Kamenny Islands (russian: Каменные острова, ''Kamenny Ostrova'', meaning 'Stony Islands') are a group of three islands in 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, in

Saint 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 ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

Geography

The three islands are flat. They are divided by channels and have bridges connecting each other, as well as the group with the mainland. The Kamenny Islands are part of the city of

Kamenny Island

Kamenny Island (russian: Каменный остров, meaning 'Stone Island'), with an area of 1.06 km², it is the easternmost island and gives its name to the group. It was renamed as Workers' Island (russian: остров Трудящихся) in

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

times.Городские имена сегодня и вчера: Ленинградская топонимика/Сост С. Алексеева, А. Владимирович, А. Ерофеев и др. — Л.:Добровольное общество любителей книги РСФСР, Ленингр. орг-ция/РПК «ЛИК»,1990 — с.24 Since that era and to this day, government residences have been located on Kamenny Island.

Yelagin Island

Yelagin Island Yelagin Island () is a park island at the mouth of the Neva River which is part of St. Petersburg, Russia. Yelagin Island is home to the Yelagin Palace but has a few other buildings as well. A former suburban estate of 18 century Russian nob ...

(russian: Елагин остров) lies in the centre/north, where the

Yelagin Palace Yelagin Palace (Елагин дворец; also ''Yelaginsky'' or ''Yelaginoostrovsky Dvorets'') is a Palladian villa on Yelagin Island in Saint Petersburg, which served as a royal summer palace during the reign of Alexander I. The villa was desi ...

is located.

Krestovsky Island

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 ...

(russian: Крестовский остров) is the westernmost and largest island. It is the location of the Kamenny Island Palace.

History of Kamenny Island

Peter the Great presented Kamenny Island to Count

Gavriil Golovkin Count Gavrila (Gavriil) Ivanovich Golovkin (russian: Гаври́ла (Гаврии́л) Ива́нович Голо́вкин) (1660 – 20 January 1734) was a Russian statesman who formally presided over foreign affairs of the Russian Empire from ...

, Chancellor of the Russian Empire. After his family fell into disgrace, the island passed to his successor, Count

Aleksei Petrovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin Count Alexey Petrovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin (russian: Алексе́й Петро́вич Бесту́жев-Рю́мин; 1 June 1693 – 21 April 1766) was a Russian diplomat and chancellor. He was one of the most influential and successful diplomats ...

. A decade later,

Empress Elizabeth Elizabeth Petrovna (russian: Елизаве́та (Елисаве́та) Петро́вна) (), also known as Yelisaveta or Elizaveta, reigned as Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She remains one of the most popular List of ...

granted it to the future Peter III of Russia. During the 19th century, the island was home to summer retreats ("

dacha A dacha ( rus, дача, p=ˈdatɕə, a=ru-dacha.ogg) is a seasonal or year-round second home, often located in the exurbs of post-Soviet countries, including Russia. A cottage (, ') or shack serving as a family's main or only home, or an outbu ...

s") of the Russian royalty and nobility. At the easternmost tip of the island stands the Kamennoostrovsky Palace, built by Georg von Veldten for

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 *Pau ...

and the

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

church of Saint John of Jerusalem (1776–81) constructed in honor of the victory at Chesma and frequented by

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

during his stay at a dacha on Kamenny Ostrov. A cluster of Pushkin's last poems, including his version of '' Exegi monumentum'', date from that period. To the west lies a park with numerous mansions from the beginning of the 20th century, and some of the finest Moderne constructions in the city: the Shene Mansion (3 Skvoznoi Proyezd), the Follenweider Mansion (13 Bolshaya Alleya) and the Meltser Mansion (8 Polevaya Alleya). The Polovtsov Dacha (1911–13), with its opulent interiors, is a gem of the 20th-century Neoclassicism.

References

{{reflist

External links

Views of Kamenny Island
Islands of Saint Petersburg River islands of Russia Peter III of Russia Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt