The Fontanka River at the Anichkov Bridge

The Anichkov Bridge (Russian: Аничков мост, Anichkov Most) is the first and most famous bridge across the Fontanka River in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The current bridge, built in 1841-42 and reconstructed in 1906-08, combines a simple form with some spectacular decorations. As well as its four famous horse sculptures (1849-50), the bridge has some of the most celebrated ornate iron railings in Saint Petersburg. The structure is mentioned in the works of Pushkin, Gogol, and Dostoevsky. Old view of the Fontanka near the Anichkov Bridge. ... Old view of the Fontanka near the Anichkov Bridge. ... Fontanka near the Anichkov Bridge Fontanka (in Russian, Фонтанка) is the left branch of the river Neva, which flows through the whole of St. ... Fontanka near the Anichkov Bridge Fontanka (in Russian, Фонтанка) is the left branch of the river Neva, which flows through the whole of St. ... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and Petrograd (Петрогра́д, 1914–1924), is a city located in Northwestern Russia on the delta of the river Neva at the east end of the Gulf of Finland... Pushkin may refer to: People Aleksandr Pushkin - a famous Russian poet Apollo Mussin-Pushkin - chemist and plant collector Aleksei Musin-Pushkin - statesman, historian, art collector Other Pushkin, a town in Russia Pushkin Square - square in Moscow Pushkin Museum - fine arts museum in Moscow This is a disambiguation page — a navigational... Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol (Russian: Николай Васильевич Гоголь) (March 31, 1809 - March 4, 1852) was a Ukrainian-born Russian writer. ... Fyodor Dostoevsky. ...

History

The first bridge was built in 1715-16 by order of Peter the Great, and named after its engineer, Mikhail Anichkov. The bridge was made of wood with several spans built on piles of supports lying just above the Fontanka River. Nothing remains of this first bridge. Peter I Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia Peter I (Pyotr Alekseyvich) (9 June 1672–8 February 1725 [30 May 1672–28 January 1725 O.S.1]) ruled Russia from 7 May (27 April O.S.) 1682 until his death. ...

As the city grew and river traffic increased, plans were unveiled in 1721 to create a new drawbridge. The Anichkov Bridge was one of seven three-span stone drawbridges with towers built across the Fontanka River in the late 18th century, of which the Lomonosov Bridge and the Stary Kalinkin Bridge are the two still extant. At that time, the Anichkov Bridge was an especially popular attraction on Nevsky Prospekt, as well as a popular subject for illustrations and paintings. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Bascule bridge. ... Lomonosov Bridge Pavilions Lomonosov Bridge (Russian: Мост Ломоносова) across the Fontanka River is the best preserved of towered movable bridges that used to be typical for Saint Petersburg in the 18th century. ... Nevsky Prospekt, or the Neva Avenue (Russian: Невский проспект), is the main street in the city of St Petersburg. ...

View across the bridge towards Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace (1850s).

By the 1840s the 18th-century design, especially its large towers, was deemed unsuitable for the growing amount of traffic passing over the Anichkov Bridge along Nevsky Prospekt. In 1841-42 a grander structure, more appropriate to the width of Nevsky Prospekt, was built on the site under the supervision of Lt. General A. D. Gotman. The new bridge was made of stone, and had three spans closed off with gently sloping arches. This simple, concise form corresponded well with the massive cast-iron fencing bordering Anichkov Bridge and mermaid cast-iron railings, originally designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel for the Palace Bridge in Berlin. However, the bridge's stone arches were a continual source of problems, and in 1906-08 the bridge had once again to be reconstructed and its arches reinforced. Image File history File links Beloselsky. ... Image File history File links Beloselsky. ... View of the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace and Anichkov Bridge in the 1850s. ... The Old Museum in Berlin Karl Friedrich Schinkel (March 13, 1781 - October 9, 1841) was a German architect and painter. ... For other uses, see Berlin (disambiguation). ...

The Horse Tamers

The most impressive aspect of Anichkov Bridge is the group of four bronze neoclassical sculptures of naked men taming horses, The Horse Tamers, designed by the Russian sculptor, Baron Peter Klodt von Urgensburg. They rank among the city's most recognizable landmarks. The theme derives from the colossal Roman marbles, often identified with the Dioscuri, prominently sited on the Quirinal Hill, Rome. Guillaume Coustou's baroque marble horse tamers for Marly-le-Roi, the Chevaux de Marly, were resited at the opening to the Champs-Elysées, Paris, at the Revolution. Statue of Ivan Krylov in the Summer Garden. ... Castor (or Kastor) and Polydeuces (sometimes called Pollux), were in Greek mythology the twin sons of Leda and the brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra. ... An etching of the Hill, crowned by the mass of the Palazzo del Quirinale, from a series I Sette Colli di Roma antica e moderna published in 1827 by Luigi Rossini (1790 - 1857): his view, from the roof of the palazzo near the Trevi Fountain that now houes the Accademia... Horse tamer, one of the Chevaux de Marly See also: Guillaume Coustou the Younger, nephew of Guillaume the Elder Guillaume Coustou the Elder (November 29, 1677, Lyon - February 22, 1746, Paris) was a French sculptor and academician. ... Marly-le-Roi is a commune of the Yvelines département, in France. ... Avenue des Champs-Élysées from Place de la Concorde, seen from above the obelisk The Champs-Élysées (pronounced  audio? literally the Elysian fields) is a broad avenue in the French capital Paris. ...

The St Petersburg sculptures have an interesting history. Prior to 1851, when the definitive versions were installed in the bridge, Tsar Nicholas I had given two of them to Prussian King Frederick William IV in 1842, and the other two had been sent in 1846 to Naples as a sign of gratitude for the hospitality shown to the Tsar during his trip there (see here and here). "Petersburg lore tells of Peter Klodt's death immediately upon embarrassing discovery that tongues had been omitted on two of the four sculptural horses"^[1]. Another urban legend has it that Klodt depicted his powerful enemy's face under the tail of one of the bronze stallions.[1] Nikolai I Pavlovich (Russian: Николай I Павлович), July 6 (June 25, Old Style), 1796–March 2 (February 18, Old Style), 1855), also Nicholas, was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855 and king of Poland from 1825 until 1831. ... Photograph of Frederick King Frederick William IV of Prussia (October 15, 1795 - January 2, 1861), the eldest son and successor of Frederick William III of Prussia, reigned as King of Prussia from 1840 to 1861. ... Naples (Italian Napoli, Neapolitan Nàpule, from Greek Νέα Πόλις - Néa Pólis - meaning New City; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is the largest city in southern Italy and capital of Campania Region and the Province of Naples. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 785 KB) Summary Author: Luigi Versaggi Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Peter Clodt von Jürgensburg Horse Tamers Metadata This file contains additional information... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1536x2048, 291 KB) Summary Author: Luigi Versaggi. ... Urban legends are a kind of folklore consisting of stories often thought to be factual by those circulating them (see rumor). ...

In 1941, during the Second World War, when the bridge came under heavy fire from German artillery, the sculptures were removed from their platforms and buried in the nearby Anichkov Palace garden. The bridge suffered serious damage during the war, but has been fully restored. As a memorial, the pedestal of one of the statues retains the effects of artillery fire, with a plaque explaining this to passersby. Prior to the tercentenary of Saint Petersburg, the statues were removed from the bridge again and underwent thorough restoration. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... Anichkov Bridge and Anichkov Palace in 1753. ...

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (480x640, 70 KB) Anichkov Bridge in Saint Petersburg. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (480x640, 38 KB) Anichkov Bridge in Saint Petersburg. ... Image File history File links Klodt_03. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (480x640, 36 KB) Anichkov Bridge in Saint Petersburg. ...

References