Krolichy Island

Krolichy Island (Остров Кроличий, "Rabbit Island") is a small island in Narva Bay, part of Amur Bay (Peter the Great Gulf, Sea of Japan), in the Khasansky municipal district of Primorsky Krai. It lies about 300 meters off the eastern shore of the Yankovsky Peninsula, opposite the village of Bezverkhovo, and is clearly visible from the mainland shore.

History

In the early 20th century the island belonged to Yuli Ivanovich Briner, an entrepreneur and one of the founders of the Society for the Study of the Amur Region, which carried out local studies of the Amur and Primorye territories. Briner and his family set up an estate on the island: a house, outbuildings and a guest house for visitors. Of this estate, only the foundations of the buildings, an old cellar and the overgrown ruins of the guest house survive today. In the early 1930s, after the revolution and the Civil War, the Briner family left Primorye and emigrated to China, and the island was abandoned.

Name and legend

A local legend explains the island's name. According to the story, Yuli Briner decided to breed rabbits on the island — the imported animals multiplied quickly, reportedly reaching tens of thousands. Later the whole population died of an unknown disease. That is how the island came to be called Krolichy ("Rabbit"), even though no rabbits have lived there for a long time.

The Briner family crypt

In the village of Bezverkhovo, on the mainland opposite the island, the Briner family crypt still stands as a memory of the island's former owners. It was built in 1916 of white Finnish granite, with a glazed roof originally designed to let sunlight inside. For decades the crypt stood abandoned and was falling into ruin, but it was restored in 2023. After the restoration, the remains of family members were reburied in the crypt, including Yuli Briner himself, who died in 1920, and his wife.

Nature

The island is covered with forest, including Mongolian oak. A lighthouse with a sound signal device stands on the southeastern shore, helping ships find their way through Narva Bay in fog.

Getting there

There is no way to reach Krolichy Island on foot: a strait about 300 meters wide separates it from the Yankovsky Peninsula. The island can be reached by boat or motorboat from the village of Bezverkhovo in the Khasansky municipal district of Primorsky Krai.