Today we have a rather straightforward album. That is,
we are going to proceed straight forward along the shore of the Malaya
Nevka until the end of Pesochnaya (Sandy) Embankment and take photos of
the opposite bank - Kamennyi (Stone) Island, with a small part of
Krestovsky (Cross) Island.
The Stone Island Bridge.
We'll take a
turn to the left and follow the Malaya Nevka riverside, first along the
embankment, then along a mere sandy riverbank.
The conservatories.
Designed by Luigi
Rusca, 1814.
There was a post office in the 1920s and 1930s. I have no idea if
they are occupied today.
This imposing building which, as far as I
can remember myself, has always been covered with scaffolds...
...is the wooden villa of Prince Peter of
Oldenburg. The original building was designed by Smaragd Shustov and
Andrei Stuckenschneider in the 1830s. After the revolution it served as
an apartment house, then as a hostel. Its residents had been evacuated
by 1980 when the building burnt down. The current structure is built of
brick and lined with timber panels.
The copies of two sphinxes from
the Egyptian Bridge were put down at the bottom of the stairs in the
1960s. I am told that they were dismantled prior to the Tercentenary
because their sight had been plain ghastly (graffiti, smears, etc).
Nothing is known about restoration plans (if there are any).
They say that the place was frequented by Alexander Pushkin (who
rented a dacha on the nearby Krestovsky Island).
This shot captures almost
all of the Malaya Neva riverside of Kamennyi Island. We have already
been there, first in the album 31,
and later, by snatches.
This pre-revolutionary villa houses what
is arguably the most picturesque art school in the city.
The building
was constructed by Constantine Preiss (he was the chief architect of
Kamennyi Island) for Princess M.K. Kugusheva in 1895. After the
revolution the mansion had been occupied by communal apartments. In 1971
its residents were removed and the structure passed to the Kustodiev Art
School #10.
Let's look back at the Stone Island
Bridge.
Looking to the left, you
will catch a glimpse of the Leningrad Palace of Youth, already discussed
in the album 288.
"Government dacha" K-2.
Designed by Alexander V. Zhuk, most likely in the 1970s.
Sometimes they rent it for hosting
diverse public activities.
On the left is a guest house, designed
by Vladimir P. Apyshkov in the 1910s.
Supposedly the Ruadze mansion (1865), as
designed by Georg Preiss.
The S.N. Tchaev mansion was designed by
Vladimir Apyshkov.
A projected cupola has never been constructed.
Although Kamennyi Island ends here, let's
make several steps further.
The well-matched Little Krestovsky Bridge
connects Kamenny Island (to the right) with Krestovsky Island (to the
left). The bridge was designed in 1962 by Yu.L. Yurkov and L.A. Noskov.
The house seemingly belongs to the
beginning of the 20th century.
On the background is a brick infirmary
(1970s).
On the foreground is the mansion designed by the architect
A.I. Klein for himself (1910s).
The mansion of Moisei A. Wurgaft was
constructed by Moisei M. Sinyaver in 1913-14.
Actually its colour is
blue, the photo just didn't come out right.
Belying its appearance of a fire-squad
department, the building was constructed in the first years of the 20th
century for the St.Petersburg Boating Society.
I am told that the
structure is quite typical of rowing club headquarters, with its easy
slipway to a boom, wide-gated shed, and a balconied upper ward-room.
The turret, primarily decorative in purpose, could be employed for
inspecting the fairway, hanging out the flags, or just lounging about
with girls.
In the 1960s and 1970s the building
housed a rowing club of Spartak (or Znamya) sports society. Behind the
gates were constructed "covered berths for outrigger canoes" (the phrase
is not mine;)
This structure, dating back to the 1910s,
was occupied in the pre-perestroika years by the Leningrad Institute of
Physical Training.
We are ending our stroll at the Great
Krestovsky Bridge (Petrogradskaya street).
As I haven't managed to identify everything, I welcome any comments
concerning architects and occupants of the buildings.
