Aptekarsky Island (russian: Апте́карский о́стров, , "Apothecary Island", fi, Korpisaari, "Deep Forest Island") is a relatively small

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

situated in the northern part of the

Neva The Neva (russian: Нева́, ) is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast (historical region of Ingria) to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length of , it ...

delta. It is separated from

Petrogradsky Island Petrogradsky Island or Petrograd Island ( Russian: Петроградский остров) is the third largest island in the Neva River delta in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Along with Zayachy Island, Aptekarsky Island, and Petrovsky Island, it c ...

by the

Karpovka River The Karpovka (russian: Ка́рповка) is a small river of the Neva basin in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It separates Aptekarsky Island (right bank) from Petrogradsky Island (left bank). The Karpovka flows from the Bolshaya Nevka to the Malaya ...

, from

Kamenny Island Kamenny Islands (russian: Каменные острова, ''Kamenny Ostrova'', meaning 'Stony Islands') are a group of three islands in the Neva delta, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Geography The three islands are flat. They are divided by chann ...

and

Krestovsky Island Krestovsky Island (russian: Крестовский остров) is a 3.4 km2 island in Saint Petersburg, Russia, between several tributaries of the Neva: the Srednyaya Nevka, the Malaya Nevka and the Krestovka. The island is served by ...

by the

Malaya Nevka The Little Nevka or Malaya Nevka (russian: Ма́лая Не́вка) is the southern distributary of the Great Nevka. The Great Nevka splits into Little Nevka (the southern armlet) and Middle Nevka (the northern armlet) near the Kamenny Isla ...

and from the Vyborgskaya region of

St-Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

by the

Bolshaya Nevka The Great Nevka or Bolshaya Nevka () is an arm of the Neva that begins about below the Liteyny Bridge in Saint Petersburg. Attractions * Bridges ** Samson Bridge ** Grenadiers Bridge ** Kantemirovsky Bridge ** Ushakovsky Bridge ** 3rd Yelagi ...

. It has an area of approximately two square kilometres. Aptekarsky Island is connected to

by seven bridges: Aptekarsky Bridge, Petropavlovsky Bridge, Silyn Bridge, Geslerovsky Bridge, Karpovsky Bridge, Barochny Bridge and Molodyozhny Bridge. It is connected to Kamenny Island by

Kamennoostrovsky Bridge Kamennoostrovsky Bridge spans the Little Nevka River and connects Aptekarsky Island with Kamenny Island in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Originally constructed as a floating pontoon bridge in 1760. Between 1811 and 1813, Kamennoostrovsky Bridge bec ...

and to the Vyborgskaya region by

Kantemirovsky Bridge Kantemirovskiy Bridge (russian: Кантемировский мост) is a large modern (built in 1979 - early 1980s) drawbridge (bascule bridge) in Saint Petersburg, Russia across the Bolshaya Nevka arm of the Neva river. The bridge connects th ...

and Grenadersky Bridge. In 1714, Tsar

Peter I Peter I may refer to: Religious hierarchs * Saint Peter (c. 1 AD – c. 64–88 AD), a.k.a. Simon Peter, Simeon, or Simon, apostle of Jesus * Pope Peter I of Alexandria (died 311), revered as a saint * Peter I of Armenia (died 1058), Catholico ...

gave orders to transform the island into a headquarters for the Medical Clerical Office and the Main Pharmacy. The island's name, Aptekarsky, means pharmacy in Russian. On the southeastern part of the island, a garden was set up for the cultivation of medicinal herbs. Over time, it became the

Saint Petersburg Botanical Garden The main Saint Petersburg Botanical Garden, officially known as the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Komarov Botanical Institute's Botanical Garden of Peter the Great (russian: Ботанический сад Петра Великого Б ...

and eventually, the

Komarov Botanical Institute The Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (russian: Ботанический институт им. В.Л.Комарова РАН) is a leading botanical institution in Russia, It is located on Aptekarsky Island in St. Pete ...

was founded here. The island expanded from medicinal herbs into medical devices with the founding of the first medical device laboratory. This laboratory has since become the firm Krasnogvardeets, which is based in St. Petersburg. During the reigns of

Paul I Paul I may refer to: *Paul of Samosata (200–275), Bishop of Antioch *Paul I of Constantinople (died c. 350), Archbishop of Constantinople *Pope Paul I (700–767) *Paul I Šubić of Bribir (c. 1245–1312), Ban of Croatia and Lord of Bosnia *Paul ...

and

Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first King of Congress Poland from 1815, and the Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 to his death. He was the eldest son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. The son of ...

, the area became a resort destination as Russian aristocrats came to the island and built their country estates. As the industrialization of the island grew, the 20th century brought apartment construction to house the new workers. A number of the apartment houses were designed by such renowned Russian architects as

Vladimir Shuko Vladimir may refer to: Names * Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name * Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name * Volodymyr for the Ukr ...

, designer of the

Russian State Library The Russian State Library (russian: Российская государственная библиотека, Rossiyskaya gosudarstvennaya biblioteka) is one of the three national libraries of Russia, located in Moscow. It is the largest librar ...

in Moscow, and

Fyodor Lidval Fyodor Ivanovich Lidval (russian: Фёдор Иванович Лидваль, Swedish:Johan Fredrik Lidvall) (June 1 (June 13) 1870, St. Petersburg – 1945, Stockholm) was a Russian-Swedish architect. Life Lidvall was born in St. Petersburg i ...

, designer of the Hotel Astoria in St. Petersburg. A number of significant structures still stand on the island today including the First Lensoveta House (designed by Yevgeniy Levinson and

Ivan Fomin Ivan Aleksandrovich Fomin (3 February 1872 – 12 June 1936) was a Russian architect and educator. He began his career in 1899 in Moscow, working in the Art Nouveau style. After relocating to Saint Petersburg in 1905, he became an established mast ...

), several buildings for television broadcast center (designed by Sergei Speransky), the television tower and the Youth Palace. Major educational institutions include the Saint Petersburg State Electrotechnical University, Saint-Petersburg State Chemical Pharmaceutical Academy and the Experimental Medicine Institute of the Russian Academy of Medical Science. The St. Petersburg Hydro Meteorological Center is also located on the island.

Further reading