings located on the island … Also in the plans was the reconstruction of these buildings, the construction of new ones was also planned; in this regard, a competition was announced for the most interesting architectural solution.
Shortly thereafter, there was a strong fire, many warehouses burned down. The surviving historical buildings were significantly damaged by fire. It was then that the city administration announced that it was giving permission for the demolition of 19th century buildings, since their value was low.
According to the requirements of the administration, the participants in the competition had to submit Palace of Festivals project, as well as a number of public and business premises that needed to be built on the island. Another requirement of the city administration to the applicants was the indispensable participation in the team of at least one international-level architect who knows all the details of the reconstruction of architectural monuments.
Many famous architects took part in the competition. Won a project that was developed Norman Foster … This project was highly appreciated by specialists, but … it was never implemented. The reason was financial problems. After a while, a new competition was announced. This time, his terms were more detailed and somewhat more stringent. The victory was awarded to a project developed by a Dutch company.
Currently, only part of the planned work has been completed, reconstruction continues, but the island is already open to visitors … For the first time in three centuries, the townspeople had the opportunity to visit the famous island and see its sights.
Reconstruction project
Let's tell you more about the project for the reconstruction of the island, developed by a Dutch company. As mentioned above, the work on the implementation of this plan has been completed so far only partially, they will be completed by the middle of the 20s of the XXI century. Here are the main points of the project:
- Creation of a park in the central part of the island … The park, according to the authors of the project, should be as comfortable as possible for visitors so that the townspeople can fully relax and enjoy the beauty of nature. It is such a park that now adorns the territory of the island.
- The next item - restoration of the prison building (the famous "bottle") and the nearby smithy. The project also involves the reconstruction of another historic building known as the "Commandant's House".
- An important part of the work - improvement of the pond, located in the center of the island, as well as the embankments of one of the canals.
- One of the main points of the project - laying of communications … It is impossible to imagine a comfortable island without well-established water supply, sewerage and heat supply systems.
- A separate item - spectacular backlight restored architectural landmarks. A similar lighting is provided by the project for the territory of the park.
- Another stage of reconstruction - opening on the island playground.
- It was planned by the authors of the project garden creation not far from the building of the restored smithy - but not an ordinary garden, but a herb garden. In such a garden, decorative cereals should grow, planted in a special way (in accordance with the laws of landscape design).
- On the territory of the island, according to the project, there must be temporary pavilions: they are necessary, for example, for cultural events.
Demolition disputes
Before the start of reconstruction work, demolition of buildings … Most of these were not historical sites, but some of the structures were controversial. In particular, an old radio station was destroyed, and the laboratory in which he worked for some time was also destroyed. Dmitriy Mendeleev.
According to those who gave the go-ahead for the demolition of these buildings, the destroyed buildings were superfluous, in vain they took up space on the island. This approach was outraged not only by the townspeople, but also by representatives of some international organizations. In particular, the famous British historian John Cooper expressed great regret over the destruction of historic buildings. He also expressed the following wish to the northern Russian capital: the city must remain as unique as it is now, and for this it is necessary to preserve all historical sights.
Interesting fact
There is a legend that during the construction of stone warehouses on the island, the construction manager lost the project of the buildings. Not wanting to admit his mistake, he did not say a word to the architect about his loss. Construction work continued. Their leader tried hard to remember the lost project in every detail in order to erect buildings from memory. And … his efforts were crowned with success. When the work was completed, the architect (author of the project) examined the warehouses and was quite pleased.
However, this story belongs to the category of "historical anecdotes" and has no documentary evidence.
On a note
- The nearest metro station is Admiralteyskaya.
- Official website:
- Hours of Operation: Monday through Thursday, the island is open from 9:00 am to 10:00 pm. From Friday to Sunday, it works an hour longer. Please note that from Monday to Thursday, the island closes at 21:30, and from Friday to Sunday at 22:30.
