The Pevchesky Bridge (russian: Пе́вческий мост; literally Singers' Bridge), also known as the Choristers' Bridge or Yellow Bridge (Жёлтый Мост, Zholtyi Most), is a single-span bridge across the
Moika 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 ...
in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
,
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 ...
. The bridge is a part of the
Palace Square
Palace Square ( rus, Дворцо́вая пло́щадь, r=Dvortsovaya Ploshchad, p=dvɐˈrtsovəjə ˈploɕːɪtʲ), connecting Nevsky Prospekt with Palace Bridge leading to Vasilievsky Island, is the central city square of St Petersburg a ...
. The length of the bridge is 21 metres, and the width is 72 metres. It is the third-widest bridge in Saint Petersburg, after the
Blue Bridge and
Kazansky Bridge
Kazansky Bridge () is a bridge across Griboyedov Canal in Saint Petersburg, Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the ...
. Before the
February Revolution
The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...
, the term "Choristers’ Bridge" was shorthand for the tsarist foreign ministry, just as the
French foreign ministry
The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs () is the ministry of the Government of France that handles France's foreign relations. Since 1855, its headquarters have been located at 37 Quai d'Orsay, close to the National Assembly. The term Qu ...
is known as the
Quai d'Orsay
The Quai d'Orsay ( , ) is a quay in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. It is part of the left bank of the Seine opposite the Place de la Concorde. The Quai becomes the Quai Anatole-France east of the Palais Bourbon, and the Quai Branly west of th ...
.
The first wooden bridge on the site was designed by the French architect
Auguste de Montferrand
Auguste de Montferrand (; January 23, 1786 – July 10, 1858) was a French classicist architect who worked primarily in Russia. His two best known works are the Saint Isaac's Cathedral and the Alexander Column in St. Petersburg.
Early ...
; it was inaugurated in 1834. The first pedestrians to cross the bridge were the troops marching to the parade celebrating the unveiling of the
Alexander Column
The Alexander Column (russian: Алекса́ндровская коло́нна, ''Aleksandrovskaya kolonna'') also known as Alexandrian Column (russian: Александри́йская коло́нна, ''Aleksandriyskaya kolonna''), is the f ...
(also designed by Montferrand).
[''Pevchesky Most'' on the Walkspb.ru site]
The bridge got the name ''Yellow'' from the color of the railings, and according to the tradition of color-coding the bridges crossing the Moika River (that already had the Blue Bridge, the
Green Bridge and the
Red Bridge).
In 1837,
Georg von Cancrin
Count Georg Ludwig Cancrin (russian: Егор Францевич Канкрин, tr=Egor Francevič Knkrin; 16 November 1774 – 10 September 1845) was a Russian German aristocrat and as a politician best known for spearheading reforms in the Ru ...
, an
imperial minister of finance, proposed to replace the wooden bridge with a much wider
cast iron
Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...
structure. According to legend, Emperor
Nicholas I himself chose the location for the bridge. Across the river from the
Winter Palace
The Winter Palace ( rus, Зимний дворец, Zimnij dvorets, p=ˈzʲimnʲɪj dvɐˈrʲɛts) is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the Emperor of all the Russias, Russian Emperor from 1732 to 1917. The p ...
was located the house of Count
Yury Alexandrovich Golovkin. Once, Golovkin was in such a hurry to meet the Emperor, that he stepped from the boat transporting him across the Moyka and nearly drowned. Thus, Nicholas stated to Golvkin that he specifically located the bridge close to Golovkin's house, so as not to repeat the accident.
[
The new bridge was designed by architects ]Vasily Stasov
Vasily Petrovich Stasov (Russian: Васи́лий Петро́вич Ста́сов; 4 August 1769 – 5 September 1848) was a famous Russian architect, born into a wealthy noble family: his father, Pyotr Fyodorovich Stasov, came from one ...
, Domenico Adamini, and engineer E.A. Adam. The bridge was opened on 24 October 1840. The first user of the bridge was Nicholas I himself, who solemnly crossed the new bridge in his horse-drawn coach.[ The main decoration of the bridge are beautiful cast iron railings, with numerous frills, the main repeating elements being fan-like palmettos.
Later, the bridge got the name ''Pevchesky'' (literally Singers' bridge), because the Saint Petersburg Court Capella was accommodated nearby. In 1937, the rose-colored paving stones of the bridge were replaced by bitumen. In 2004, the companies ''Lenmoststroy'' and ''Intarsiya'' undertook restoration works on the bridge.Pevchesky Most on Most-spb.ru site]
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
{{coord, 59.9401, N, 30.3193, E, display=title
Vasily Stasov buildings and structures
Bridges in Saint Petersburg
Bridges completed in 1840
Auguste de Montferrand buildings and structures
Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Saint Petersburg