Most often, tourists study only the "grand" St. Petersburg. Krasnogvardeiskaya Square, located in the city's district of the same name, on the banks of the narrow Okhta River, is usually not among the objects they visit. But just two hundred meters to the west of it flows the Neva, immediately after which the historical part of St. Petersburg begins. So, maybe it's worth devoting a couple of hours to exploring the "unknown" areas of the Northern capital?
Description
Krasnogvardeiskaya Square is divided into two parts by the Okhta River. The steel Komarovsky bridge connects them. The right bank, larger in size, part of the square resembles a fan in shape. Important city arteries converge here, experiencing a serious traffic load throughout the day: Yakornaya Street, Bolsheokhtinsky, Sredneokhtinsky, as well as Shaumyan Avenue.
Building area multi-storey,predominantly late Soviet, in an industrial table, without any frills. The first buildings were erected on it in the 60s. These are three houses of the same type with seven floors, which in their form successfully repeat the curved right-bank contour of the square.
How to get there
Krasnogvardeiskaya Square has good transport accessibility. You can get here by almost any type of public transport in St. Petersburg. Trolleybus routes (Nos. 7, 16, 18 and 33), trams (Nos. 10 and 23) and city buses (Nos. 5, 15, 22, 105, 132, 136, 174, 181) pass through it.
Besides, Krasnogvardeiskaya Square can also be reached by metro. The nearest station is Novocherkasskaya on the Pravoberezhnaya line, which is located 1.5 km to the south.
Krasnogvardeiskaya Square: history
The area near the mouth of the Okhta River began to be actively built up in the middle of the 20th century. In 1962, a new square was formed, which was named Krasnogvardeyskaya. The origin of this toponym can be explained by the fact that the barracks and the temple of the Novocherkassk regiment were located nearby. It was on its basis that the first rifle battalions of the Red Army were formed in 1918.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Krasnogvardeyskaya Square was overgrown with massive buildings. Among them are three large residential buildings and one industrial building. The construction was carried out under the guidance of famous Soviet architects - F. A. Gepner, A. K. Barutchev and A. Sh. Tevyan.
In February 1983, it was decidedperpetuate the memory of the recently deceased General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev in the name of the square. A commemorative stele with the appropriate text was also installed on it, reminiscent of this event.
Central Design Bureau of Mechanical Engineering
This institution is known by the acronym TsKBM. Address: 195112 (zip code), Krasnogvardeyskaya Square (St. Petersburg), 3 lit. E. The Bureau was founded immediately after the end of the war. In 1972, a massive structure made of glass and reinforced concrete was erected for him. It is crowned by a huge square-shaped glass superstructure, which is popularly called the “Bull Tower” or “TV”. Today, the building, as before, complements the architectural ensemble of the modern Krasnogvardeiskaya Square.
TsKBM is one of the world leaders in the development of nuclear power plants. The experience of the bureau's specialists is actively used in the creation of equipment for nuclear power plants located in a number of European countries (the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria and others). The company's products are of high quality and technical characteristics, as well as relatively low cost, which attracts customers from abroad.
Interesting facts
Despite the "youth" of Krasnogvardeyskaya Square, it has many secrets that are known only to the old-timers of St. Petersburg:
- Earlier, on the site of the building of the KBM towered the temple of Alexander Nevsky of the 145th Infantry Regiment. The shrine was destroyed in the 1920s.
- In 1988, in the wake of perestroika,the square was renamed for the second time.
- There are only a few similar facilities in Russia, of which the bridge is a part.
- Modern Krasnogvardeiskaya Square is located on the site of the former Swedish fortress Nyenschantz. It was founded at the beginning of the 17th century by King Charles IX on the lands annexed from Russia under the far-fetched pretext of not fulfilling the Vyborg Treaty.
- The left-bank part was officially annexed only in 1983. It is to it that the territory of the Nienschanz archaeological site adjoins.
Komarovsky and Bolsheokhtinsky bridges
From Krasnogvardeiskaya Square you can easily get to the left-bank districts of the city. To do this, you need to drive along the transport line formed by the Komarovsky and Bolsheokhtinsky bridges. The first of them was built in 1960 on the site of a wooden drawbridge that existed since the 18th century, which was popularly called Gorbaty. The project was developed by engineers V. V. Zaitsev, B. B. Levin and architect L. A. Noskov. The bridge (length - 72.7 m, width - 47 m) has a reinforced concrete structure with spans in the form of a 2-pair frame on reinforced concrete supports, which, like the facades of the spans, are lined with granite.
The construction of the second building was started at the beginning of the last century, the grand opening took place in 1909. Before the October Revolution, the bridge was named after Peter the Great. In 1993, its design has undergone major changes, the purpose of which was to improve its functionality.
Nearby attractions (Krasnogvardeisky district)
The square, which previously bore the name of L. Brezhnev, is one of the decorations of the historical area, which has repeatedly become the arena of the struggle between Novgorodians and Swedes.
Krasnogvardeysky district, covering vast expanses on the banks of the Neva, alas, cannot boast of a large list of cultural and architectural monuments. However, there are attractions here too! And numerous tourists who come to St. Petersburg should at least occasionally look at the right bank of the Neva.
The area of Cape Okhtinsky is a real treasure trove of archaeological monuments. An ancient man's site was discovered here, the settlement of the Novgorod Republic is located, as well as the remains of the Swedish stronghold Nyenschanz. In the Krasnogvardeisky district, several old manor complexes have been preserved. This is the so-called Utkina dacha, the Zhernovka estate, the Kushelev-Bezborodko estate. The latter, by the way, is reliably guarded by cast-iron lions and sphinxes, near which St. Petersburg residents love to arrange photo shoots.
Now you know what can please tourists in the north-eastern part of St. Petersburg. Krasnogvardeiskaya Square is an architectural monument of the late Soviet period, which may interest foreign guests with its laconic and at the same time thoughtful and complete appearance. Don't believe? Check it out!
