Corners of wildlife in the middle of stone buildings and streets filled with asphalt for citizens are always a favorite place for meetings and recreation. And if it is an entire island, surrounded by greenery and surrounded by water, which is located just a few meters from the nearest metro? There is a park, cozy benches on the embankment, paths for walks … And all this is a miracle - Kamenny Island in St. Petersburg.
History of the island 18-19 century
During the construction of the northern capital, this area was initially not in the plans for urban development. For the first time he settled here, having built a mansion in 1713, the chancellor at the court of Peter I, Gabriel Golovkin. The king not only granted him this island, but also personally planted an oak near his house, which lasted until the 21st century.
The original Finnish name Kivisaare was replaced with its literal translation “Stone Island”. In St. Petersburg, his story began with the first mansion of Golovkin. But soon these lands passed into the possession of the next Chancellor Bestuzhev-Ryumin, by command of which a house was built here according to the plan of the architect Rastrelli himself.
When in 1765 Catherine II bought the island from Bestuzhev-Ryumin, she transferred it to the possession of her son and heir Pavel Petrovich, for whom the Kamennoostrovsky Palace was built by architect Felten. Since that time, Kamenny Island in St. Petersburg has become a favorite vacation spot of the capital's nobility, and he gradually began to "grow" in their mansions and cottages, many of which have survived to this day.
In the 19th century, real social life was conducted here, and to entertain the noble people, the Summer Theater was specially built, in which artists from different troupes performed. Nicholas I loved to visit here with his retinue. Do not miss the performances, and just the opportunity to walk in a green park and ordinary Petersburgers. So Kamenny Island in St. Petersburg, the sights of which can be seen today, has become a favorite vacation spot for the cultural elite of the capital.
Island in the 20th century
Most of the famous mansions and cottages appeared here in the late 19th - early 20th century, when there was a special demand for it. For example, the houses of such well-known people not only in tsarist Russia as Putilin, the Eliseev brothers, Bekhterev and many others. On 106 hectares of the island’s area, roads, a park zone and bridges connecting it with other islands and city streets were equipped.
Since 1928, the first boarding houses for workers were opened here, after which he was given the name "Workers", which did not take root. The local population still called it Stone Island. In St. Petersburg, to which its original name was returned in 1991, all historical objects, streets and squares were gradually renamed. In 1993, the turn came to the famous island.
Today it is a place for rest of Petersburgers and one of the excursion routes for city guests.
Cottage Gauswald
The most famous in these places is the cottage, built in 1898 for Eugene Karlovna Gauswald. The architects Chagin and Chenet chose the Art Nouveau style, which, given the fact that the building is wooden, makes it unique.
This is a small house on 2 floors with a veranda and a terrace, but its main highlight is the round turret, giving it charm and originality.
In Soviet times, there was temporarily a colony for juvenile delinquents, and later a sanatorium. The style of the house, more characteristic of European houses, attracted the attention of filmmakers. So, in the movie "Treasures of Agra" Irene Adler lived here, in which Sherlock Holmes had to steal a photo. Also in it were shot such well-known paintings to the Soviet audience as Don Cesar de Bazan and The Bat.
Today, the cottage needs urgent repairs and, although it is listed in the list of monuments of architecture and wooden architecture, restoration work has not yet been carried out. Sometimes tourists ask the locals about Kamenny Island in St. Petersburg how to get to the Gauswald cottage (from the Chernaya Rechka metro station turn to the embankment and cross the bridge). If the house was restored, then it could be included in the list of excursion objects.
Ankylosing spondylitis
Well-known in scientific circles, the psychiatrist and neuropathologist Vladimir Mikhailovich Bekhterev did not bypass Kamenny Island in St. Petersburg. The sights of these places were replenished with his cottage, designed by Mikhail Devishin in 1914.
Designed in the neoclassical style, this cottage was originally built with the help of half-timbers, popular in Europe. At the heart of the house was a wooden frame of beams, in which all the free space between them was filled with wood chips, clay, somewhere brick. Outside, the walls were plastered, and the outer bars of the frame were left and were the decoration of the building.
Since Bekhterev's dacha was included in the list of architectural monuments of St. Petersburg, in 1956 it was rebuilt in stone and plastered. Today on the building you can see a commemorative plaque about what is here from 1914 to 1927. Academician Bekhterev lived.
Cottage Kleinmichel
Everyone who had ever visited Kamenny Island in St. Petersburg (photo below) could not pass indifferently past the house with the dragons. Countess Kleinmichel cottage was rebuilt several times. Initially, it belonged to the head of the theater troupe from France, Genes, but in 1893 it was acquired by the widow of Colonel Kleinmikhel Maria Eduardovna for 90 years.
In 1904, the house was rebuilt and received Gothic elements in the form of a gabled roof, a corner tower and forged dragons holding lanterns. Passers-by are attracted by the grill around the mansion. In addition to ornaments in the form of salamanders, the countess's monograms - “MK” are inserted into her weaving.
Today, the interior of the summer residence of that time can only be judged by the photographs that were published in the journal “Capital and Manor” at the beginning of the 20th century.
House of fallenweider
If you select the mansions of Kamenny Ostrov (St. Petersburg) for sightseeing, then the house of Switzerland’s tailor E. Follenweider, known throughout the cultural and secular Petersburg of the early 20th century, will be the leader in popularity and popularity.
The mansion in the Northern Art Nouveau style with Gothic elements was built in 1904-1905. designed by architect Melzer. In this two-story house with a tower and a terrace, almost in the only one of all the mansions of the island, the original decoration has been preserved. Fireplaces are still “dressed” in marble there, stucco molding on the ceilings, ornament on the walls, stained-glass windows and mirrors are intact.
In Soviet times, the building was a sanatorium for a long time, while from 1993 to 2009. it was not placed under the consulate of Denmark. Today, a hotel with a restaurant is located here, and the mansion continues life. Film enthusiasts know him well from films about Sherlock Holmes, from the Suicide Club about Prince Florizel and to Mr. Designer.
Prince Oldenburg Mansion
This architectural monument had more owners than any other object in the area. Its story begins with the sale of land in 1795, which originally belonged to the court seamstress Madame Billo. At this time, Kamenny Island in St. Petersburg became a popular place for social life, so the purchase of land by the President of the Admiralty of the Board, Ivan Chernyshev, was considered a profitable investment.
He begins the construction of a wooden residential wing with a greenhouse and joins another 2 plots. In 1830, Chernyshev sold land with a building to Prince Dolgorukov, who from 1831 to 1832 erects a mansion here and even completely finishes the interiors of the halls.
And the story repeats itself again - as soon as all the finishing work has been completed, the plot with the house is for sale. This time the prince of Oldenburg became its owner. The grandson of Paul I, a military and statesman, a member of the imperial family, hires an architect who attaches two wings to an existing house and slightly remodels the interior, focusing on the tastes of the new owner.
At the end of the 19th century, the mansion was inherited by the son of the Prince of Oldenburg, Peter, who lived here until 1917, until he emigrated to France.
In Soviet times, the house was badly damaged by constantly changing guests. Either in it there were communal services, then residential apartments, then a dormitory for medical students, now stood abandoned for several decades. Today it is being restored, and the mansion has become an object of architectural heritage.
Kugusheva Mansion
Although the main buildings that filled Kamenny Island in St. Petersburg are dachas, there are several mansions that can be called masterpieces of architecture of the early 20th century. One of them is the house of Princess Maria Konstantinovna Kugusheva.
It was built in 1895 by the architect C. Preis in the late eclecticism fashionable at that time. The mansion consists of two levels - stone lower and wooden upper. The princess's desire was to live in a house that combined the Russian style with fashionable architectural trends.
The building turned out to be elegant, which was greatly facilitated by the carved tower, which managed to maintain its original appearance to this day. Its windows offer a picturesque view of the island and the Malaya Nevka River. After the revolution, the mansion was made a house with communal apartments until the 70s, until it became an emergency.
Residents were resettled, and restoration work began in the mansion. After the repair was completed, he was given over to the Kustodiev Children's Art School, which he still is.
Kamennoostrovsky Palace
Built between 1776 and 1782, this palace was to become the suburban residence of Emperor Pavel Petrovich. Performed in the strict style of classicism designed by Quarenghi and Felten, he quickly got tired of the owner, who preferred to spend time in Pavlovsk.
The palace complex includes:
- the palace itself, built in the form of an elongated letter "p" with two wings;
- household yard;
- disabled home;
- wood yard;
- kitchen building;
- stable and playpen;
- garden with a gardener's house.
After the revolution there was a hospital in the palace, then a house-colony for homeless children, later a sanatorium. Today it is being restored for transfer to the governor of St. Petersburg as a residence.
Modern residential complex on the island
You can buy real estate on Kamenny Island in St. Petersburg by choosing elite modern housing that fits perfectly into the ancient look of these places.
The three-story building of the elite class from the club house "Del Arte" offers 9 apartments, consisting of 3 and 4-room residences. Here everything is thought out to the smallest detail for a comfortable stay in luxury - from video surveillance and noiseless elevators to water and air purification systems.
The apartments are sold with clean finishes. To bring the interior to perfection, you can use the services of Kamenny Ostrov LLC in St. Petersburg, which is a leader in the design of rooms with marble and decorative stone.
All the necessary infrastructure is in walking distance from the residential complex.
