Lakhta, locality

Categories / City Topography/Historical Geography/Historical Districts, Localities, Tracts, Municipal Establishments
LAKHTA, a landmark northwest of Saint Petersburg, on the northern coast of the Gulf of Finland, in the vicinity of a cognominal railway station and Lake Lakhta; neighbours Olgino on the West, and Staraya Derevnya on the East. The first historical records of Lakhta date back to the 15th century. In the first quarter of the 18th century, the area accommodated Peter the Great's residence, Blizhnie Dubki. In the second half of the 18th century, the Lakhta farmstead and the nearby village of Konnaya Lakhta belonged to Count G. G. Orlov (a favourite of Empress Catherine the Great). In 1770, a large boulder ("the Thunder-Stone") discovered in the vicinity of Lakhta was transported to Saint Petersburg and used as the pedestal of the Monument to Peter the Great (see Bronze Horseman). In the 1830s, Lakhta grew into a summer cottage area, and in the 1860s it changed hands again, becoming the property of Counts Stenbock-Fermors, for whom a two-story mansion (Hunter's Castle, architect А. I. Kuznetsov) was built in the 1890s. In 1893, a chapel was built to commemorate Peter the Great's mission to rescue the flood victims of 1724 (architect V. I. Schaub; has not survived), followed in 1893-94 by St. Peter's Church (architects V. V. and V. I. Schaubs), and in 1904 by St. Mary's Lutheran Church and the Finnish Lutheran Church Prayer House (architect E. F. Schitt). The Narodniks underground printing-house (members of the revolutionary movement, People's Will) operated in Lakhta in 1896. In 1891, the Clove Leaf Tennis Club was opened in Lakhta (chaired by V. V. Schaub), originally with two ground courts in Berezovaya Alley, and increasing to four by 1908. In the 1910s, following the lead of А. D. Makferson, Lakhta hosted the country's first tennis event, and in 1913 a tennis club building for 150 people was constructed (architect L. A. Serk; not preserved). Lakhta was also used to host the first Soccer Cups (in 1900, the Lakhtinsky Circle team won a match against a German team). In 1919-32, the Hunter's Castle accommodated the Lakhtinskaya Excursion Centre (director, P. V. Wittenburg), which included the Museum of Nature of the Neva Bay Northern Coast. In 1938, Lakhta was turned into an urban area called Lakhtinsky, and in 1963 it became part of Leningrad. Dike construction went under way in the 1960s. In 1983-89, a sluice was constructed on the site of the former Konnaya Lakhta peat field (with 17 million cubic meters of soil shifted). Large forests surroundings Lakhta have survived, such as the Yuntolovskaya Lesnaya Dacha Forest Park and the Novo-Orlovsky Forest Park. There is a Common Grave of Soldiers Fallen in the Great Patriotic War 1941-45 at the Memorial Cemetery, where L. F. Lorenz (1875-1912), one of the best Russian tennis players of the early 20th century, is also buried. The name Lakhta has been passed on to Lakhtinsky Avenue and Konnolakhtinsky Avenue; First and Third Konnoy Lakhty Streets, and First and Third Konnoy Lakhty Passages; and Lakhtinskaya Street in the Petrogradsky District.

References: Михайлов Н. В. Лахта: Пять веков истории, 1500-2000: Ист. очерк. Документы. Воспоминания. Каталог. М.; СПб., 2001; Богданов И. А. Лахта - Ольгино. СПб., 1999.

I. A. Bogdanov. Catherine II, Empress
Kuznetsov Alexey Ivanovich
Lorenz L.F.
Makferson A.D.
Orlov Grigory Grigorievich, Count
Peter I, Emperor
Schaub Vasily Ivanovich
Schaub Vasily Vasilievich
Schitt Ernst Fedorovich
Serk Lev Alexeevich
the Stenbock-Fermors
Wittenburg Pavel Vladimirovich (Paul Ludwig von)
1st Passage of the 1st Konnaya of Lakhta/Saint Petersburg, city
2nd Passage of the 1st Konnaya of Lakhta/Saint Petersburg, city
3rd Passage of the 1st Konnaya of Lakhta/Saint Petersburg, city
Konnolakhtinsky Ave/Saint Petersburg, city
Lakhtinskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city
Lakhtinsky Ave/Saint Petersburg, city
Лахта
Михайлов Н. В. Лахта: Пять веков истории, 1500-2000: Ист. очерк. Документы. Воспоминания. Каталог. М.; СПб., 2001
Богданов И. А. Лахта - Ольгино - Лисий Нос. СПб., 2002 Bronze Horseman