Krasnogvardeyskaya Square, St. Petersburg: description, history and interesting facts

Most tourists study only the "ceremonial" St. Petersburg. Krasnogvardeyskaya area, located in the same area of the city, on the banks of the narrow river Okhta, as a rule, is not among the objects visited by them. 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 studying the "unknown" areas of the northern capital?

Description

Krasnogvardeyskaya area is divided by the river Ohta in two parts. Connects them to the steel Komarovsky Bridge. Right-bank, larger in size, part of the square resembles a fan in shape. Here, important city arteries meet, experiencing a serious traffic load throughout the day: Yakornaya Street, Bolsheokhtinsky, Sredneohtinsky, and Shahumyan Avenue.

The building area is multi-storey, mostly late Soviet, in an industrial table, without any excesses. The first buildings were built on it in the 60's. These are three identical houses in seven floors, which in their form successfully repeat the curved right-bank contour of the square.

How to get there

Krasnogvardeyskaya Square has good transport accessibility. It can be reached 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.

In addition, you can get to the Krasnogvardeiskaya Square by metro. The nearest station is Novocherkasskaya Right Bank, which is located 1.5 km to the south.

Krasnogvardeyskaya square: history

The area near the mouth of the Okhta River began to be actively built in the middle of the twentieth century. In 1962 a new square was formed, which was called Krasnogvardeyskaya. The origin of this toponym can be explained by the proximity of the barracks and the temple of the Novocherkassk Regiment. It was on its basis in 1918 that the first infantry battalions of the Red Army were formed.

In the 1960-1970-ies Krasnogvardeiskaya area overgrown with massive structures. Among them - three large residential houses and one building for industrial purposes. The development was carried out under the guidance of famous Soviet architects - FA Gepner, AK Barutchev and A. Sh. Tevyan.

In February 1983, it was decided to perpetuate the memory of the recently deceased Secretary General of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Brezhnev in the name of the square. It also had a commemorative stele with the appropriate text, reminiscent of this event.

Central Design Bureau of Mechanical Engineering

This institution is known by the abbreviation of the MKBM. Address: 195112 (index), the Krasnogvardeyskaya square (St. Petersburg), 3 litas. E. The Bureau was founded immediately after the end of the war. In 1972, he built a massive structure of glass and reinforced concrete. It is crowned by a huge glass superstructure of a square shape, which in the people was nicknamed "The Tower of the Ox" or "The 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 specialists of the bureau is actively used in the creation of equipment for nuclear power plants located in a number of European countries (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria and others). The products of the enterprise are of high quality and technical characteristics, as well as relatively low cost, which attracts customers from abroad.

Interesting Facts

Despite the "youth" of the Krasnogvardeiskaya Square, it has many secrets that are known only to the old-timers of St. Petersburg:

• Earlier, on the site of the KBM building towered the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral of the 145th Infantry Regiment. The shrine was destroyed in the 1920s.
• In 1988, on the wave of perestroika, the square was renamed for the second time.
• In Russia there are only a few similar objects, part of which is the bridge.
• The modern Krasnogvardeiskaya square is located on the site of the former Swedish fortress of Nienschanz. It was founded in the beginning of the XVII century by King Charles IX on lands annexed from Russia under the far-fetched pretext of non-fulfillment of the Vyborg tract.
• The left-bank part was officially joined only in 1983. It is adjacent to the territory of the archaeological monument "Nienschanz".

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 these was built in 1960 on the site of a wooden bridge that existed since the 18th century, which was popularly called Gorbatam. The project was developed by engineers V. Zaitsev, B. B. Levin and architect L. Noskov. The bridge (length - 72.7 m, width - 47 m) has a reinforced concrete structure with spans in the form of a 2-pane frame on reinforced concrete pillars, which, like the facades of spans, are faced 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 bore the name of Peter the Great. In 1993, its design underwent major changes, the purpose of which was to improve its functionality.

Nearest sightseeing places (Krasnogvardeysky district)

The square, which used to be called Brezhnev, is one of the ornaments of the historic area, which has become the arena of the struggle of Novgorodians and Swedes more than once.

Krasnogvardeysky district, covering vast expanses on the banks of the Neva, can not, alas, boast a large list of cultural and architectural monuments. Nevertheless, there are attractions here! And the numerous tourists who come to St. Petersburg, even though occasionally look at the right bank of the Neva.

The area of the Okhta cape is a real storehouse of archaeological sites. Here, an ancient man's site has been found, an ancient settlement of the Novgorod Republic, as well as the remains of the Swedish stronghold Nyenskans. In the Krasnogvardeisky district there are several old manor complexes. This is the so-called Utkin dacha, the estate "Zhernovka", the estate of Kushelev-Bezborodko. The latter, by the way, is reliably guarded by cast-iron lions and sphinxes, near which Petersburgers like to organize photo sessions.

Now you know what the north-eastern part of St. Petersburg can bring to the tourists. Krasnogvardeiskaya Square is a monument of architecture of the late Soviet period that can interest foreign guests with its laconic and at the same time thoughtful and completed appearance. Do not believe me? Check it out!