A bridge collapsed in northern Italy. Italian pedestrian bridge Ponte Vecchio

03.05.2020

The Italian Bridge is located in the main part of St. Petersburg and was built across the Griboyedovsky Canal. This architectural masterpiece got its name thanks to Italian Street, located next door.

The first bridge, which was located on this site and connected both parts of Italian Street, was built here at the end of the 19th century. This structure was a single-span structure made exclusively of wood.

The idea of construction modern bridge through the canal came to the mind of L. N. Kolpitsyn. It was he who used the modern method of constructing such a structure during construction - he used xylolite slabs; when installing the base, special stairs were erected to further preserve the good condition of the lower dimensions.

This bridge stood in this form for more than 50 years. However, already at the beginning of the 20th century, K. Balda replaced the slabs with large boards, which served only until 1912. This time K.V. took on the task of rebuilding this structure. Efimiev, who chose large wooden piles as support.

The year 1937 was marked by another reconstruction of the Italian Bridge. It was at this time that the municipal authorities arose the idea and even the need to install special pipes to transfer heat from one area to another. Already in 1955, this St. Petersburg landmark and the entire embankment of the Griboyedovsky Canal were in a deplorable state, even an accident could occur, so there was a need for urgent reconstruction. When designing the bridge, round rods, forged buds, and overhead shields were used.

Modernity and interesting facts

Today, the Italian Bridge is a very popular attraction among tourists and local musicians, who often perform here to earn extra money. At the beginning of the 21st century, the building was modernized. It was given a new lease of life by the workers of the Russian Lensvet, who developed special lighting. Now this architectural structure is beautifully illuminated at night by four unique spotlights of different colors.

Among interesting facts, associated with the bridge, can be called the following:

The Italian Bridge was filmed in the legendary film “The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia.”
This design performs the additional function of a heat conductor, since in the mid-20th century electrical wires and pipes were laid through it.

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The Italian Bridge, spanning the Griboedov Canal (formerly the Catherine Canal), is located in the alignment of Italianskaya Street, which is approximately halfway between Nevsky Prospect and the Cathedral of the Savior on Spilled Blood. It is noteworthy that this bridge is popular place visiting tourists, which is why it is also attractive for street musicians, who can thus earn good money. With its appearance, the bridge recalls the times when residents of St. Petersburg could afford to build such structures with their own financial resources. So, in 1896, the Italian Bridge was erected by engineer L.N. Kolpitsyn, using his financial savings, and was originally wooden, single-span, intended for pedestrian traffic. The span of the bridge was made of nailed plank trusses of the braced system, and the walls of the embankment of the Griboyedov Canal served as supports for the structure. Xylolite slabs, which had not previously been used in bridge construction, were used as bridge floors. A special feature of the bridge was its position above the canal, since in order to maintain the size of the bridge, external stairs were built along the embankments, designed to rise to the level of the bridge deck.

The bridge owes its name to the Italian Palace, built in the 1720s on the left bank. The palace was built for the purpose of holding assemblies and other public meetings of the St. Petersburg nobility. Its appearance exactly corresponded to the model of Italian pleasure houses, which is why it began to be called Italian. Behind the palace, in an eastern direction up to Znamenskaya Street (now Vosstaniya Street), a garden with greenhouses and greenhouses was laid out. It was also called Italian.

In 1902, a small reconstruction of the bridge took place, when, under the leadership of the architect K. Bald, the deck of the structure was made of sheet piling boards. In 1911, the Italian Bridge was rebuilt according to the design of engineer K.V. Efimiev, after which it remained wooden, but already had pile foundations. In 1937, the structure underwent a major overhaul due to the need to transfer the heating network across the Griboyedov Canal, after which the Italian Bridge became one of the so-called heating pipeline bridges in St. Petersburg, of which there are quite a few in the city. It is noteworthy that almost all such St. Petersburg heat-conducting crossings have similar design data, similar in their parameters and architectural qualities.

In 1955, during the repair of the canal embankments, the bridge was completely rebuilt due to its deplorable, emergency condition. The construction of the new Italian Bridge was carried out according to the design of engineer A. D. Gutzeit and architect V. S. Vasilkovsky. The rebuilt bridge appeared to be a single-span, metal, girder system. It was decided to place the heating pipes under the coating structure, which is why the minimum height of the two main welded beams, which act as load-bearing elements of the structure, turned out to be equal to 0.7 meters. The supports of the structure, as in previous times, were the retaining walls of the canal embankments. The total length of the bridge is 21 meters, and its width, in general, is not great, only 3 meters. The supports are decorated with floor lamps with octagonal openwork lanterns. The bridge was covered with reinforced concrete slabs, roll insulation and a layer of asphalt.

It should be noted that the decor of the bridge is quite diverse. The sections of the railing are made of round rods, on which capitals in the form of buds are depicted, located between cast-iron pedestals with overlay elements. Interestingly, the elements on the pedestals resemble shields with crossed stylized swords and longitudinal peaks on which acacia branches are strung. The façade sides of the main beams of the Italian Bridge are decorated with very picturesque artistic fragments. By the way, the bridge, made in the spirit of Stalinist classicism, fits well into the architectural ensemble buildings located on the embankment of the Griboyedov Canal.

In 2002, the Italian Bridge was transformed again. As if new life The specialists of the St. Petersburg Lensvet inspired it, developing and implementing its lighting according to an individual project. Now nightlife This beautiful structure is illuminated by four light sources emanating from spotlights mounted on special stands.

The text was prepared by Anzhelika Likhacheva

Hello! If you are going to St. Petersburg for the first time, then I suggest you familiarize yourself with my 5-day program. It will allow you to see the main attractions and get into the spirit of the city. Start admiring the city from the Ploshchad Vosstaniya metro station. Near the metro there is a monument to the Hero City of Leningrad and the Moskovsky Station. Take in the sights and head towards the Anichky Bridge along Nevsky Prospekt. Along the way you will come across several interesting buildings. When you reach the bridge, also admire the beautiful creations - statues of the conquering horse. Behind the bridge on the right along the embankment is the Shuvalov Palace - one of the most beautiful palaces in St. Petersburg. Inside is the Faberge Museum, home to the world's largest collection of works by Carl Faberge. To the left behind the bridge is the Anichkov Palace - the oldest surviving building on Nevsky Prospekt. When you have visited the mentioned attractions, return to Nevsky Prospekt and walk to the Griboyedov Canal. Turn right and go towards the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. On the way to it you will meet the Russian Museum - the world's largest museum of Russian art. Near the Temple there is the Mikhailovsky Garden with an incredibly beautiful fence in the early Art Nouveau style. Take a short walk in the landscape park and return to the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. If you wish, you can get inside, which you absolutely will not regret. Go around the back of the temple and return to Nevsky Prospekt along the opposite side of the Griboyedov Canal. Don't forget to admire the view of the temple from the Italian Bridge. At the corner of the Griboyedov Canal and Nevsky Prospekt there is a house that once belonged to the Singer company. The first floors currently house the largest bookstore - the House of Books. And the upper floors are occupied by an office social network In contact with. The graceful attic of the building is topped with a glass globe, which gives the Singer House a special charm. Admire the building, and then move your gaze to the opposite side of the road. You will see another very beautiful architectural monument of the city - the Kazan Cathedral. This is one of the largest churches in St. Petersburg, made in the Empire style. Cross the road and stand under the huge columns to feel like a speck among all this enormous splendor. Then return to Nevsky Prospekt again, turn onto Malaya Morskaya and walk to St. Isaac's Cathedral. Explore this huge building in the late Russian classicism style of the 19th century. Visit the temple and then climb the colonnade for a panoramic view of the city. The radio guide will allow you to get acquainted with the sights that open before your eyes. Afterwards, go to the famous monument - the Bronze Horseman. Next, move towards the golden spire - the Admiralty Building, which is located behind the Alexander Garden. The Main Admiralty building is a significant monument of Russian Empire architecture. There is a fountain near the building. By the way, if you make a wish in a special way, it will definitely come true. How to do this - watch this video. Next, head along the Admiralteyskaya Embankment towards Palace Square. On the square, see some of the city's most important attractions: the Alexander Column, the General Staff Building and Winter Palace. After looking around, head towards the Admiralteyskaya metro station. Admiralteyskaya metro station is another amazing attraction of the city, as it is the deepest metro station in Russia. Take a look around inside and go home to rest. You will still need a lot of strength for the remaining 4 days.

Italian Bridge - single-span metal pedestrian bridge through the Griboyedov Canal (formerly the Ekaterininsky Canal) in the Central District of St. Petersburg. It connects Kazansky and Spassky islands. Type of construction - beam. Material - steel. Total length - 19.66 m. Bridge width - 3 m.

The Italian Bridge is clearly visible from the intersection of Nevsky Prospekt and the Griboyedov Canal. It is located approximately in the middle of the distance between the Cathedral of the Savior on Spilled Blood (Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ) and Nevsky Prospekt. The bridge is a continuation of Italian Street. Upstream is the Novo-Konyushenny Bridge, downstream -.

At the beginning of the 18th century, a palace was built on the left bank of the Fontanka River, modeled on Italian pleasure houses; it was called Italian. It was intended for holding assemblies. The garden, called Italian, with greenhouses and greenhouses, extended to Znamenskaya Street (modern Vosstaniya Street). It was this garden that gave its name to the street that ran along it. At first it was called Sadovaya Italianskaya, then - Malaya Italianskaya. Another street, which went to the right bank of the Fontanka opposite the Italian Palace, received the name Bolshaya Italianskaya. In 1902, Malaya Italianskaya was renamed Zhukovsky Street, Bolshaya Italianskaya became simply Italianskaya. And at the site of the temporary Italian Bridge at that time there was a yawl crossing.

In 1896, a young engineer, graduate of the Institute of Railways L.N. Kolpitsyn proposed to build a pedestrian bridge on the site of boat (yalk) transportation. However, the City Council did not support the proposal. But L.N. Kolpitsyn, at his own expense and according to his own design, built a single-span wooden bridge with supports on the granite walls of the canal embankments connecting Bolshaya and Malaya Italianskaya streets.

The span structure consisted of 10 board-and-nail trusses of a braced system; the clear span was 19.7 m. The foundation for the bridge was the embankment wall. The crossing deck was raised 1.4 meters above the embankment level for convenient passage of ships, and stone stairs were built at both ends of the bridge (this layout has been preserved to this day). An innovation for bridge construction at that time was the use of xylolite slabs for paving the bridge deck (xylolite - “wood-stone”, xylolith - an artificial building material consisting of a mixture of sawdust, shavings and plant waste pressed under high pressure with magnesium cement and magnesium chloride oxide ).

The construction of the bridge cost L.N. Kolpitsyn 3,000 rubles. On October 6, 1896, the grand opening of the Italian Bridge took place. The city authorities accepted the bridge, but refused to compensate the young maximalist engineer for the funds spent on construction. L.N. Kolpitsyn wanted to make passage across the bridge a toll and charge passers-by 1 kopeck, but this was also denied to him by the authorities. As a result, the young engineer simply donated the bridge to the city.

In 1902, the bridge was rebuilt according to the design of the architect K. Bald with the replacement of xylolite slabs with boardwalk: 37 mm tongue and groove boards.

In 1911 - 1912, the bridge was rebuilt according to the design of engineer K.V. Efimieva. New bridge It was made of cobblestones, with a braced system, and was supported by three-row wooden piles in two mutually perpendicular directions. Its span was reduced to 9.1 m.

In 1937, the bridge was completely rebuilt to lay two heating pipes and electrical networks between its girders. Now the Italian Bridge served as a heat pipeline and a pedestrian bridge at the same time. Judging by a document from 1946, the length of the bridge was 18.4 m, the width between the railings was 2.07 m, the opening of the bridge was 8.5 m; the wrought iron railings had a simple design.

In 1955, due to the emergency condition of the bridge and major repairs of the embankments of the Griboyedov Canal, a new metal single-span bridge was built. The project in the style of Stalinist classicism was developed at the Lengiproinzhproekt Institute by architect V.S. Vasilkovsky and engineer A.D. Gutzeit. It was then that the Italian Bridge acquired its modern appearance.

In 2002, the Italian Bridge was transformed again. Specialists from St. Petersburg "Lensvet" developed and implemented the lighting of the bridge according to an individual project. Now the bridge is illuminated simultaneously by four light sources emanating from spotlights mounted on special stands.

The bridge has a steel beam span structure with a curved outline. The load-bearing elements of the span are two welded main beams with a curved outline of the lower chord. The main beams are supported by the retaining walls of the canal embankments. The minimum height of the beams in the middle of the span, equal to 0.7 m, is determined by the dimensions of the heating pipes located under the roof structure. The cross braces are reverse half-frames, the crossbars of which carry the longitudinal middle beam of an I-section. The top of the span is covered with reinforced concrete prefabricated slabs. The roadway of the bridge is covered with asphalt concrete. The length of the bridge is 19.66 m; width - 3 m; design span - 19.5 m; the distance between the axes of the main beams is 2.39 m.

The decor of the bridge is not original, but it is varied and has high artistic qualities. The decorations are made in the style of decorative elements of bridges built in the first half of the 19th century. The railing is made of artistic cast iron and ends on abutments with granite pedestals with metal floor lamps with lanterns stylized in Russian classicism (very similar floor lamps on the Green Bridge over the Moika). They were so well styled that three of them were stolen in 1993, probably to be sold as antiques. In 1996, the “Venetian” lanterns and railing were restored.

Sections of the bridge railing are made of vertical round rods with peculiar capitals in the form of opening buds and decorated with cast-iron oval posts with applied elements: round shields with crossed stylized swords, longitudinal peaks with acacia branches strung on them. The shields are decorated with Soviet five-pointed stars, without which not a single decoration of that time could do! In terms of composition, character and content, the bridge fencing is in many ways close to classical designs, although they were made in the artistic manner of the mid-20th century.

The facade sides of the main load-bearing beams are also decorated in the same way as was customary in the era of classicism, but by different means. Instead of sculptural ornamentation of an animal or plant nature, the architect resorted to dividing the field of beams along curved arcs into three stripes, reminiscent of the division of the entablature of classical buildings into an architrave, frieze and cornice. The upper and lower stripes are decorated with various architectural details.

The Italian Bridge fits very organically into the surrounding urban environment, and this is probably why the Italian Bridge was chosen for filming an episode of the film “The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia”: during the excavations, statues of lions were allegedly destroyed, which in fact were never near the Italian Bridge.

The Italian Bridge is always bustling with life: street musicians and artists, beggars and just tourists rush to take pictures of themselves against the backdrop of a beautiful view of the cathedral.

The bridge is cultural heritage Russian Federation, object No. 7802241000.

Address: St. Petersburg, Griboyedov Canal embankment, 11.
The nearest metro station (300 m) is Nevsky Prospekt, exit to the Griboyedov Canal.

Italian Bridge, view from Nevsky Prospekt, photo from 2006.

Italian Bridge, fragment of the fence. Photo from 2003.

Italian Bridge. Reflection. 2003

Flight of the Italian Bridge over the Griboedov Canal, photo from 2008.

Italian Bridge, view from the north side (towards Nevsky Prospekt). Granite cabinets with metal floor lamps with lanterns stylized in Russian classicism. Photo from 2008.

Italian Bridge, view from the south. Granite cabinets with floor lamps and lanterns. Photo from 2008.

A fragment of the decorations of the Italian Bridge and a view of the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. Photo from 2008.

A fragment of the decorations of the Italian Bridge in 2008.
The Italian Bridge has only such lions!

View from the Italian Bridge to the Kazan Bridge and a fragment of the colonnade. Photo from 2008.

View from the bridge in the opposite direction, towards the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. Photo from 2008.

View from the Italian Bridge on the Savior on Spilled Blood. Photo from 2008.

The decoration of the Italian Bridge fence is made of vertical round rods with capitals in the form of opening buds and decorated with cast iron oval posts with applied elements: round shields with crossed stylized swords and Soviet five-pointed stars, longitudinal peaks with acacia branches strung on them. Photo from 2008.

Italian Bridge, fragment: granite pedestals, floor lamps and lanterns. Photo from 2008.

Lantern of the Italian bridge, 2008.

Italian Bridge. Photo from 2008.

Italian Bridge. On the opposite embankment you can see the corner house of Cheboksary Lane, in which the State Literary and Memorial Museum of M.M. Zoshchenko is located. Photo from 2008.

Italian Bridge. Photo from 2014.

Decorations of the Italian Bridge in 2014.

"Lion" of the Italian Bridge. The “Italians” who came for the treasure would not have noticed it. Photo from 2014.

The Italian Bridge is a haven for artists, photographers and various other creative people.

Italian Bridge. Artist.

Near the Italian Bridge you can meet not only people, but also raccoons.

Italian Bridge. Grandmother's creativity - artistic knitting.

Italian Bridge. The facade sides of the main load-bearing beams are also decorated, as was customary in the era of classicism. Instead of sculptural ornamentation of an animal or plant nature, the architect resorted to dividing the field of beams along curved arcs into three stripes, reminiscent of the division of the entablature of classical buildings into an architrave, frieze and cornice. The upper and lower stripes are decorated with various architectural details, including masks of lion faces. Photo from 2014.