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.

48. First Winter Bridge across the Winter Canal 9.21.2014

First Winter Bridge across the Winter Canal (with the Hermitage Bridge in the background) 9.21.2014

Translated from Russian Wikipedia:
1st Winter Bridge (1-й Зимний мост, formerly German, Million) - connects the 1st and 2nd Admiralty Islands over the Winter Canal in the Central District of St. Petersburg. Is in alignment with Million street.

From the middle of the 18th century the wooden girder bridge was named for the German settlement in the area. When the stone bridge was assembled it was called the million.

The first wooden drawbridge at this place had was in the years 1718-1720, immediately after digging Zimnedvortsovogo channel at the Winter Palace of Peter I. In the middle of the 18th century it was replaced by a wood-beamed three span bridge.

The modern bridge was originally built over the the Red channel in 1768 by TI Nassonov, and architects J. L. Rossi and YM Felten. The bridge has solid granite parapets instead of grates. After the Red channel was filled in between 1783-1785, the bridge was dismantled and moved here to the Winter Canal.

Features of the bridge:
•The bridge has been preserved from the XVIII century, without any alterations.
•The abutments of the bridge rubble are faced with granite.
•The guardrails of the bridge are solid granite parapets.
•Near the bridge there is a descent to the Winter Canal.
•The New Hermitage stands near the bridge.
•The bridge is part of the ensemble of the Palace Square.

49. Hermitage Bridge across the Winter Canal 9.21.2014

Hermitage Bridge across the Winter Canal 9.21.2014

From Saint-Petersburg.com:
The Hermitage Bridge (Эрмитажный мост), the first stone bridge of St. Petersburg, was built here from 1763-1766. It was lined with granite slabs, and in 1934 the stone arch bridge was replaced with reinforced concrete, perfectly preserving the architectural shapes and granite cladding. From this bridge Lisa, the heroine of Peter Tchaikovsky's opera Queen of Spades throws herself into the water. The composer changed Pushkin's story inspired by a real suicide that occurred at this site in 1868.

There are two other bridges that cross the Winter Canal - the First and Second Winter Bridges. The first was built in 1783 and has remained unchanged since. The second was built in 1964, but was designed to mirror almost exactly the 18th century design.

On the waterfront of the Winter Canal, all the buildings are magnificent: the archive building of the State Council is a monumental Renaissance Revival building designed by the great palace architect Maximilian Messmacher; the eclectic Prince Gagarin House passed through the hands of several prominent citizens prior to the October Revolution; and the beautiful New Hermitage was Russia's first purpose-built art musuem, which includes the famous Raphael Loggia.

Bridge Length: 228 m
Bridge Width: 20 m