Wednesday Walk around the Neva Mill and grain elevator

I've been wanting to go for a walk around this old mill for a long time, and finally managed to make that plan happen. When we say "mill" we usually think of windmills, a little less often we think of water mills. This mill was built to run on electrical power. The buildings of this mill little resemblance to the recognizable silhouettes of windmills and water mills, but they look no less unusual and original. The mill's main building was built in the 1910s and is reminiscent of an ancient castle thanks to its high towers.

The three-story corner building is an administrative complex. It was built a little later, in 1920s in constructivism style. Some of the décor elements have survived, but it would be nice to have them repaired. The building facade bears the company name "Nevskaya Melnitsa".

The narrow street led deep into the industrial quarter. I didn't know how far I would be able to walk down the street: though the maps marked the spot, for some reason the cars shooting the panoramas for Internet maps didn't turn into the narrow passageway. I didn't expect to find many diverse sights in the area, but one building caught my eye. The façade of this building was entirely given over to a huge mural. I read on the information board that it was a sports complex that was being renovated.

Of all the construction at the flour mill, it was the flyover that interested me the most. I'm not really sure what it does, but it looks very unusual.

I soon understood why Yandex Maps and Google Maps had ignored this part of the street. The street appeared to follow the route of an old railway track. I walked along the fence, and every now and then I took a picture of another industrial view or textured detail.

It turns out that at the beginning of the last century a whole network of railway lines was built to connect the flour mill with the Nikolaevskaya railway. Old maps show that these railroad branches diverge in a fan from the main building of the mill. Part of the railway track survives to this day - but it is likely no longer in use.

I wanted to take a closer look at the elevator towers, and I did get that opportunity, but at the very end of the walk. I saw the silhouette of one of the towers at the back of the courtyard and was able to get quite close to it.

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Smartphone	Google Pixel 3a
Location	Saint Petersburg, Russia

This is my entry for the #WednesdayWalk challenge by @tattoodjay.