Sunday sunny day on the Black River embankment

The Black River became the name of the city district not so long ago. Perhaps we can say that the construction of a metro station with this name turned out to be the last event that secured the name for this place. Previously, you would have been asked to specify which of the Black Rivers you are referring to. The toponym "Black River" is quite widespread.

The origin of this toponym is based on a simple observation. There are quite a lot of peat bogs in the region, and the rivers that originate in such bogs are usually characterised by dark water. This water is usable, and sometimes even considered medicinal - I've heard that some bathing complexes use peat for spa treatments. It is believed that after boiling this water is drinkable, just like other water from natural sources. However, I haven't delved into the history of the issue and can't claim that.

There were several rivers in St. Petersburg, which were called "Black Rivers". But now only one of these waterways retains this name, all the others have been renamed to avoid confusion. I decided to take a walk along the embankment of the Black River and see what interesting things can be found in the urban environment.

At first glance, the surrounding urban landscape looks rather boring. The main buildings are mid-rise residential houses with minimal decoration. They were built in the 60s and 70s of the XX century. The architecture of this time usually looks very simple, at that time there was a maximum effort to increase the speed of construction, and no one developed complex architectural designs for ordinary residential buildings.

Nevertheless, architecturally interesting buildings can be seen in this neighbourhood. They have been preserved since the 19th century, when this area was a distant city outskirts. One of such buildings is the dacha of Princess Saltykova. The two-storey mansion looks like a toy castle. This dacha was built in 1837-1847, the architectural style of this building is defined as pseudo-Gothic. The building is located near the metro station - this dacha was the first thing I saw during my walk, and it was also the last attraction at the end of the route.

The river embankment in this place is built up with 5 and 6 storey buildings made of light-coloured bricks. Inside the neighbourhood there are vast green yards. These courtyards have tall trees and playgrounds for children, and in summer they become a pleasant place for outdoor recreation for local residents. I was interested in the design of the embankment. First I noticed the benches that look like paper aeroplanes made from sheets of school notebooks.

Not far away I saw silhouettes of aeroplanes cut into the walls of the canopy over the path. At the next rest area, the benches were plain, wooden, but the model aeroplanes were mounted on metal supports. Perhaps there had once been an aerodrome nearby? I could not find any information about it, and the choice of the theme for the seafront remains a mystery to me.