Bay of islands new zealand. Bay of islands and Coromandel Peninsula. Bay of Islands, or a fairy tale is almost there

A mysterious investor brought to Smolny the project of an artificial "Bay of Islands" - in the water area next to the "Lakhta Center", a new stadium and the 300th Anniversary Park. Several sources in the city administration immediately confirmed to Fontanka that they knew about the project.

No one wants to pronounce the name of the "islander". Perhaps because it coincides with the name of one too well-known lately in Russia and even in the world of a restaurateur - Evgeny Prigozhin. However, the fact that a new alluvium may appear in the Neva Delta was quite officially confirmed by the Committee for Urban Planning and Architecture (CGA) to Fontanka. On artificial land, it is planned to create a "unique" multifunctional complex - the Bay of Islands eco-city.

The idea is still at an early stage, and sources in Smolny assess the possibility of its implementation rather skeptically. But options are already being worked out. A new island, or even a complex of islands, if, of course, the idea is recognized as feasible, will appear near the coastline of the Primorsky District and Lakhta Center.

From the committee's information, it follows that the department was provided with materials that give only a general idea of the intended use of the artificial land. The documents, as Fontanka was told in the KGA, contain only enlarged indicators of the volume of construction, sketches of transport links with the city's coastline. In addition, they generally describe the model for the future supply and support of the territory being formed.

Also, the committee emphasizes that the presented plan does not have calculations for connecting to the city street and road network. There are no traffic forecasts either. The committee could not describe the project in more detail, nor could they name the investor.

Neither information on the timing, nor data on the cost of the Fontanka project could be found out. One of those who saw the project says that this is still more of a concept, and utters a comparison - the Emirates. This is something in the form of a flower or a palm tree, Fontanka was told.

The only thing that is known for certain is that for such an alluvium, the environmental consequences must first be calculated. And above all - the impact on the performance of the Complex of protective structures. Because the island is drawn "inside" the dam, not outside.

As environmentalist Alexander Karpov explains, the problem is that such an island can seriously reduce the area of the Neva's water bowl. And this will make it potentially dangerous for the water masses to drain back into the delta after they are locked up during floods: roughly speaking, if the island is too large, there may simply not be enough space for water. In addition, in order to build an island somewhere, you need to dig a mountain somewhere else. There are no such reserves of sand in the bay, the expert says.

The KGA also confirms this. It will be possible to make some decisions and make assessments only after a scientific examination, they say. In St. Petersburg, it can be performed, for example, by the All-Russian Research Institute of Hydraulic Engineering. B. E. Vedeneev, they say in the department. But the documents have not been submitted yet. The expertise should assess the possibility of creating an alluvium, taking into account the depths and currents of the Gulf of Finland water area, as well as “special functions of the Neva Bay water area”.

The committee says that the existing calculations of the area of the minimum allowable water surface of the Gulf of Finland, which ensures the normal operation of the dam, may be connected to the examination. As a result, scientists must determine "the maximum area and location of the territory that can be formed without creating a threat of natural or man-made emergencies, as well as without prejudice to the normal operation of the GLC," the press service of the department explained. “Given the foregoing, the committee considers it premature to assess the possibility of implementing this investment project,” the press service quotes the head of the committee, Vladimir Grigoriev.

The head of the Primorsky district, Nikolai Tsed, confirmed to Fontanka that he had already heard about this project several times on the sidelines of the city government. However, the name of the investor, according to him, was not mentioned, there is not a single decision of the government, so there is nothing to comment on yet. But in general, he has nothing against the idea, the head of the district said: the more large ambitious projects in St. Petersburg, such as Lakhta Center, the better.

Know about the project and in the Legislative Assembly. As sources in the city parliament told our publication, they are aware of a certain investment proposal, which was transferred from the office of Vice-Governor Igor Albin to the CAA for preliminary evaluation. The assessment, they said, was negative.

The head of the KGA, Vladimir Grigoriev, also did not answer a direct question from Fontanka about the author of the idea.

However, under great secrecy, some sources report that the name of the investor may coincide with the name of the "Kremlin chef" Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin. There is no official confirmation of this. Yevgeny Prigozhin has long had solid assets in Lakhta. It is his company, we recall, that built the residential complex "Northern Versailles" near the Lakhtinsky spill, consisting of cottages in the style of palaces of different eras. Half was sold at the start of the project, in 2008. How many have been sold since then is unknown. Nearby, on Novaya Street, Prigozhin's Concord Management and Consulting company built another low-rise complex on 17 hectares, a simpler class - the Lakhtapark residential complex, 60 two- and three-story cottages and 18 semi-detached residential buildings for 490 apartments.

As they say, the idea still raises much more questions in Smolny than approval. In addition to destabilizing the work of the dam, such an "eco-city" in the middle of the bay will create new species dominants: for example, tourists from the coast of Peterhof will "admire" the building.

The Committee on Nature Management will not be in the best position either, because the island will stand in the way of migratory birds. It is also unknown how the committee for the protection of monuments will get out of the situation. By the way, its head, Sergei Makarov, also told Fontanka that he had heard about the project, but was not yet aware of the details.

Nikolay Kudin,

Elena Zelikova,

IN In the Gulf of Finland there are many islands, large and small...
However, only a few will be able to name any islands, except for the island of Kotlin, on which Kronstadt is located. However, there are very interesting and beautiful islands.

1. Kotlin Island
The most famous, most important and most populated island in the Gulf of Finland. The length of the island is about 12 km, the maximum width is less than 3 km, and the area is about 16 sq. km. The island is connected to the mainland by a road passing through a complex of protective structures against floods (Dambe). On part of the island is the city of Kronstadt.

The island is located on the legendary routes "from the Varangians to the Greeks" and "from the Varangians to the Arabs", and is mentioned in the 1269 treaty between Novgorod and the Hansa. The city that stood on this site was at least 500 years older than St. Petersburg. And given that the contract was written about the reloading of ships on the island, "as it used to be" - the city was much older. Subsequently, arriving merchants waited on the island for pilots from Novgorod, who led trade caravans through the Neva and Volkhov to Ilmen.

There is a legend according to which the Swedes hurriedly fled when the Russians landed on the island, leaving a bowler hat on the fire. This legendary cauldron is depicted on the coat of arms of Kronstadt. The name Kotlin allegedly comes from the word "boiler". According to another legend, Kotlin was named so because on old maps the mouth of the Gulf of Finland to the east of the island resembled a cauldron.

In 1703, Peter the Great founded Fort Kronshlot on an island that was dug out on the shallows to the south of Kotlin Island, which blocked the main fairway leading to the mouth of the Neva, where the new capital of the empire, St. Petersburg, was being built for a potential enemy. On May 7, 1704, the fortifications, which included two batteries on the island of Kotlin, went into operation (the date of the founding of Kronstadt).

In 1723, a fortress was laid on Kotlin and given the name Kronstadt. Peter I considered Kronstadt part of the capital.

1. Gogland Island
This small granite island, located in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland, is one of the most famous islands in the Gulf of Finland. Gogland is located 180 km west of St. Petersburg. Its area is about 21 sq. km, height - up to 176 m.

The basis of the island is granite, which forms many different-sized hills and valleys, where there are small fresh lakes of glacial origin. The entire coast is indented with hundreds of bays of all shapes and sizes.

Although the island is considered one of the most dangerous places for navigation in the Baltic, the locals have long been considered excellent sailors and they were willingly hired as sailors on sailing ships.

The nature of Gogland is rich and varied. There are about 700 species of vascular plants alone (for comparison, the same number of species in the Leningrad and Pskov regions, which are ten times larger than Gogland). Almost 80% of the island's territory is covered with coniferous and small-leaved forests. The foothills of the rocks are covered with blueberries, raspberries, alpine currant and juniper bushes.

The fauna is represented by 25 species of beetles, 6 species of amphibians and reptiles, 126 species of birds (moreover, a quarter is listed in the Red Book of Nature of the Leningrad Region). As for mammals, their composition is unknown, as it is constantly changing. Shrews and various mice are often seen here, sometimes a hare, squirrels and foxes, a European mink, a raccoon dog.

Gogland - Mecca for archaeologists and historians. Stops of a man of the Stone Age, medieval pirates, the battle of Hogland, envoys of Peter the Great, the death of the Lefort, the America, the Struve meridian, Popov's radio communication session in 1900, 300 years of wars, endless fortifications and dozens of sunken ships, battles of World War II, constant the change of owners, which ended only in 1947 with the return of the island home to Russia.

2. Tranzund Archipelago
The island is located in the Vyborg Bay, for a long time it was known only to connoisseurs of history and radio amateurs. There used to be a Finnish artillery battery.

At the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries, Alexander Popov tested his wireless telegraph on the islands of the archipelago, and from 1963 to 2012, Maly Vysotsky Island was leased from Finland. During this period, specialized expeditions to Maly Vysotsky were popular among radio amateurs, which did not belong to Finland, but temporarily did not belong to Russia either, and where a special call sign was used for communication sessions.

3. Sommers
Peter the Great gave this rocky island to his jester Jan Lacoste along with the derisive title of "Samoyed King". It is located in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland.

The next time the island was noted in the history of Russia already during the Great Patriotic War, and this happened under very tragic circumstances. In June 1942, a reckless amphibious assault was landed on Sommers, captured by Finnish troops. The desperate battle went on for three days, but the poor forethought of the operation prevailed over the stamina and courage of the Soviet soldiers. Of the one and a half thousand Red Navy men who landed on this piece of land, no one survived. The island was liberated only after Finland's withdrawal from the war in 1944.

4. Powerful Island
It's a pretty big island. It used to be densely populated. Now on the island there are only a small frontier post with a radio-technical post and a post for lighting the surface and underwater situation of the Leningrad naval base.

5. Big Tyuters and Small Tyuters
Two islands are located in the central part of the Gulf of Finland. There are lighthouses on both islands, the attendants are the only inhabitants of the islands. There is a ringed seal on Maly Tyuters.

Bolshoy Tyuters has long been known as the "island of death". During the Second World War, the Germans mined it, in subsequent years several attempts were made to clear the island, but only the last seventh was successful. In 2005, Russian and Swedish experts neutralized more than 30,000 explosive items. There are lighthouses on both islands, and members of the staff are the only inhabitants of the Tyuters, with the exception of the ringed seal, which is very common on Maly.

6. Fox Island
One of the calmest and greenest islands, lost in the Klyuchevskaya bay of the Vyborg region. Beautiful forests with a bunch of mushrooms and berries have been preserved here, the cleanest shores along which all kinds of fish swim and spawn.

This is perhaps one of the most peaceful and green islands of all those listed. There are no reserved restrictions and the island is quite a popular holiday destination for those who have a boat.

7 Virgin Islands
The Gulf of Finland has its own Virgin Islands. This is practically the namesake of the Virgin Islands, which are located in the Caribbean. Of particular interest is the South Virgin: it contains a mysterious round labyrinth of pebbles, built by ancient people.

This labyrinth is called Paris: some say that in honor of the intricate Parisian streets, others say that this name comes from the Swedish word Paris, that is, a church parish, and reflects the sacred essence of this place.

More about the islands on the website

Bay of islands and Coromandel Peninsula

Bay of Islands - Bay of Islands- one of the most beautiful bays in New Zealand, called "New Zealand French Polynesia" for the beauty of white beaches, scenic landscapes and mild subtropical climate. Hundreds of islands off the coast have given their name to the bay, which is the main resort destination of this country. The Bay of the Islands is also famous for its fishing - this is one of the best places in the world to hunt for sharks.
The bay is located 240 kilometers north of Auckland. Beach life, sailing, diving (snorkeling), fishing (catching non-commercial fish) thrive here. The Bay Area is home to many indigenous people - the Maori. There are two small towns here: Paihia - a colorful and hospitable city on the southern coast of the Bay of Islands and the city of Russell rich in historical past - three kilometers from it, on the other (northern) side of a convenient bay. These towns, located on the beautiful shores of a warm bay, at the foot of hills covered with forests, make the landscape picturesque and very attractive for tourists. The popularity of the area among tourists contribute to the endless sandy beaches and the excellent service of local hotels, motels and gourmet restaurants and exceptionally beautiful places to stay for all tastes.
The Bay of Islands region is distinguished by sunny weather, a pleasant subtropical climate, sandy beaches, hundreds of large and small islands scattered along the coast. All this makes it one of the most visited tourist destinations in New Zealand. Tourists are impressed by the endless 90-mile beach in the very northwest of the island and northwest of the Bay of Islands. On the way to these areas, you can see relic giant kauri trees, which in the past formed entire forests and occupied vast spaces. In the Bay of Islands itself, a selection of scenic cruises awaits you. You can also visit a small cottage that is of inestimable value to New Zealanders - this is the so-called Trity House, where the historic Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840, guaranteeing a special status for the Maori.

I drove north from Auckland, and the "Bay of Islands" became generally the northernmost point of my trip in New Zealand, since all my other movements I made to the south, slowly moving from the North Island to the South. My path was to the village of Paihia (or Peihia, Paihia) - it was from there that the "water excursion" began. The way there lay across the Auckland Bridge. Once it was possible to do bungee jumping from it, but now there is only an attraction of walking along the bridge structures, by analogy with the famous bridge in Sydney, and even then this activity must be booked in advance.

The real symbol of New Zealand is the kauri tree. And, probably, the oldest and most famous representative of this species is McKinney Kauri, whose age ranges from 800 to 900 years. It is located near the city of Warkworth, just on the way to the "Bay of Islands". When you see this gigantic tree, you involuntarily think how many generations of people it has observed, technical progress has developed, trains, cars, planes have appeared, and the tree still stands in its original place.