Bypass channel (St. Petersburg): embankment, metro and bus station. Information on the Bypass Canal

Of the large number of canals and channels of the Neva, along and across the historical part of St. Petersburg, the Obvodnaya Canal stands out sharply, both in its length and in its unique appearance. There are reasons for this. Let's try to take a closer look at the longest channel in the city. By the way, in historical sources there are both variants of its name - "Obvodny" and "Obvodnoy".

How St. Petersburg was built

Often you can hear the question of why it was necessary to lay the Obvodnaya Canal in the city. But its existence is due to several reasons. The northern capital of the Russian Empire was founded by Peter the Great in a very difficult place. In order for this entity to correspond to the status of a large European city, during its construction it was necessary to solve the most complicated engineering tasks related to the preparation of the territory for building up and draining the marshes. In addition, the capital was periodically subjected to powerful floods from the surging wave from the Gulf of Finland. In accordance with the level of technical representations of the eighteenth century, these problems had to be solved by the Obvodnaya Canal.

Flood protection project

Engineers of the eighteenth century assumed that the presence of a large canal in the peripheral part of the city would be able to lower the water level in the Neva in its central part during the floods. In addition, the Obvodnaya Canal was to play the role of a fortification, protecting the capital from an enemy attack from the south. Despite the fact that the flood protection function has not been confirmed in practice, the city acquired a reliable border on the southern border. It was convenient to put police and customs outposts on it. In addition, the channel played the role of a barrier factor that prevents the spread of infections and epidemics.

The bypass channel, Petersburg. History of construction

The first large plot was laid in the second half of the eighteenth century. It was built from 1769 to 1780 and connected the river Ekateringofka with the Ligovsky Canal. It was mainly a fortification fortified by the city wall. The construction of the eastern section of the canal resumed almost forty years later. It was completed by 1833. The canal was of sufficient depth and width to provide a through navigation message throughout the city's southern bypass. This subsequently had a significant significance for the development of industry and trade on the outskirts of the capital. The bypass channel, among other things, ensured the possibility of rapid delivery of raw materials, goods and materials to developing enterprises. Construction was associated with the need to build the capital bridges at the intersection of the channel route with roads leading to St. Petersburg from the south.

Architectural appearance of the district

The total length of the navigable route along the southern edge of St. Petersburg was just over eight kilometers. The embankment of the Obvodny Canal began to be quickly populated before the construction was completed. Along both its banks, residential houses, handicraft workshops, factories and trading enterprises began to be built rapidly. The architectural appearance of the outskirts was quite different from the aristocratic center of the capital of the Russian Empire. On the embankment of the Obvodny Canal, there were no palaces or luxurious mansions. The defining architectural factor here was functionality, buildings and structures were supposed to generate revenue. And their external appearance was of secondary importance. Mostly the urban poor and the middle class settled here. Nevertheless, the architecture of the embankment of the Obvodny Canal has a peculiar expressiveness and color of the worker, and often of the criminal suburb.

The peculiarity of the Bypass Canal

It is difficult to say how much the steady negative aura of this St. Petersburg suburb is due to objective circumstances. But the information on the Obvodny Canal stably appears in many periodicals of the city in the "Criminal Chronicle" section since the middle of the nineteenth century. This is reflected in some works of art. And in old detectives and in modern television series, the action often unfolds in the quarters located on the embankment of the Obvodny Canal. There are many legends connected with these places, mystically painted riddles and incidents. But many believe that the criminality and mysteriousness of the area is greatly exaggerated.

Transport infrastructure

In the second half of the nineteenth century, on the outside of the Obvodny Canal, two large railway junctions, the Warsaw and the Baltic, are being built. The architecture and design of these buildings are notably distinguished against the general background of the construction of the embankment area. According to the idea of architects, the stations in the Russian Empire were supposed to reflect the growing power of the state. Funds for their design and erection were not accepted. The stations on the embankment of the Obvodniy Canal were successfully tied to the general infrastructure of urban transport. And currently only the Baltic is operational. From it passenger transportations are carried out in a southwest direction.

Metro

Any area of a modern metropolis can not be fully integrated into the life of the city without a link to the metro scheme. In the immediate vicinity of the Obvodny Canal embankment there are three metro stations. "Baltic" Kirov-Vyborg line was opened in 1955, is located at the same railway station. "Frunzenskaya" of Moscow-Petrogradskaya is located near the building of the former Warsaw railway station. It has been operating since 1961. An event of fundamental importance for the residents of the embankment was the opening in December 2010 of the Obvodnoy Canal metro station of the Frunzensko-Primorskaya line of the Petersburg metro. In the long term, it is destined to become a transplant. From it will be carried out the transition to the station "Obvodny Canal-2" of the Krasnoselsko-Kalininskaya line. The ground vestibule is located on the most striking place of the embankment - at the intersection of it with Ligovsky Prospekt. It fully corresponds to the historical appearance of the area design and architectural design of the metro station.

Bypass canal, St. Petersburg. Bus station after reconstruction

Traditionally in the periphery of large cities it is customary to place cargo and passenger terminals for communication with nearby regions. But the bus station on the embankment of the Obvodniy Canal was opened in 1963, when the city's border naturally already moved far to the south. But for the passengers arriving in Leningrad, it was quite convenient. From the bus station on the Obvodny Canal, not only suburban but also intercity passenger transportation was carried out. Before the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg, the bus station underwent reconstruction and was brought into line with modern ideas about what a passenger terminal in a metropolis should be. Today it is used both for communication with cities and towns of the Leningrad region, and for more distant passenger traffic, to the Stavropol Territory inclusive. Are carried out from the bus station and international flights to Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Belarus.

Bypass channel today

It's long past the times when the Obvodny Canal served as the southern boundary of the city. Today, it is closer to the center than to the outskirts. In recent years and decades, the external appearance of the entire district has also changed. Now it is not much like a working suburb and looks quite respectable. Many new modern residential complexes have been built, major reconstruction of old houses has been carried out. From some historically and architecturally significant buildings, only the facades familiar to all are preserved. The region is full of active business and commercial life, many commercial structures and entertainment establishments function. According to experts in the field of secondary turnover of residential and commercial real estate, the Obvodny Canal embankment area is highly valued in real estate structures. This means that many indigenous Petrograders are ready to settle in this once-considered unreachable region. The attractiveness of it even more increased after the commissioning in 2005 of the aforementioned metro station.

A bypass channel in the future

Currently, in the active discussion stage there is a question about the very existence of the Obvodny Canal in its present form. It seems rational for many to fall asleep on the canal and, in its place, build a modern highway that provides for through traffic from the eastern part of St. Petersburg to the western one. Such a solution would radically unload the central historical part of the Northern capital from traffic flows. But against this idea categorically advocate environmentalists and citizens who are not indifferent to the historical and architectural heritage of their city. They remind that the Obvodny Canal is the most important part of a single hydrological scheme, and its elimination will have catastrophic consequences for the entire drainage system that ensures the life of the big city. In addition, it flows into several rivers and streams, and it is impossible to fall asleep. But at the moment no concrete decisions on the future fate of the longest channel in St. Petersburg have been made yet. Among other things, the Obvodny Canal has the status of a historical heritage. And the local authorities have no right to arbitrarily decide on its liquidation.