LinaGroza
Palace Bridge
Photo © Lina Groza 2024
Although it is only a 20th century creation, Palace Bridge is undoubtedly one of the most famous sights of St. Petersburg, and is quite literally unmissable for most visitors to the city, who will find themselves continually using the bridge to move between Palace Square, home to the Winter Palace and the Hermitage Museum, and the numerous historic attractions on Vasilevskiy Ostrov.
The history of Palace Bridge dates back to 1901, when a competition for designs for a permanent bridge at the site was announced. Until then, this vital link between two of the oldest sections of the city had been furnished by boat or by a pontoon bridge 50 meters downstream, a legacy of Peter the Great's interdict on bridge-building in his new capital (he believed this would encourage the population to become competent sailors).
It took eight years for the jury to choose a winner. They opted for designs presented by Andrey Pshensitsky, a recent graduate of the St. Petersburg Institute of Communications Engineering. Celebrated Art Nouveau designer and artist Roman Meltzer was commissioned to design the bridge's architectural decorations, and construction eventually began in 1912.
The onset of the First World War severely interfered with the completion of the project, and the eventual opening of Palace Bridge in 1916 was a discrete affair, with most of the decorative elements of the designs incomplete. It was not until 1939, by which time the bridge had been renamed Republican Bridge, that the ornate cast-iron railings and lampposts, the lion sculptures and the bridge's pavilions were eventually completed.
The bridge's original name was returned in 1944, and Palace Bridge has since been fully restored several times since, most recently in 1997. The bridge now carries over 30,000 cars a day, and is the site of some of St. Petersburg's heaviest traffic jams. Nonetheless, views from the bridge - of the Winter Palace, of the Peter and Paul Fortress, and of the rows of palatial buildings along both banks of the Neva - are some of the most impressive in the city.
Palace Bridge
Photo © Lina Groza 2024
Although it is only a 20th century creation, Palace Bridge is undoubtedly one of the most famous sights of St. Petersburg, and is quite literally unmissable for most visitors to the city, who will find themselves continually using the bridge to move between Palace Square, home to the Winter Palace and the Hermitage Museum, and the numerous historic attractions on Vasilevskiy Ostrov.
The history of Palace Bridge dates back to 1901, when a competition for designs for a permanent bridge at the site was announced. Until then, this vital link between two of the oldest sections of the city had been furnished by boat or by a pontoon bridge 50 meters downstream, a legacy of Peter the Great's interdict on bridge-building in his new capital (he believed this would encourage the population to become competent sailors).
It took eight years for the jury to choose a winner. They opted for designs presented by Andrey Pshensitsky, a recent graduate of the St. Petersburg Institute of Communications Engineering. Celebrated Art Nouveau designer and artist Roman Meltzer was commissioned to design the bridge's architectural decorations, and construction eventually began in 1912.
The onset of the First World War severely interfered with the completion of the project, and the eventual opening of Palace Bridge in 1916 was a discrete affair, with most of the decorative elements of the designs incomplete. It was not until 1939, by which time the bridge had been renamed Republican Bridge, that the ornate cast-iron railings and lampposts, the lion sculptures and the bridge's pavilions were eventually completed.
The bridge's original name was returned in 1944, and Palace Bridge has since been fully restored several times since, most recently in 1997. The bridge now carries over 30,000 cars a day, and is the site of some of St. Petersburg's heaviest traffic jams. Nonetheless, views from the bridge - of the Winter Palace, of the Peter and Paul Fortress, and of the rows of palatial buildings along both banks of the Neva - are some of the most impressive in the city.