9.30.2014

47. Second Winter Bridge across the Winter Canal 9.21.2014


Second Winter Bridge across the Winter Canal 9.21.2014

Translated from Russian Wikipedia:
2nd Winter Bridge - connects the 1st and 2nd Admiralty Island over the Winter Canal in the Central District of St. Petersburg.

Located on the right (odd) Moika Embankment between houses number 31 and 35.

Since 1933, this crossing was a floating bridge, arranged for the passage of the demonstrators from Palace Square. About 1940, it was replaced by a permanent wooden bridge.

The modern bridge was built in the years 1962-1964 as an engineer VS Ksenofontov and architect LA Noskov. Externally, the bridge copies the look of the neighboring 1st Winter bridge, completing the ensemble of the Winter Canal.

The span is in the form of a skew in the plan (Winter Canal empties into the sink at an angle) of solid concrete double-hinged arch, faced with pink granite.

Across the bridge, on the other side Sinks located Apartment Museum Pushkin Embankment. Moika 12 and Capella. Not far from the bridge is the New Hermitage.

From Saint-Petersburg.com:
This tiny canal connecting the Neva River and the Moyka in the area of the Winter Palace has a well-deserved reputation as one of the most romantic and picturesque spots of the city. This atmosphere is created largely by the two symmetrical stone semicircles of the Hermitage gallery and the Hermitage Bridge. Sandwiched on both sides by the Hermitage buildings, the Winter Canal tunnel leads out to the expanses of the Bolshaya Neva.

This canal was dug in 1719. From 1783-1787 the three-story building of the Hermitage Theater was built on its right bank. The work was undertaken by the eminent architect Giacomo Quarenghi. A high arch bridge was built over the Winter Canal to connect the new building with the Old Hermitage. An urban legend says that many doubted the strength of the bridge, so Catherine the Great arranged a grand feast with a plethora of guests atop the arch to dispel speculation. The Arch Bridge, which had been carefully thought out and designed, withstood the festival and silenced the questions about its fragility.

In 1782-1784, the embankments of the canal were encased in granite and decorated with railings designed by sculptor Josef Franz Dunker. Originally the Winter Canal was called the Postal Embankment since St. Petersburg's main postal department was nearby on Millionaya Ulitsa. At the beginning of the 19th century, the postal yard moved to what is today Pochtamtskaya Ulitsa, and the channel was renamed the Winter Canal.

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