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 ...

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 Red Bridge may refer to: Structures *Red Bridge (border), on the border between Georgia and Azerbaijan *Red Bridge, Yerevan, Armenia *Red Bridge (Tasmania), Australia *Félix-Gabriel-Marchand Bridge (known locally as the Red Bridge), Mansfield-et-P ...

). 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 The St. Petersburg State Academic Capella (russian: Государственная академическая капелла Санкт-Петербурга) (also: Glinka State Academic Capella), is the oldest active Russian professional musical ...

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

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

See also

References

External links