Zayachy Island

Categories / City Topography/Geographical Objects/Islands
ZAYACHY ISLAND situated in the broadest part of the Neva. In the north, it is separated from Petrogradsky Island with Kronverksky Strait. The island is 28 hectares in area, 900 metres long, and 500 metres wide. It is linked to Petrogradsky Island via Kronverksky Bridge and Ioannovsky Bridge. Its original names were Vesely Island and Veselaya Zemlya. The name of Zayachy Island is a translation of Yanissaari (Hare Island) from Finnish. It was a wild waterlogged island that was often flooded until the 18th century. As decreed by Tsar Peter the Great on 16 (27) May 1703, St. Petersburg Fortress (later, SS. Peter and Paul Fortress) was founded in the island giving birth to a new Russian capital. There were three canals inside the fortress in the early 18th century, two of them flowing along western gate and eastern gate and the other in the middle of the fortress, thus, dividing the island into four parts. The canals were filled up by the late 19th century. Today, most of the island is occupied by a museum complex, as well as the Mint, one of the oldest industrial enterprises of the city.

Е. А. Bondarchuk, P. Y. Yudin. Peter I, Emperor
Zayachy Island/Saint Petersburg, city
St. Peter and Paul fortress
St. Peter and Paul fortress
St. Petersburg Mint
St. Petersburg Mint