Porokhovye

Categories / City Topography/Historical Geography/Historical Districts, Localities, Tracts, Municipal Establishments
POROKHOVYE, an area in the north-east of St. Petersburg, on the left bank of the Okhta River, between Rzhevka and Malaya Okhta. It encompasses territories of Malinovka and Zhernovka. In 1715, at Peter the Great’s decree, powder mills were constructed in the middle course of Okhta River; later they were replaced by Okhtinsky Gunpowder Plant (later - Okhtinsky Chemical Plant). Near them, working people settled, so the settlements were accordingly called Powder Settlements (Porokhovye Slobody, in common language - Porokhovye). Gradually, the name Porokhovye was applied to the whole area. In 1722, Porokhovskoe Cemetery of the Church of St. Elijah the Prophet was founded (since 1820, it occupies its present lot). In 1892, the line of Irinovskaya narrow-gauge railroad was built through Porokhovye. Until the 1930s, Porokhovye remained neglected outskirts populated mainly by workers. In the 1930s, land improvement began with the construction of water-pipe and sewage systems and the launching of bus and tramway lines. On Porokhovye, there is Progress Scientific Development and Production Association, plants of ferroconcrete items, Medpolimer, etc. Main thoroughfares are Irinovsky Avenue and Revolyutsii Freeway (former Porokhovskoe Freeway). Along the Lubya River, some husbandries are preserved. Among monuments of history and culture, worth mentioning are: the complex of the former Okhtinsky Gunpowder Plant (120 Revolyutsii Freeway, 28 Khimikov Street) and its sick quarters (4 Krasina Street), the monument to workers who died from explosions at the gunpowder plant and the common graves of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45 located at the Porokhovskoe Cemetery. The toponym has been preserved in the name of Bolshaya Porokhovskaya Street.

Reference: Охта, Пороховые: Страницы истории / Сост. Е. М. Мухина. СПб., 2003.

Е. А. Bondarchuk, P.Y. Yudin. Peter I, Emperor
Bolshaya Porokhovskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city
Khimikov St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 28
Krasina St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 4
Revolyutsii Freeway/Saint Petersburg, city, house 120
Пороховые
St. Petersburg Powder Mill
1715
1816
1858