For many residents of St. Petersburg, Kanonersky Island is terra incognita, a mysterious land that they heard something about, but could not get there to verify its existence. Fifty years ago, this was really not easy, because the Gunboat was considered the territory of the Seaport with a permit regime. In addition, there was no transport connection to the rest of the city (except for river buses and ferries). After the opening of the underwater tunnel in 1983, minibuses and buses from the [Baltic Station] began to travel to the island (https://kudago.com/spb/place/baltijskij-vokzal/).

This place has been on the maps of St. Petersburg since the founding of the city. In the first half of the 18th century, batteries with ammunition depots stood here, so the island was called Batareyny. Over time, he began to be called Kanonersky from the word “gunner” (that is, “gunner”). For a long time it was a training ground, and its isolation from the Northern Capital is still felt today.

The island stretches along the bay for five kilometers, and its maximum width is only 600 meters. Conventionally, the territory can be divided into three parts: a residential quarter for 5,000 people, a closed territory of a shipyard and a “wild” zone. The latter occupies a significant part of the area and is a sandbar that extends far into the Gulf of Finland. From here you can clearly see the dam, [Kronstadt] (https://kudago.com/spb/place/kronshtadt/) and ships passing by, which it seems that you can touch with your hand. A narrow path leads to the coast through the forest, where a pier of stones from tsarist times has been preserved.

In recent years, the appearance of the more or less mastered part of the Gunboat has changed a lot. The reason for this was the construction of the WHSD right above the island. Some of the houses were resettled, but the remaining residents complain about the noise and dust from the highway. Only fans of post-apocalyptic species who draw parallels with the world of the Half-Life game were delighted.