Alexandrovskiye Gates are located near
the dam that was mentioned in the previous album.
If you look at the photo, the road that you see on the foreground
is the Khimikov Street. Okhta is behind the gates. The dam is on the
left, about 10-15 minutes walk away.
Far back, the gates were wooden and served as an entrance to the
territory of the gunpowder mill. There used to be a special striking the
beginning of work above the gates.
A little later, the gates were rebuilt for the meeting of Alexander
I.
The architect who did the reconstruction was F.I. Demertsev. He also
supervise the reconstruction of the gunpowder mill after one of the
explosions.
Let's walk further on, to the Big
Ilyinsky Bridge over the river Okhta.
The river Okhta.
The view from the
bridge..
There is a picturesque wooden house not
far from the bridge. It is now a shop that sells wood boards, beams and
the like.
The church of Elijah the Prophet is
nearby.
The first chapel was built in 1717, two years after the construction
of the gunpowder mill.
The first wooden church was built in 1721, another one - on the stone
foundation - was built in 1742-1743.
The rotunda that you can see on the background was constructed in
1781-1785 after the project of I.E. Starov.
Another church was built nearby in 1805. It was designed by F.I.
Demertsev - you can see it on the foreground.
Both of the earlier churches were united
into one in 1841.
Some slight additions to the construction were made in 1901-1902.
The church was closed down in 1938.
The church was on fire in 1974; it was undergoing major repairs from
1983 and was given back to the Russian Orthodox Church in 1988.
There is a wooden cross near the church
(I haven't taken a picture of it.)
It is funny that the plate with the description of the cross is attached
to it so close to the ground that one, wishing to read what's written on
it, is forced to bow towards the church.:)
As I was told, the small triangle covered with grass in front of the
church is, possibly, what is left from the very first common cemetery in
St. Petersburg. They used to bury the workers of the gunpowder mill on
it. The church is also situated on the territory that was formerly used
for the cemetery.
Let us now look at another landmark
situated not far from the Okhta river, but in a different place
(Irinovsky Prospect, 9.)
It is the estate of the Bezobrazovs (Donaurov's estate) aka the
Zhernovka Estate, named after the Okhta's tributary.
There used to be a park around the estate that unfortunately has not
survived until nowadays, only a few trees remain now.
The estate was built in 1780-1790.
The architect of the estate is admittedly J. Quarengui, later changes
in the architecture were designed by Yu. M. Felten.
The estate (it was not within the borders of the city then) changed
its owners many times. Apart from the house and the park, the estate had
various household buildings, stone gates, and a pier.
The tests of artillery novelties of General Bezobrazov and the
products of the Okhta gunpowder mill were carried out here in the end of
the 19th century - there was a special testing ground nearby. The
Bezobrazovs were the last owners of the estate, that is why it is still
carries their name.
After the revolution, in 1922 the
building was partly repaired - a keeper was appointed, the floors were
changed, several hundreds of glass windows were installed - and later
was used as a club by the workers' trade unions of two factories.
The estate was used for a cowshed and a veterinary hospital of a
livestock farm in 1928.
The galleries over the second storey were built in 1930-1950.
The estate was then used as the dormitory for the workers of the
Okhta timber mill.
Everything that was left of the original
estate was given for use by the Leningrad Branch of the Special
Production Technology Bureau ORGPRIMTVERDOSPLAV in 1973.
The later annexes to the building were
destroyed in 1975, the original constructions and interiors were
restored, where possible..
The landscape around - power transmission
lines and new buildings.
I think we will be gradually finishing with winter here.
