Exploring Kanonerskiy Island

If you’re a fan of sheds, empty buildings, and bricks, Kanonerskiy Island is a wonderful place to spend an afternoon.

Credit: meduza.io

My comrade and I were looking for a way to spend our Sunday; she suggested paying a visit to a reconstructed green palace of some variety, but I found it a terrible idea, as it offered zero adventure. After considering the Uzbek shoe stalls in central St. Petersburg as a suitable place to find authentic adventure, we finally decided on the Kanonerskiy Island.

We chose to take the metro to Narvskaya (the best metro station in St. Petersburg; about this there can be no discussion) and then to walk the rest of the way. This was exactly the right idea, as the 4-kilometer hike will take you through a park, over a few canals, and past a number of very attractive factories.

Pedestrian access to Kanonerskiy Island is limited to an underground tunnel. This was done, no doubt, to keep all but the heartiest of souls away, as the tunnel has a 70 cm elevated walkway, and the chances of being killed by traffic — should one make a misstep — are 100%. To add to the delight, the walls are covered in filth, and avoiding the filth on the walls is essentially impossible. My filth-colored overcoat survived the journey; whereas my comrade’s puffy pink number did considerably less well.

Once one emerges from the tunnel, as a kind resurrection, one is met with a sunken tugboat, a bus-stop, and a roundabout with a disproportionately small sculpture of a ship.

To try to give a fair impression of the island in a blog would be to do the island a great injustice. There is nothing to be done there in the typical, cultural sense of the word — no restaurants, for example — but this is exactly its allure. The walk along the Gulf, especially in the winter, is one that will not be quickly forgotten. There is a single swing, overlooking the bay, next to a smokestack, made from heavy-gauge chain and plywood, and if it is not the most well-placed swing in all of God’s creation, I would be very surprised indeed.

English language fellow