Hermitage Bridge (Saint Petersburg)

 road bridge, 1760s construction, 1934_construction

The Hermitage Bridge over the Winter Groove connects the 1st and 2nd Admiralty Islands in the Central District of St. Petersburg. This is the oldest stone bridge in St. Petersburg. It is located along the axis of the Palace Embankment at the source of the Winter Groove. Its length is 12.2 meters, the length along the back faces of the abutments is 24.8 meters, the width is 28.1 meters, the width along the cornices is 16.5 meters.

The crossing is a single-span arched structure with a solid reinforced concrete vault in the form of a hinged arch outlined in an ellipse. The thickness of the vault in the castle is 25 cm, in the heel — 65 cm, the dimensions of the vault in the light – 9.73 m. The abutments of the bridge are made of rubble masonry on a pile foundation, lined with granite. The railings are made in the form of solid granite parapets.

The sidewalks are lined with granite slabs, the bridge openings have granite staircases for the transition to the level of the embankments.

In 1720, a wooden drawbridge was built across the canal, designed by the Dutch master Harman van Boles. The bridge was a three-span beam on pile supports. The middle draw span is double—winged, opened around the horizontal axes with the help of levers-"cranes" and gears.

On April 20, 1738, the bridge was named Upper Embankment along the canal embankment, which was named Upper Embankment Street by the same decree. However, this name was almost never used, and the bridge, like the canal, was still called Zimnedvortsov. The crossing was narrow, designed for the passage of one cart or carriage.

The design and construction of a wide stone bridge at the source of the Winter Groove was carried out in 1762-1766 as part of the creation of the granite Palace embankment. The Winter Palace Bridge became the first stone bridge in St. Petersburg. The names of the builders of the ferry have not reached us, but it is known that the architect S.A. Volkov was engaged in the design of the Palace Embankment.

The ferry had a single-span arched structure in the form of a "humped" arch made of brick and limestone with lining rows, granite facade arches and granite fencing. The bridge harmoniously combines with the massive wall of the Palace Embankment, forming a single architectural whole with it.

At the turn of the XVIII and XIX centuries, the Winter Palace Bridge was sometimes called simply the Palace Bridge, and in 1829 the modern name Hermitage was assigned to it, according to the buildings of the Hermitage and the Hermitage Theater located nearby.

In 1934, due to damage to the brick arch, the bridge was reconstructed according to the project of the Dormostprekt engineer A.D. Saperstein and architect K.M. Dmitriev. The brick vault was replaced with reinforced concrete. The width of the bridge was increased by 1.4 meters towards the Neva, the height of the superstructure was reduced by 0.5 meters, which made it possible to soften the slopes of the descent to the Winter Palace. The bridge has become less "humped". The cobblestone pavement on the roadway was replaced with asphalt concrete.

In 1979, the bridge was repaired: granite slabs on the sidewalks were straightened, the cobblestone pavement on the approaches to the bridge was repaired, the granite cladding of the bridge facades and abutments was polished.

The ferry became world famous after the release of Tchaikovsky's opera "The Queen of Spades" in 1887. The authors introduced into the libretto an episode that was not in the Pushkin story: in the third act, the heroine of the opera Lisa throws herself into the water of the Winter Groove from the Hermitage Bridge. In St. Petersburg folklore, the informal name "Lisa's Bridge" was fixed behind the bridge.

Today, the Hermitage Bridge is one of the favorite places among tourists, photographers and artists. The view of it from Millionnaya Street is one of the recognizable symbols of the Northern Capital.

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