New Holland Island

New Holland is an artificial island in the delta of the Neva, created in 1719 when the Kryukov and Admiralty canals were dug between the Neva and the Moika to serve the needs of Admiralty shipbuilders. The island's name is linked to the old custom of storing ship timber upright "in the Dutch manner" — precisely the purpose of the warehouses moved here from their previous site near the Admiralty. In the 1760s the island's wooden structures were replaced by red-brick warehouses to a design by the architect Savva Chevakinsky, and the finishing of the façades was completed in the 1780s by the French architect Jean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothe, who is also responsible for the island's chief symbol — the monumental red-brick arch spanning the water channel that connects the inner basin (the "Kovsh," or "Ladle") with the Moika River. The arch stands 23 meters high, its austere proportions combining the image of an ancient triumphal arch with massive granite columns of the Tuscan order.

In the 19th century a round building housing a naval prison — nicknamed "the Bottle" by locals — was built on the island, and toward the end of the century an experimental basin was set up here, where the naval architect Alexei Krylov carried out his famous experiments on ship unsinkability theory. In Soviet times the island remained a closed naval territory and warehouse of the Leningrad Naval Base, which allowed its historic buildings to survive almost untouched, though in a dilapidated state; a fire in 2004 destroyed part of the warehouse structures.

Large-scale reconstruction of the island into a public space began in 2010 on the initiative of a development company linked to the businessman Roman Abramovich, and took several years: utility networks were laid, lawns and a linden avenue were planted, and a ship-shaped children's playground was built. The park on the island opened to visitors in August 2016, and in subsequent years the restoration of historic buildings, including the smithy and the former prison building, was completed. Today New Holland is a popular public space in the historic center of the city, with cafés, shops and cultural venues inside restored 18th-century architectural monuments.