The Annunciation Bridge ( - ''Blagoveshchensky most''; from 1855 to 1918 Nikolaevsky Bridge, ; from 1918 to 2007 called Lieutenant Schmidt Bridge, ) is the first permanent bridge built across the
Neva River
The Neva (russian: Нева́, ) is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast (historical region of Ingria) to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length of , it i ...
in
Saint Petersburg, Russia. It connects
Vasilievsky Island and the central part of the city (
Admiralteysky raion). The bridge's length is 331 meters and the width was 24 meters. The original name of the bridge was Nevsky Bridge. It was later renamed Blagoveshchensky Bridge. After the death of
Tsar Nicholas I, it was named Nikolaevsky Bridge in his honor, and in 1918 it was renamed for
Lieutenant Schmidt
Pyotr Petrovich Schmidt (russian: Пётр Петрович Шмидт; – ) was one of the leaders of the Sevastopol Uprising during the Russian Revolution of 1905.
Early years
Pyotr Petrovich Schmidt was born in 1867 in Odessa, Russian E ...
.
In 1727 a temporary bridge was built at the location of the modern bridge. The place was chosen by
Menshikov whose palace is located at the opposite bank. This bridge, named Issakievsky, existed until the current bridge was built, at which time it was moved to the location of where
Palace Bridge is located today.
The bridge was built in 1843-1850. It was designed by
Stanisław Kierbedź, a Polish engineer working in Russia. The architect
Alexander Brullov participated in the decoration. The design was a
cast iron bridge with twin parallel
swing
Swing or swinging may refer to:
Apparatus
* Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth
* Pendulum, an object that swings
* Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus
* Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse
* Swing rid ...
sections at its northern end. At the time, it was the longest bridge in Europe. According to the legend, the Russian
Tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...
,
Nicholas I promised to Kierbedź to give him a promotion for every completed span. After the bridge was completed with eight spans total in it, Kierbedź was promoted to the rank of
General, but actually when he started the construction he already had a rank of
Podpolkovnik (i.e.
lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
).
The bridge was formally opened on November 12, 1850. Since it was close to Blagoveshchenskaya (Annunciation) Square, it was called Blagoveshchensky Bridge. In 1855 it was renamed Nikolayevsky Bridge in memory of Emperor
Nicholas I. In 1918, after the
revolution, it was renamed again, this time in memory of
Pyotr Schmidt, a leader of the
Sevastopol Uprising during the
Russian Revolution of 1905.
In 2006 a reconstruction of the bridge began. Since it would be completely closed to traffic for over a year, a temporary bridge was constructed between September 2005 and May 2006. During the reconstruction all traffic, both pedestrian and motorized, moved across the temporary bridge. In May 2006 the Lieutenant Schmidt Bridge was closed to traffic, and the dismantling of the spans, and then, of bridge supports began. The reconstruction was completed on August 15, 2007, slightly over two years after work began. During reconstruction the deck was widened from 24 m to 37 m.
After reconstruction, the bridge was renamed Blagoveshchensky Bridge.
See also
*
List of bridges in Saint Petersburg
There are more than 342 bridges in the city limits of Saint Petersburg, Russia. This is a partial list of the most famous ones.
Peter the Great was designing the city as another Amsterdam and Venice, with canals instead of streets and citizens sk ...
References
External links
"Lieutenant Schmidt son" is preparing for an opening*
{{Crossings navbox
, structure = Bridges
, place =
Bolshaya Neva
, bridge = Blagoveshchensky Bridge
, bridge signs =
, upstream =
Palace Bridge
, upstream signs =
, downstream =
Novo-Admiralteisky Bridge
, downstream signs =
Bridges in Saint Petersburg
Bridges completed in 1850
Cultural heritage monuments of regional significance in Saint Petersburg