Yelagin Island () is a park

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 ...

at the mouth of the

Neva River 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 i ...

which is part 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 ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. Yelagin Island is home to 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 ...

but has a few other buildings as well. A former suburban estate of 18 century Russian nobles and later of a dowager Empress Maria, widow of Paul I of Russia, it has been serving since after the revolutions of 1917 as a city public park, officially Central Park of Culture and Rest named after Sergey Kirov, the famous Bolshevik city leader of early 1930s who supervised development of the city.

Geography

It is a flat island located in the delta of the Neva River, between the Grand Nevka branch and the Central Nevka. The island has a surface of 94 hectares. It stretches from east to west for 2.1 km and has a maximum width from north to south of 0.8 km.

History

The island initially served as a wooded retreat for the ruling class. Originally known as Melgunov Island, the island takes its present name from its former owner,

Ivan Yelagin Ivan Perfilievich Yelagin (russian: Иван Перфильевич Елагин; 1725–94) was a Russian Imperial historian, an amateur poet and translator who acted as unofficial secretary to Catherine the Great in the early years of her rei ...

(1725–93), best known as a founding father of the Russian

Freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

. The palace was built in 1786 in the eastern section of the island.Улицы Питера. Елагин Остров
/ref> In 1817, the island was bought for 350,000

ruble The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union. , currencies named ''rub ...

s by the Imperial Cabinet on behalf of the Russian Monarchy. The following year the palace grounds underwent a thorough redesigning and restructuring led by architect Carlo Rossi. The works lasted four years and included a vast

English landscape garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...

with a system of canals, bridges and ponds, as well as grottoes and

gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. Etymology The etymology given by Oxford Dictionaries (website), Oxford D ...

s.Немчинова Д. И. ''Елагин остров: Дворцово-парковый ансамбль.'' — Л.: Искусство, Ленингр. отд-ние, 1982. — 136 с. (Nemchinov, D. I. ''Yelagin Island: The palace and park ensemble'') Formerly off-limits for most local people, after the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

, the isle was opened to the public as an urban park which still bears the name of

Sergei Kirov Sergei Mironovich Kirov (né Kostrikov; 27 March 1886 – 1 December 1934) was a Soviet politician and Bolshevik revolutionary whose assassination led to the first Great Purge. Kirov was an early revolutionary in the Russian Empire and membe ...

Current use

In present times Yelagin Island is a popular weekend destination for Petersburgers. Visitors can rent boats to navigate the island's several ponds and canals. There are also rollerblade and bicycle rentals, as well as several attractions for children including pony rides, miniature trains and playgrounds. The island also features several kilometers of paved pathways.

References

External links

* Islands of Saint Petersburg River islands of Russia Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Saint Petersburg {{SaintPetersburg-geo-stub

Geography

History

Current use

See also

References

External links