"Venice of the North" through the eyes of contemporary artists: A journey across the picturesque bridges of St. Petersburg

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Each city has its own individual trait, which is a kind of visiting card. In St. Petersburg, this is His Majesty Petersburg bridge … More than three hundred of them are thrown across the numerous rivers, canals, lakes and ponds of St. Petersburg. Therefore, seeing the bridges of the "Venice of the North" is tantamount to getting to know the city very closely. And these amazing structures, filled with romance and historical spirit, have always been, are and will be a favorite theme of St. Petersburg painters and poets.

The city and its surroundings are very unusual, located between ninety-three rivers, branches, channels and canals, and also between a hundred lakes, ponds, artificial reservoirs. Indeed, Peter can be called the "Venice of the North", where the entire city and its surrounding area are connected by more than 800 bridges. Of these, 342 bridges have been erected directly in St. Petersburg itself.

And what kind of engineering structures you can not see here … One of the first permanent bridges across the Neva is the Blagoveshchensky - built in 1850. There is also the longest bridge - Bolshoy Obukhovsky - almost three kilometers, and the widest - Blue Bridge across the Moika, stretching almost 100 meters in width. And the famous drawbridges, the longest of which is more than 600 meters, named after Alexander Nevsky.

Kisses bridge

This bridge with an intriguing name connects the two islands Kazansky and 2nd Admiralteysky. And its legendary name is not due to the fact that lovers loved to kiss here, but from the name of the merchant Kiss, the owner of the popular Kiss drinking establishment.

However, there is no smoke without fire … There has long been a popular belief that if you kiss a person on this bridge when parting, he will definitely return. And if lovers kiss here, then they will certainly be happy, and the longer the kiss, the more durable their happiness will be. The uniqueness of this bridge lies in the fact that it is considered a monument to the beginning of cast-iron bridge construction.

Egyptian bridge

This bridge connects Lermontovsky Prospekt across the Fontanka River. Ancient Egyptian mythical beasts are the only architectural element from the old bridge that has survived to this day. In 1905, a tragedy occurred here. The structure, on which a whole line of carts drove, could not bear the weight, collapsed. And the bridge had to be rebuilt.

Initially, it had architectural elements, columns, portals, decorated with hieroglyphs intertwined in fancy ornaments. At the very entrance, guests were greeted by sphinxes made of cast iron, with hexagonal lanterns on their heads. All this exoticism gave the name to the bridge - Egyptian.

Anichkov bridge

Another bridge - the symbol of St. Petersburg, overgrown with legends - Anichkov. Many believe that it is named from the diminutive female name Anichka. In fact, the bridge was named after Lieutenant Colonel and Engineer Mikhail Anichkov, whose battalions during the time of Peter I were located behind the Fontanka, in Anichkovaya Sloboda.

This bridge is decorated with four sculptural compositions of P. Klodt - "Tamers of horses". Interestingly, if you look closely, you can see that the horses facing the Admiralty have horseshoes on their hooves. But the sculptures looking at Vosstaniya Square have no horseshoes. There can be only one explanation here - in the 18th century there were smithies on Liteiny Prospekt. On reflection, one can come to a logical conclusion: shod horses are led from the forge, and unshoes, on the contrary.

Blue bridge

The Blue Bridge is quite unique, as its width is 97.3 meters, which allowed it to receive the title of the widest bridge in the world. It is also known as the invisible bridge. Connecting Isaakievskaya Square with Voznesensky Prospect, due to its width, it is not perceived as a bridge, but as a continuation of the square.

And blue - it is because a long time ago the authorities of St. Petersburg, in order to distinguish 4 similar bridges built nearby, painted in different colors. The widest one got blue.

Red bridge

The Red Bridge, the "brother" of the Blue Bridge, is also painted with bright colors. Its aesthetic appearance may seem somewhat rude in comparison with many other graceful, openwork St. Petersburg bridges. Nevertheless, its uniqueness lies in the fact that of the four similar Moika bridges, it has survived to this day in its original form.

It was first erected in 1717 from wood and called - "White". And almost a century later, the wooden bridge was replaced by a metal one and painted red. And since then he has not changed his appearance.

Lion and Bank bridges

The famous Lion Bridge across the Griboyedov Canal is located very close to the Bank Bridge. Like its “neighbor”, this bridge is a very small structure created by the same sculptor - P. P. Sokolov. The similarity between them lies in the fact that, like the griffins of the bank bridge, and the lions play the role of supports connected by chains that support the structure.

And if they go to Bankovsky for a solution to monetary problems: based on belief, mythical monsters with gilded wings give their patronage to those who kiss them above the tail or put any coin under their paws. This is one of the three surviving chain bridges of pre-revolutionary St. Petersburg. Well, they go to the Lion's Bridge rather for a romantic atmosphere.

Lomonosov bridge

The bridge, located on the Fontanka, was wooden until the end of the 18th century and was called "Chernyshev" in honor of the famous Count Chernyshev. It was rebuilt according to the project of the engineer Perrone. And it had a unique design: the two extreme spans were stone, and the central one was made of wood, as it moved apart to allow ships to pass.

For many years this bridge was one of the visiting cards of St. Petersburg. And in the middle of the 19th century, ships on the Fontanka stopped moving and the sliding part of the bridge was replaced with a permanent one as unnecessary. Today it is considered an architectural monument and is protected by the state.

Peter is a city of creators of words and brushes, which they present in their creations to the viewer and reader either in a rainy, cool haze, or in streams of rain or flakes of sleet, but always filled

"Traveling" over the picturesque bridges of the St. Petersburg artist Baggy Boy and the painter Sergei Sidelev, I involuntarily recalled the poetic lines of the poetess Elena Ryabtseva, dedicated to the St. Petersburg bridges.

St. Petersburg artists are a special caste of creators who glorify their hometown, its extraordinary beauty. One of these is the "jazz watercolorist" Konstantin Kuzema.