In the central part of the Russian capital, parallel to the Moscow River, a drainage channel passes. On one of its shores is Sadovnicheskaya Embankment. What does it look like today and what are the attractions on it? You will learn about this from our article.
Sadovnicheskaya embankment, Moscow: photos and description
The embankment runs along the left bank of the Vodootvodnoy Canal, which was dug at the end of the 18th century in one of the old Moscow River rivers. The purpose of the canal construction was to protect the city from spring floods.
Sadovnicheskaya Embankment is located within the Central Administrative District of the capital. Nearest metro stations: Novokuznetskaya and Paveletskaya. The embankment stretches from the Cast Iron Bridge in the west to the Small Krasnokholmsky Bridge in the east, connecting Lower Krasnokholmskaya Street with Baltschug Street.
The total length of the embankment is about two kilometers. The buildings are numbered from the Cast Iron Bridge. The Commissariat Bridge conditionally divides the embankment into two parts - western and eastern.
Sadovnicheskaya embankment: history and modern buildings
The western part of the embankment is predominantly non-residential. The eastern part is represented by military buildings, office buildings and fragmentary preserved historical buildings.
The toponym "Sadovnicheskaya Embankment" comes from the name of the former palace settlement Nizhnye Sadovniki, which was located earlier in the area of Baltschug Street. In the eastern part of the embankment, a spinning mill was built in the first half of the 19th century. Later, a worsted plant was organized on its basis. Today, on the site of this plant is a number of modern office buildings.
The presence of the military restrains developers a bit from the total development of the embankment. Nevertheless, from the historical quarters of the XVIII-XIX centuries there is very little left. The most interesting buildings on Sadovnicheskaya Embankment are the Church of St. George the Victorious and secondary school No. 518. We will describe more about these two buildings below.
Temple of the Great Martyr George the Victorious
In the quarter between Sadovnicheskaya embankment and the street of the same name, an old brick church was preserved, which was built in the Russian style in the middle of the XVII century. The church is characterized by a picturesque silhouette and rich decor.
In 1760, the St. George Church was surrounded by a beautiful white stone fence with wrought iron grates. The fence, unfortunately, has not been preserved. In 1812 the church was badly damaged by the city fire, but by the 30s of the XIX century it was completely restored. In the middle of the last century, the St. George Church underwent a major restoration.
St. George's Church on Sadovnicheskaya Naberezhnaya is a quadrangle traditional for Russian architecture, covered by a two-tier pyramid of kokoshniks. It is decorated with five chapters - the central large and four small in the corners. The decor of the temple is represented by a complex cornice, belts of panels and platbands with massive tops.
School number 518
The building at number 37 on Sadovnicheskaya Embankment is occupied by secondary school No. 518. This is the only structure protected by the state within this embankment.
The building of the 518th school is a vivid example of the so-called post-constructivism, which can be considered a kind of analogue of the Art Deco architectural style. This style arose in the late 30s and marked the transition from constructivism itself to the Stalinist empire in Soviet architecture.
The school on Sadovnicheskaya Embankment was built in 1935. The author of the project was the architect Ivan Zvezdin. The school was designed for 600 students. In the central facade of the building, traits of two architectural styles can be traced: round porthole windows, characteristic of constructivism, and a light colonnade at the level of the second floor, which is more characteristic of neoclassicism. In the back corners of the school you can see terraces with balconies, designed for physical education lessons in the fresh air.
Bridges Sadovnicheskaya Embankment
Sadovnicheskaya Embankment is connected to the opposite bank of the Vodootvodny Canal by five bridges. These are the Cast Iron, Commissariat, Small Krasnokholmsky, Sadovnichesky and Zverev bridge (the last two are pedestrian).
The oldest from this list is the Commissariat Bridge. It was built in 1927. But the most interesting and most beautiful of them can be called the Garden Bridge. It is easily recognizable due to its curved, arched shape.
The gardening bridge has a secret. The fact is that it is based on two pipes that supply hot water to the entire Zamoskvorechye district. Actually, in order to hide them from view and not spoil the appearance of this part of the capital, the Gardener Bridge was built. By the way, a woman engineer Nina Bragin developed a project for him. The total length of the bridge is 32 meters. The height of the bridge allows small ships to pass under its arch.
Finally…
In the central part of the capital, on the northern shore of the Drainage Canal, is Sadovnicheskaya Embankment (Moscow region - Zamoskvorechye). The historical building of this embankment is partially lost. The only protected architectural monument is represented by building No. 37 (built in the 1930s), which now houses secondary school No. 518.