The Admiralty, Saint Isaakiya’s Cathedral… And the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island. With the camera across St. Petersburg

Valery Gulyakin

Valery Pikulev

Documentary and art photostory about a left-bank part of St. Petersburg: about The Admiralty, with its well-known spike, and about history of its construction… about majestic St. Isaac’s Cathedral, about The Bronze Horseman sung by Pushkin and it’s history… about an unforgettable panorama of The Spit of Vasilyevsky Island with Rostral Columns… Supplied with a set of color photos, the story about the Nevsky Left bank of the Northern Capital of Russia, will not leave indifferent anybody.

The Admiralty, Saint Isaakiya’s Cathedral… And the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island

With the camera across St. Petersburg

Valery Pikulev

Valery Gulyakin

© Valery Pikulev, 2018

© Valery Gulyakin, 2018

ISBNВ 978-5-4490-1599-0

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

From the author

Dear reader! Here and again together! Our previous meetings, it is remembered, began on Trinity bridge (see Valery Pikulev and Valery Gulyakin’s first book: “Acquaintance to St. Petersburg. Photostory about The Great City”; further – the book by the same authors: “St. Petersburg fortress. Photostory about The Peter and Paul Fortress of St. Petersburg”; then: “St. Petersburg island. Phototravel to History”; well and previous: “From the Summer garden to The Winter Palace. A phototravel on the Left bank of Neva”. Now we inspired by photoetudes by Valery Gulyakin will continue a travel on the Left bank and we will go from Palace Square to Admiralty…

В В В В Yours faithfully! Valery Pikulev

The Admiralty

This is one more! – fortress began to be built, on the highest pleasure, at once on completion of construction of earth bastions of The St. Petersburg fortress, – on November 5, 1704. Need of strengthening of the delta of Neva one more fortress was dictated by the accelerated rates of creation of the Russian fleet moreover and in the conditions of war. Here, therefore shape the built construction – new shipyard on Neva – very reminded fortress and had to serve as it and, together with fortress on the right coast, it is reliable to cover the city from the sea.

Importance of the new project was so high that the tsar Pyotr – personally! – together with the loyal friend Alexander Menshikov were not too lazy to dangle the whole week on waves in the boat, choosing the place for construction. All bays and gulfs of The Nevsky delta underwent careful inspection, this place was not found yet: here Neva is not too wide, and it is possible to fire the adversary over open sights.

Already on April 29, 1706 – so, extremely quickly there was a construction of new shipyard! – from building berths the first fighting ship was lowered. Alexander Danilovich Menshikov directed construction, – the first Governor general of St. Petersburg! – in “journeymen” at it the commandant of The St. Petersburg fortress Roman Vilimovich Bruce went. The tsar Pyotr took personal part in development of the project.

Actually, the shipyard was placed at Neva: there were its ten sheds, a building berth and a smithy. Slightly higher, in the lower tier of fortress, there was The Admiralty order – the predecessor of the sea ministry – and, in high construction from South side, arranged office for the sovereign. Fortress was surrounded by deep ditches with drawbridges, very tall shaft with bastions on which ship tools terribly gleamed. Before fortress from the South the glacis (on it now The Alexander Garden rustles with foliage) – open space for firing of the enemy if that will appear here stretched.

Almost all ships of The Russian fleet – and it by 1722 was the strongest in Europe! – were under construction on building berths of The Admiralty yard. By 1725 262 fighting vessels (including 23 bulks of the multigun linear ships) were floated here in which design of the majority Pyotr, personally took p