Panteleymonovsky Bridge (Saint Petersburg)

 interesting place, road bridge, listed building / architectural heritage, 1908_construction

The Panteleimonovsky Bridge over the Fontanka River connects the Summer Garden Island and the Nameless Island in the Central District of St. Petersburg. This is a single-span metal arched structure with a length of 43 meters and a width of 23.7 meters.

The design scheme consists of 12 double-hinged sloping arches with parallel belts and over arched pillars supporting the elements of the roadway. The abutments are massive stone on a pile foundation.

The railing is cast iron of artistic casting, it is a series of darts with overhead shields, which are decorated with military paraphernalia.

For the first time the bridge was built here in 1725-1726 according to the project of engineer H. Fan Boles wooden bridge-aqueduct, which supplied water to power fountains in the Summer Garden. The aqueduct lasted until 1777 and was dismantled after a flood, as a result of which the fountains were destroyed.

In 1748-1749, a new bridge was built here in the Baroque style, designed by architect F.B. Rastrelli.

In 1823-1824, in connection with the redevelopment of the area of the Field of Mars and Mikhailovsky Castle, the first chain bridge over the Fontanka River was built. The design scheme consisted of two high cast-iron portals installed on shore supports, through which 5 rows of paired chains were thrown. Being the supporting elements of the bridge, they supported the wooden structure of the pavement of the roadway by means of vertical chains. The peculiarity of the chain bridge was the supports, which served not only as the main structural elements, but were also richly decorated.

The portals consisted of five cast-iron columns topped with architectural elements and openwork ribs in the form of buttresses to give stability and rigidity to the entire hanging system. The load-bearing chains along the width of the bridge were not distributed evenly, but in accordance with the accepted organization of traffic and pedestrians. The bridge was designed for a weight of 1,500 people.

The bridge served 83 years properly and was dismantled in 1906 due to the collapse of a similar Egyptian chain bridge over the Fontanka River, which occurred in 1905.

In 1907-1908, a modern, single-span metal arch bridge was built on the site of the chain bridge. The structural scheme of the bridge is a structure consisting of 12 double-hinged sloping arches with parallel belts and arched posts supporting elements of the roadway, consisting of metal girders, cross beams and flooring made of tray iron. The abutments are massive stone on a pile foundation. In 1908, traffic opened on the bridge.

The architectural appearance of the Panteleimon Bridge was completed only in July 1914. Designed by architect L.A. Ilyin, the bridge was richly decorated in the Empire style, as well as the neighboring Engineering bridges, as well as the fence of the Summer Garden from the Moika side. Cast-iron sections of handrails of artistic casting are often placed darts with overhead fittings made of assembled military attributes: axes, pikes, shields intertwined with ribbons. Floor lamps in the form of bundles of tall peaks, intertwined in the middle with wreaths decorated with overhead elements of military fittings in the form of oval shields with bas-reliefs of jellyfish on the background of intertwined swords of antique shape. The lanterns have the shape of a truncated octahedral pyramid, suspended from brackets.

In 1925, in connection with the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Decembrist uprising, the bridge was renamed the "Pestel Bridge".

In 1953-1987 various restoration works were carried out.

On October 4, 1991, the bridge was returned to its original name "Panteleimonovsky".

In 2000, the architectural illumination of the bridge was created as part of the "Light City" program.

In 2001-2002, major repairs were carried out, during which the worn metal structures, waterproofing and pavement of the bridge were replaced, the lanterns and railings were restored, the decor details were gilded. According to historical photographs and drawings, the crowns of double-headed eagles crowning the floor lamps have been restored.

The last restoration of the Panteleimon Bridge was carried out in August–December 2017. By order of the SPb GBU "Mostotrest", the painting and gilding of metal structures and decorative elements of the crossing were restored.

From November 1833 to August 1834, A.S. Pushkin and his family lived in a house on Panteleimonovskaya Street near the bridge. "In St. Petersburg, at the Chain Bridge, opposite Panteleimon, in the house of Mr. Olivier," - this address is indicated in his letters to his wife from Boldin in the autumn of 1833.

en.mostotrest-spb.ru/bridges/pantelejmonovskij