St. Petersburg: Blue Bridge - the widest bridge of the city

Initially, St. Petersburg was conceived as a capital city, it should have produced the impression of solemnity, austerity, regal and majesty. He is so. Only gray granite and permanent clouds make it a bit gloomy. Maybe that's why the bridges connecting the islands are colorful here: green, yellow, red, blue. They give the gray and heavy water of the Moika River a slightly bright shade. By the way, many visitors, visiting St. Petersburg, Blue Bridge will not remember, although they visited it. It is called an invisible bridge.

Why is the bridge called blue?

This bridge, spilling over the Moika, serves as a means of communication between the two islands - Kazan and the 2nd Admiralty. He, having a large width, harmoniously fits into the ensemble of St. Isaac's Square and is perceived as its continuation, connecting with Voznesensky Prospekt and Antonenko Lane. Therefore, many do not notice it, thinking that this is just a continuation of St. Isaac's Square.

This structure is wider than all in St. Petersburg. The blue bridge is 97.3 meters wide. The length of it is 32.5 meters. Due to this width and asphalt surface, the bridge completely merges with the surface area.

Why is the bridge called blue? The name goes back to the history of St. Petersburg - the Blue Bridge was previously wooden, painted with paint of this color.

The famous Blue Bridge

The famous building became due to its width, but this was not always the case. Originally it was a narrow wooden and lifting, painted with bright blue paint. It was, in a way, a tradition - to paint bridges on the Moika River in different colors. So appeared in St. Petersburg and the Blue Bridge (photo you can see in the article), without which the city today is difficult to imagine.

The original crossing, built in the XVIII century, was, as already mentioned, the most typical for the city lifting wooden bridge. But at the very beginning of the XIX century a new stone was built, with a width of 41 meters, which at that time already exceeded its 32-meter length. And after strengthening the banks of the Moika, the bridge was again expanded.

A little more time passed, and a luxurious palace, named after Nikolai's daughter Mariinsky, was built on St. Isaac's Square in St. Petersburg. Blue Bridge Had to expand again. So, as a result of reconstruction, its width reached 97.3 meters, which allowed the construction to fit organically into the complex of St. Isaac's Square, becoming one with it.

History of the bridge

In the XVIII century on the site of St. Isaac's Square was a meadow, which belonged to the Admiralty. In those distant times, the construction of residential houses passed along the banks of the Moika. In the 30s of the 18th century the Admiralty was no longer considered a fortress. Land meadows began to sell for construction, and the river Moika, as part of the city, also underwent changes. Its bottom was deepened, reinforced with wooden shields of the shore. The construction of bridges began, which could unite the parts of the city located on the islands.

On the site of St. Isaac's was supposed to build a trading area, and not far from the bridge described, to build a salt pier. Over the years, the Blue Bridge in St. Petersburg was rebuilt, and along it tram tracks lay. To do this, it was strengthened and instead of ordinary lampposts put gilded candelabra.

By the beginning of the XX century, it took a modern look. And art critics call it a bridge-square. Today it is a local celebrity - not every city has such an especial bridge.

Once, in the XIX century, the area of the square near the bridge was called the Rabiha market. Here, until 1861, you could buy workers or hire a team of masons or carpenters. It was a sort of labor exchange, collecting people for job search.

Attractions around the bridge

The bridge, although itself quite famous, is located in such an area of the city where some of the most significant sights of the northern capital are concentrated. Its patterned fence resembles a fence on the granite embankment of the Moika, which allows the bridge to become part of the ensemble of the district.

In the neighborhood are located:

• The Mariinsky Palace;
• A monument to Nicholas 1 in the square;
• Saint Isaac's Cathedral;
• The famous "Bronze Horseman" and many other famous historical buildings.

Near the bridge is the famous pole-footstep (level gauge). On the top of it is strengthened the trident of Neptune. And the barrel is marked with the marks of the biggest floods in the city. It is easy to establish the water level in the Moika River. The city survived several severe floods, which local residents remember with horror. The post-footwell serves as a kind of monument to the victims of the flood.

How to get to the bridge

So, if you decided to look at the described landmark, how do you get to the Blue Bridge in St. Petersburg? Nearby is the metro station "Nevsky Prospekt", you need to go to the Griboedov Canal, then take bus number 27, 22, 3 or trolleybus №№ 22, 5.

Would you like to walk a little on foot? In this case, you need to get to the station "Sennaya Ploshchad" and continue along the canal to the Blue Bridge and St. Isaac's Square.