The Premier Site for Russian Culture
New Holland was a complex of warehouses on the island of the same name formed when the Admiralty Canal and Kryukov Canal were laid and joined to the River Moika (1720). Ivan Korobov built wooden warehouses in the “Dutch” fashion along the island’s perimeter for drying and storing timber for the Admiralty Shipyard (1732–40). Small rowing boats were also constructed there. Rebuilt in brick by architect Savva Chevakinsky and engineer Johann Conrad Gerhard (1765–88). Jean-Baptiste-Michel Vallin de la Mothe designed a red-brick Tuscan portal with columns made from blocks of red granite and grey Pudost stone over the canal leading to the inner pool in the centre of the island. Circular three-story naval prison called the Convicts’ Tower was built on the west of the island (1828–29). Experimental Pool for testing models of ships was constructed (1893). The country’s most powerful electric radio station was built for Naval Headquarters on the island (1915).