we talk about the toponymy of Aptekarsky Island

Until the beginning of the 18th century, the island was called “Korpisaari”. Translated from the Izhorian language, korpi means “wilderness”, “dense forest”. When St. Petersburg began to be built, the island was first called “Wild”, and then “Forest” and “Voroniy”…

Gromov’s dacha in the Lopukhinsky Garden is an example of a Russian city estate from the mid-19th century/PHOTO by Dmitry SOKOLOV

In Peter’s time, the Main Pharmacy established an apothecary garden for growing medicinal plants in the south-eastern part of the island. Next to it, in 1719, the first medical instrument workshop in our country, the “instrument hut,” was built. A courtyard also appeared here for the apothecary servants to live in. This is how the history of the Aptekarskaya Sloboda began.

Peter I allowed only ministers and workers of the Medical Office to settle on the island. In addition to the Russian residents, there were Germans, French, and Dutch who served in the Medical Office.

The island even had its own seal, which none of the urban parts of St. Petersburg had. The real owner of the island was considered the caretaker, who not only allocated plots of land for yard and haymaking to the suburban residents, but also controlled compliance with the workday routine. The power of the caretaker was so great that it was even forbidden to leave Aptekarsky Island without his knowledge. Residents of the settlement also required permission from the caretaker to get married…

Subsequently, Aptekarsky Island for a long time remained a quiet dacha suburb of the capital. The situation changed with the opening of the Trinity Bridge in May 1903, which connected the St. Petersburg side with the central areas of the city. Then fashionable residential areas came to Aptekarsky Island. Construction continued during Soviet times, so there is a wide variety of architectural styles here.

As for the streets, many of them changed their names during Soviet times. Pesochnaya Street became the street of Professor Popov, Vologodskaya – Chapygin, Lopukhinskaya – Academician Pavlov… But Vyazemsky Lane, one might say, defended its name. In 1952, during the next toponymic campaign, it was renamed Belgorodskaya Street, but the innovation did not take root. At the beginning of 1954, the previous name was returned…

In 1970, Medicov Avenue appeared on the island. It became the most important transit highway connecting the Petrograd side with the Vyborg side in the early 1980s after the opening of the Kantemirovsky Bridge.

Several new names have appeared on the island in our time. Among them is Stolypin’s park – near the monument on the site of his dacha, blown up by revolutionary terrorists. The square at the intersection of Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt and Pesochnaya Embankment, opposite the Malaya Nevka River, was named in honor of People’s Artist of Russia Rudolf Furmanov, director, first artistic director of the Russian Entreprise Theater named after Andrei Mironov. On the Petrogradskaya side there are several nearby parks that bear the names of prominent cultural figures. On the same Aptekarsky Island there is Anikushinsky Square, named after the famous sculptor, whose workshop was located nearby.

And finally, quite recently, at the end of March this year, the toponymic commission decided to name an unnamed square on Chapygina Street in honor of Admiral Valentin Drozd, a participant in the defense of Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War, commander of the squadron of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet. Nearby is the “house of admirals” in which he lived.

The material was published in the newspaper “St. Petersburg Vedomosti” No. 75 (7651) dated April 24, 2024 under the heading “An Island with its own seal.”

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