The Fontanka (russian: Фонтанка), a

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * L ...

branch of the river

Neva 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 ...

, flows through the whole of

Central Saint Petersburg Central Saint Petersburg is the central and the leading part of Saint Petersburg, Russia. It looks nothing like the downtown district of a typical major city, and has no skyscrapers. The Central Business District's main borders are Neva River ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

– from the

Summer Garden The Summer Garden (russian: Ле́тний сад, ''Letniy sad'') is a historic public garden that occupies an eponymous island between the Neva, Fontanka, Moika, and the Swan Canal in downtown Saint Petersburg, Russia and shares its name w ...

to . It is long, with a width up to , and a depth up to . The

Moyka River The Moyka (russian: Мо́йка /MOY-ka/, also latinised as Moika) is a secondary, in comparison with the Neva River in Saint Petersburg that encircles the central portion of the city, effectively making it an island or a group of islands ...

forms a right-bank branch of the Fontanka. Lined along the

Fontanka Embankment The Fontanka Embankment (russian: Набережная реки Фонтанки) is a street in Saint Petersburg that follows the course of the Fontanka River from its origin as it diverges from the Neva River up to its confluence with the Great ...

stand the former private residences of

Russian nobility The Russian nobility (russian: дворянство ''dvoryanstvo'') originated in the 14th century. In 1914 it consisted of approximately 1,900,000 members (about 1.1% of the population) in the Russian Empire. Up until the February Revolution ...

. This river, one of 93

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

s and channels in Saint Petersburg, was once named ''Anonymous Creek'' (in Russian, ''Bezymyannyi Yerik'', ''Безымянный ерик''). In Russian, ''yerik'' is a secondary or

intermittent river Intermittent, temporary or seasonal rivers or streams cease to flow every year or at least twice every five years.(Tzoraki et al., 2007) Such rivers drain large arid and semi-arid areas, covering approximately a third of the earth's surface. ...

-channel ( creek or brook). In 1719 the river received its present name, because water from it supplied the

fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or Spring (hydrology), spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. ...

s of the

. Until the mid-18th century the Fontanka River marked the southern boundary of Saint Petersburg. Along its banks stood the spacious

messuage In law, conveyancing is the transfer of legal title of real property from one person to another, or the granting of an encumbrance such as a mortgage or a lien. A typical conveyancing transaction has two major phases: the exchange of contracts ...

s of members of the Russian Imperial Family and of the nobility, the most brilliant being the

Summer Palace The Summer Palace () is a vast ensemble of lakes, gardens and palaces in Beijing. It was an imperial garden in the Qing dynasty. Inside includes Longevity Hill () Kunming Lake and Seventeen Hole Bridge. It covers an expanse of , three-quarter ...

and the

Anichkov Palace The Anichkov Palace, a former imperial palace in Saint Petersburg, stands at the intersection of Nevsky Avenue and the Fontanka River. History 18th century The palace, situated on the plot formerly owned by Antonio de Vieira (1682?-1745), ...

. In 1780–89, architect

Andrey Kvasov Andrey Vasilievich Kvasov (russian: Андрей Васильевич Квасов, ca. 1720 – ca. 1770) was a notable Baroque architect who worked in Tsardom of Russia including the territory of Ukraine. Very little is known about his lif ...

supervised the construction of the granite embankments and approaches to the river. The river-bed was regularised as well. Examples of

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

architecture along the banks of the river include the Sheremetev Palace,

Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace Beloselsky Belozersky Palace (Russian: Дворе́ц Белосе́льских-Белозе́рских; also known before the Revolution as the Palace of the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna, the Sergei Palace, and the Dmitry Palace) is a Ne ...

Naryshkin-Shuvalov Palace The Naryshkin-Shuvalov Palace (russian: Дворец Нарышкиных-Шуваловых), also known as the Shuvalov Palace, is a Neoclassical building on the Fontanka Embankment in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Once home to the noble Naryshki ...

, and the Church of St Panteleimon (built 1735–1739). Notable Neoclassical structures from the 18th century include the , the Anichkov Palace and the . Some of the mansions contain museums of the writers and composers who lived there:

Gavrila Derzhavin Gavriil (Gavrila) Romanovich Derzhavin ( rus, Гаврии́л (Гаври́ла) Рома́нович Держа́вин, p=ɡɐˈvrilə rɐˈmanəvʲɪtɕ dʲɪrˈʐavʲɪn, a=Gavrila Romanovich Dyerzhavin.ru.vorb.oga; 14 July 1743 – 20 ...

(1743–1816),

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

(1799–1837),

Ivan Turgenev Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (; rus, links=no, Ива́н Серге́евич Турге́невIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; 9 November 1818 – 3 September 1883 (Old Style dat ...

(1818–1833),

Anna Akhmatova Anna Andreyevna Gorenko rus, А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко, p=ˈanːə ɐnˈdrʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡɐˈrʲɛnkə, a=Anna Andreyevna Gorenko.ru.oga, links=yes; uk, А́нна Андрі́ївна Горе́нко, Ánna Andríyivn ...

(1889–1966) and others. Fifteen bridges span the Fontanka, including the 18th-century

Lomonosov Bridge 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. The original Tchernyshov Bridge, measuring 63 ...

and the extravagant

Egyptian Bridge Egyptian Bridge (Египетский мост) in St. Petersburg, Russia, carries Lermontovsky Avenue (Лермонтовский проспект) over the Fontanka River. The one-span suspension bridge that it replaced was of historical inter ...

. The most famous bridge, the

Anichkov Bridge The Anichkov Bridge (Russian: ''Аничков мост'', ''Anichkov Most'') is the oldest 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 ...

, carries the

Nevsky Prospekt Nevsky Prospect ( rus, Не́вский проспе́кт, r=Nevsky Prospekt (street), Prospekt, p=ˈnʲɛfskʲɪj prɐˈspʲɛkt) is the main street (high street) in the federal city of Saint Petersburg, St. Petersburg in Russian Federation, ...

over the river.

References

*Канн П. Я. Прогулки по Петербургу: Вдоль Мойки, Фонтанки, Садовой. St. Petersburg, 1994.

External links

* {{coord, 59, 55, 00, N, 30, 16, 42, E, region:RU_type:river_source:kolossus-svwiki, display=title Distributaries of the Neva Rivers of Saint Petersburg

See also

References

External links