All major cities of the world were built on the banks of rivers. Moscow was no exception, which was founded on the banks of the Moskva River and was named after the water artery. The first historical documents contain scattered information about how many rivers flow through the city. Only in 1926 was the first catalog of rivers of the Moscow province compiled, in which it was noted that there were 40 rivers within the borders of Moscow. Of these, only 23 had names, the rest were nameless. The most significant were the Moscow River, Yauza, Neglinka.
Bridges in Moscow
As the construction of residential areas on the sites located on the banks of flowing rivers was carried out and the construction of bridges that provide transport links between residential areas. Even the native Muscovites cannot always answer about how many bridges are in Moscow today, because they include flyovers, railway bridges and overpasses (bridges that run over roads). But one of the main decorations of the capital is the embankments and 34 bridges connecting the banks of the rivers.
The oldest of them: Lefortovo, Borovitsky and Novospassky. They were built back in tsarist times and have not been rebuilt since then. It is believed that the service life of any bridge structure is 100 years, after which the structure is disassembled and a new one is being built. This happened with one of the most beautiful and most significant - the Great Moskvoretsky bridge.
Historical excursion
The first bridge construction connecting the banks of the Moskva River near the Beklemishevskaya tower of the Kremlin was built in 1498. At that time, the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky bridge was a floating structure. It connected the Tverskaya and Serpukhovskaya roads. The construction of stationary bridges at that time was not carried out, since when the enemies attacked from the south, the floating bridge could easily be removed, and the river was a natural obstacle that blocked the path to the city. At the end of the 18th century, instead of flooring from logs, a wooden bridge was built on piles 10 meters wide and 120.5 meters long. In 1829, the first reconstruction was carried out, as a result of which stone bulls and three wooden arched spans were installed.
After a fire in 1870, wooden structures burned down, and two years later metal spans were built instead. The new bridge was named along Moskvoretskaya street passing under it. It functioned until 1936, after which a new structure was built in its place.
The Bolshoy Moskvoretsky bridge, known today, was designed by architects I. G. Sardaryan and A. V. Shchusev. Construction was carried out in 1937-1938 under the guidance of engineer V.S. Kirillov.
Architectural features
The Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge in Moscow is one of the largest in Europe. With a width of 40 meters, the total length of the bridge is 554 meters. This is a monolithic reinforced concrete structure, the main span of which has a length of 95 meters. It overlaps the bed of the Moscow River. According to the project, the span was raised high above the reservoir so that river vessels pass under the bridge
The roadway of the ramp from the left bank goes to Vasilyevsky descent leading to Red Square, on the right bank the ramp smoothly crosses the Chuguevsky bridge leading to Bolshaya Ordynka. The main feature of the Moskvoretsky bridge are special balconies built so that, being on them, you can look at the unique views of the Kremlin and Red Square. Pink granite was used to clad facades and balconies, thanks to which the structure began to harmonize with the architectural ensemble of the Kremlin.
As you can see on the map, the Moskvoretsky bridge is located near the Spassky Gate. Being on it, tourists can enjoy the classic view of St. Basil’s Cathedral, located on Red Square, the embankments of the Moscow River: Kremlin, Moskvoretskaya, Sofia. The Baltschug Hotel is visible from the bridge; a beautiful view of the new Zaryadye Park, built on the site of the former Rossiya Hotel, opens.
Scandalous facts related to the bridge
In modern history, scandalous events took place twice on the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky bridge, which became a shock not only for Russia. One of them occurred during the perestroika period. The culprit of the event was the pilot from West Germany - Matthias Rust. At the end of May 1987, while heading from a small single-engine plane from Hamburg to Helsinki, the pilot suddenly changed course and without obstacles from the border service crossed the air border of the Soviet Union. Having flown over 1000 km, the plane safely landed on the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky bridge in Moscow. According to Rust, initially he planned to land on Red Square, but because of the large crowds he changed the landing site.
The second scandalous event that shocked the whole world in 2015 was the murder of world famous politician Boris Nemtsov in the late evening of February 27. After that, there were even proposals to rename the bridge structure to Nemtsov bridge. This name was fixed among the friends and associates of the politician. A memorial was created at the murder site, where volunteers are on duty daily, while Muscovites and guests of the capital carry fresh flowers to the place of death of Boris Nemtsov.