Even Peter I dreamed of turning the northern capital of his empire into "Russian Venice", the benefit of numerous rivers and streams was enough here. Today, St. Petersburg can rightfully be proud of one of the most extensive systems of canals, rivers and bridges in the world.
As is known from history, the construction of bridges in St. Petersburg began simultaneously with the foundation of the city, since without these structures communication between its separate areas was simply impossible. The first bridge, of course, was wooden. He connected the Peter and Paul Fortress, which became a kind of starting point, with Hare Island.
Since then, bridges have become one of the symbols of North Palmyra. The vast majority of them are real masterpieces of engineering, historical monuments and the triumph of architectural style. Studying the bridges of St. Petersburg, you can follow the development of domestic construction science, since they almost always used the most advanced technologies at one time or another.
One of the most famous and interesting in terms of engineering is the Annunciation Bridge, which during its one and a half century history has changed its name several times, being called either the Nikolaev or the Lieutenant Schmidt Bridge.
He entered the history of the city as the first permanent pontoon. The Annunciation Bridge connects Vasilievsky Island with the historical center of St. Petersburg and, in addition, it represents a conditional border between the Neva and the Gulf of Finland.
Its construction began in 1843 and lasted about seven years. The construction was led by the famous architect S. Kerberidze, and A.P. Bryullov took the most active part in the decoration of the structure. It was he who designed the famous openwork railings, which, depicting the trident of Neptune, symbolize the violence and power of the water element.
By the time of its opening in 1850, the Annunciation Bridge with its length of three hundred meters was considered the longest in Europe. One of its eight spans was adjustable, while - for the first time in history - a rotary system was used to power the hoist. The Blagoveshchensk bridge got its name in honor of the square that was right next to it.
Another name - Nikolaevsky - was assigned to the bridge after the death of Emperor Nicholas I in 1855. By the way, there was also a chapel built a little earlier at the adjustable span, consecrated in honor of Nicholas the Wonderworker.
In Soviet times, this engineering construction was proudly called the "Lieutenant Schmidt Bridge" - in honor of the famous leader of the uprising on the cruiser "Ochakov".
During its existence, the pontoon went through two large-scale reconstruction. The first of them, carried out in the 1930s, was caused by a sharp increase in the number of ground vehicles passing through it and an increase in the carrying capacity of vessels passing under it.
The most recent emergency recovery work dates back to 2006-2007, when the structure was restored to its original appearance. Even earlier, Lieutenant Schmidt was struck out of the history of the city, and the bridge got its name back - the Annunciation.