A huge number of bridges: old and young, large and small, from wooden to cast-iron-concrete - one of the highlights of St. Petersburg. Often it is called that - the city of bridges, rivers and canals.
Bridges of St. Petersburg
The oldest in St. Petersburg were floating bridge-mounted wooden bridges, which were installed only for the season when the Neva and other waterways of the city were not covered with ice. The very first of these was the Ioannovsky (Red) bridge, thrown from Trinity Square through the Kronverksky channel to the Zayachy island to the Peter and Paul Fortress. And in the second half of the 18th century, a large bridge-shaped bridge connected Vasilievsky Island with the left bank of the Neva - Isaakievsky. At the same time, the first permanent wooden bridges appeared over the Moika - colored: Green, Yellow, Red and Blue.
Gradually, all important river channels and tributaries acquired bridge crossings. Wooden bridges began to be changed to stone, later - to cast-iron-concrete: from single-span to multi-span, from stationary to movable. Among the single-span bridges across the Fontanka and the Catherine Canal, several suspension bridges were erected. There were six in total, but only two have survived to this day - Lion and Bank.
Panteleimonovsky bridge in St. Petersburg - one of them
The history of this bridge dates back to the first half of the 18th century, when near the Summer Garden a wooden bridge was thrown across the Fontannaya River (formerly Nameless Eric). Not an easy bridge - an aqueduct for supplying water to the fountains installed in the first city garden. That bridge did not have a name.
Only in the first quarter of the 19th century, instead of the aqueduct bridge over the Fontanka River in St. Petersburg, was another bridge built - for suspension, suspended, on chains attached to shore supports. And they gave him the name Chain. Its decor was very different from the present: the bridge entrances were flanked by four-arched gate-pylons, the two extreme arches of which were lancet-shaped, and the two central arches - semicircular. The cornices of the gates were decorated with lion faces, and through their mouth chains of pendant lights hanging in the center of the arches from the ceiling were passed. The height of the arches reached six meters, and the width of the bridge - eleven. Its designs were decorated with lead ornaments, in which the authors used floral motifs. This bridge occupied passersby by swaying above the water. Therefore, Petersburgers loved to spend time here.
The Russian artist Ostroumova-Lebedeva described the Panteleimonovsky bridge as a fabulous miracle of St. Petersburg, because in wet weather its cast iron darkened and added significance and mysticism to the bridge, and in winter, in the cold, the bridge was often covered with hoarfrost or snow and looked like an ice castle or the house of Santa Claus.
This bridge existed for three quarters of a century, but at the beginning of the XX century it was dismantled due to the need to establish a more modern one that would withstand a new type of transport - the tram. To do this, rails were laid on the new bridge, and the bridge became permanent. The new name was associated with the nearby church of St. Panteleimon, built in the second half of the 18th century at the expense of sailors in the Particular Shipyard.
Exterior of Panteleimonovsky bridge
The bridge was made of steel, designed by L. A. Ilyin and A. P. Pshenitsky. Like its predecessors, the new bridge had one span. Initially, his fence was wooden. And only four years later they approved the project and erected the famous lattices.
Bridge lattices were made of cast iron and decorated with images of military weapons: darts, axes, chains, hexagonal medallions, in the center of which jellyfish are placed.
The main character of the decorative decoration of the bridge was Medusa Gorgon - a symbolic mythological character of the ancient Greeks, the personification of evil and the enemy. Her head is placed in medallions on cast-iron bridge lights, made in the form of tied bundles of spears. The bridge’s arch also has cast iron relief decorative overlays in the form of lion masks and round medallions framed by plant elements, dart handles, and eagle wings.
The decorative decoration of the bridge continues the idea of glorifying the power of the Russian state in wars, which began with the design of the Summer Garden. And the mask of the Medusa of the Gorgon finds a roll call with medallions on the fence of the Summer Garden of Charlemagne by the island from the side of the Castle of Engineering.
The bridge had two more names: in 1915 it was renamed Gangutsky, and in 1923 - in the Pestel bridge (the name of the street that he continued). The historical name returned to the Panteleimon bridge only in 1991.
In 2002, the bridge was restored and modern color illumination adorning it was built, emphasizing the dignity of the structure at night and highlighting elements of its decor.
Legends of Panteleimon Bridge
All of them are connected mainly with the long-suffering Chizhik-Pyzhik - one of the "happy" monuments of St. Petersburg hiding near the very waters of the Fontanka. St. Petersburg residents are very fond of throwing coins to him for good luck. It is believed that it is from the Panteleimonovsky bridge that it is necessary to throw money in order to get through the beak or, according to another version, to the paws on the stand. Well, the newlyweds are encouraged to experience the happiness of the new family by lowering a glass of vodka on a rope from the bridge to him to clink glasses with a historical bird.
There is a legend about why the Chain Bridge was dismantled: as if, after the collapse of the Egyptian chain bridge across the Fontanka in St. Petersburg, such bridges were all considered dangerous and dismantled.
How to get there
Panteleimonovsky bridge connects Nameless Island with the Summer Garden and the Field of Mars. The most convenient metro stations for visiting this memorable St. Petersburg corner are Chernyshevskaya and Gostiny Dvor. True, in both cases you will have to walk to him through the amazing streets of St. Petersburg. On the way, you will meet many brilliant sights of the northern capital. Or you can take a walk from the Gorkovskaya metro station through the famous Troitsky bridge and further along the promenade to the Summer Garden. But this is a little further. Although, what is the hindrance in fine weather ?!
Attractions near the bridge
So what can you see interesting nearby? Firstly, the famous Mikhailovsky Castle, designed by V. Brenn and V. Bazhenov on the site of the Summer Palace of Elizaveta Petrovna - Elizavetgoff and one of the oldest parts of the Summer Garden. In it, once during the coup, Emperor Paul I was killed. Nearby is the monument to Konstantin B. Rastrelli Peter I, “Great-grandfather is the great-grandson”, installed here on the initiative of Paul I almost a century later.
Secondly, the Mikhailovsky Garden, adjacent to the building of the Mikhailovsky Palace - the main building of the Russian Museum.
And, of course, the already mentioned Field of Mars or Tsaritsyn meadow, as well as the Summer Garden.
Believe me, the place is simply intended for romantic walks!