Petrogradsky Island
Encyclopedia
Petrogradsky Island
is the third largest island in the Neva River
Neva River
The Neva is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length , it is the third largest river in Europe in terms of average discharge .The Neva is the only river flowing from Lake...

 delta
in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

.
Along with Zayachy Island
Zayachy Island
Zayachy Island is an island in the Neva River in St. Petersburg, Russia...

, Aptekarsky Island
Aptekarsky Island
Aptekarsky Island is a small island situated in the northern part of the Neva delta. It is separated from Petrogradsky Island by the Karpovka River, from Kamenny Island and Krestovsky Island by the Malaya Nevka and from the Vyborgskaya region of St-Petersburg by the Bolshaya Nevka. It has an area...

, and Petrovsky Island,
it constitutes the Petrogradskaya Side
(Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

: Петроградская сторона).
It is the administrative center of the Petrogradsky District and hosts a number of universities and research centers, as well as cultural,
historical, and recreational facilities.

Geography

Petrogradsky Island lies between the Neva River
Neva River
The Neva is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length , it is the third largest river in Europe in terms of average discharge .The Neva is the only river flowing from Lake...

 and its Bolshaya Nevka branch.
It is separated from Aptekarsky Island
Aptekarsky Island
Aptekarsky Island is a small island situated in the northern part of the Neva delta. It is separated from Petrogradsky Island by the Karpovka River, from Kamenny Island and Krestovsky Island by the Malaya Nevka and from the Vyborgskaya region of St-Petersburg by the Bolshaya Nevka. It has an area...

 on the north by the Karpovka River
Karpovka River
The Karpovka is a small river of the Neva basin in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It separates Aptekarsky Island from Petrogradsky Island . The Karpovka flows from the Bolshaya Nevka to the Malaya Nevka and is 3 km long. The Russian name is derived from the old Finnish name of the river, Korpijoki...

, from Krestovsky Island
Krestovsky Island
Krestovsky Island is a 3.4 km² island in Saint Petersburg, Russia, situated between several tributaries of the Neva: the Srednyaya Nevka, the Malaya Nevka and the Krestovka. The island is served by the Krestovsky Ostrov "Крестовский остров" station of Saint Petersburg Metro...

 on the west by the Malaya Nevka
Malaya Nevka
Malaya Nevka is the southern distributary of the Bolshaya Nevka. The Bolshaya Nevka splits into Malaya Nevka and Srednaya Nevka near the Kamenny Island's easternmost tip....

,
from Petrovsky Island on the south by the Zhdanovka River
Zhdanovka River
The Zhdanovka River is a short river in the Neva River delta in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It separates Petrogradsky Island from Petrovsky Island.-History:...

, and from Zayachy Island
Zayachy Island
Zayachy Island is an island in the Neva River in St. Petersburg, Russia...

 on the southeast by the Kronverksky Strait
Kronverksky Strait
The Kronverksky Strait is a narrow channel separating Petrogradsky and Zayachy islands in Saint Petersburg, Russia....

.
It is linked to the central district by the Troitsky Bridge, to Vasilievsky Island
Vasilievsky Island
Vasilyevsky Island is an island in Saint Petersburg, Russia, bordered by the rivers Bolshaya Neva and Malaya Neva in the south and northeast, and by the Gulf of Finland in the west. Vasilyevsky Island is separated from Dekabristov Island by the Smolenka River...

 by the Birzhevoy (Exchange) Bridge
Exchange Bridge
Birzhevoy Bridge is the bridge across Malaya Neva in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Its length is 239 meters and width is 27 meters. Birzhevoy bridge connects Vasilievsky Island and Petrogradsky Island...

 and Tuchkov Bridge
Tuchkov Bridge
Tuchkov Bridge is the bridge across Malaya Neva in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Its length is 226 meters and its width is 36 meters. Tuchkov bridge connects Vasilievsky Island and Petrogradsky Island....

), to Petrovsky Island by the Maly Petrovsky Bridge, to Krestovsky Island
Krestovsky Island
Krestovsky Island is a 3.4 km² island in Saint Petersburg, Russia, situated between several tributaries of the Neva: the Srednyaya Nevka, the Malaya Nevka and the Krestovka. The island is served by the Krestovsky Ostrov "Крестовский остров" station of Saint Petersburg Metro...

 by the Lazarevsky Bolshoy Krestovsky Bridges, and to the Vyborgskaya Side
Vyborgsky District, Leningrad Oblast
Vyborgsky District is a district of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, on the Karelian Isthmus, established in 1940 when the territory had been ceded by Finland to the Soviet Union by Moscow Peace Treaty as a result of the Winter War. The area of the district is . Its administrative center is the town of...

 via the Sampsonievsky and Grenadersky Bridges.

History

Finnish and Swedish farms added to a large Russian settlement, continuing to develop the island the 17th century.
In 1703, Peter the Great laid the foundation of the Peter and Paul Fortress
Peter and Paul Fortress
The Peter and Paul Fortress is the original citadel of St. Petersburg, Russia, founded by Peter the Great in 1703 and built to Domenico Trezzini's designs from 1706-1740.-History:...

 on nearby Zayachy Island
Zayachy Island
Zayachy Island is an island in the Neva River in St. Petersburg, Russia...

.
During this time, he resided near the present-day site of Troitsky Square near the southeastern tip of island, known at that time as Gorodskoy Island.
It was renamed Peterburgsky Island or Sankt-Peterburgsky Island after Peter's death in 1725.
The administrative center of Saint Petersburg was moved to Vasilievsky Island
Vasilievsky Island
Vasilyevsky Island is an island in Saint Petersburg, Russia, bordered by the rivers Bolshaya Neva and Malaya Neva in the south and northeast, and by the Gulf of Finland in the west. Vasilyevsky Island is separated from Dekabristov Island by the Smolenka River...

 in the 1720s, and in the 1730s, stone buildings north of the Kronverk
Kronverk
The Kronverk is a ground fortification for the Sts. Peter and Paul Fortress in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The Kronverk is situated on Petrogradsky Island, across the Kronverksky Strait from the Peter and Paul Fortress...

 were banned.
As a result, the island became more residential and suburban.

One of the earliest main avenues, dating from the 1730s, is the Bolshoy Prospekt, crossing the island from the northeast to the Tuchkov Bridge
Tuchkov Bridge
Tuchkov Bridge is the bridge across Malaya Neva in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Its length is 226 meters and its width is 36 meters. Tuchkov bridge connects Vasilievsky Island and Petrogradsky Island....

 in the southwest. The Yamburgsky, Koporsky, St. Petersburg, and Belozersky regiments were quartered on the island at that time, and the new road served to connect them all. Horsecars
Horsecar
A horsecar or horse-drawn tram is an animal-powered streetcar or tram.These early forms of public transport developed out of industrial haulage routes that had long been in existence, and from the omnibus routes that first ran on public streets in the 1820s, using the newly improved iron or steel...

 first ran in the 1860s, followed by trams in 1908 and trolleybuses in 1948.
The other main avenue is the Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt, which intersects the Bolshoy Prospekt in the north at Leo Tolstoy Square and runs southeast to the present-day Troitsky Bridge. The avenue was constructed in the 18th century, leading from the Kronverk esplanade to Kamenny Island
Kamenny Island
Kamenny Ostrov, Kamenny Island, or Stony Island is one of the islands in the Neva delta. It is part of Saint Petersburg, Russia....

. In the 1820s, there was a high road with special paving. In the 1870s, horsecars started operating along the avenue, and in 1909, an electric tramway was introduced. In 1903, the avenue was extended as far as Troitskaya Square.

When Saint Petersburg was renamed Petrograd in 1914, the island received its present name, Petrogradsky Island.

Places of interest

Petrogradsky Island is the home of several noted universities, science and research institutes.
The Saint Petersburg Pavlov State Medical University, located at 6/8 Leo Tolstoy Street, was founded in 1897 as the first Russian medical institute for women.
The Saint Petersburg State University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics
Saint Petersburg State University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics
Saint Petersburg State University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics, abbreviated as SPbSU ITMO is a leading Russian technical university located in St. Petersburg, Russia. It trains specialists in cutting-edge technologies directed to science and technical...

 is one of Russia's leading technical universities.
The A. F. Mozhaisky Military Space Engineering Academy (13 Zhdanovskaya street) is a polytechnical military educational institution and space research center.
Of historical interest is the Cruiser Aurora, the oldest commissioned ship in the Russian Navy and a symbol of the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...

 of 1917. A museum since 1956, it is anchored in the Bolshaya Nevka, near the Sampsonievsky bridge.
Just north of the Kronwerk, in the former Aquarium Gardens, the first motion picture was shown in Russia in 1896, at what is now Lenfilm Studios
Lenfilm
Kinostudiya "Lenfilm" is a production unit of the Russian film industry, with its own film studio, located in Saint Petersburg, Russia, formerly Leningrad, R.S.F.S.R. Today OAO "Kinostudiya Lenfilm" is a corporation with its stakes shared between private owners, and several private film studios,...


The island also houses the Baltic House Festival Theatre
Baltic House Festival Theatre
The Baltic House Festival Theatre is a theatre on 4 Alexandrovsky Park, Saint Petersburg. The building was completed in 1936....

,
the Yubileyny Sports Palace
Yubileyny Sports Palace
Yubileyny Sports Palace , also translated as Yubileiny Palace of Sports, is an indoor sports arena and concert complex located in St. Petersburg, Russia. It houses 7,012 seats for ice hockey and up to 7,700 seats for basketball. It is accessible from the Sportivnaya metro station...

,
the Saint Petersburg Planetarium
and the Leningrad Zoo
Leningrad Zoo
The Leningrad Zoo or Leningradskiy Zoopark , sometimes called the Saint Petersburg Zoo or Sankt-Peterburgskiy Zoopark , in Saint Petersburg , Russia, is located in Alexander Park on the Petrogradskaya Storona. It was founded by Sofia Gerhardt and Julius Gerhardt in 1865...

.
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