Sightseeing

EXCHANGE BRIDGE Located in the very heart of the city in the vicinity of the major Petersburg cultural icons and nevertheless regarded more for serving as an important transportation artery for cars, trams and trolley buses than for its decorative aspects, the Exchange Bridge spans the Maly Neva River and links the Spit of the Vasilyevsky Island with the Petrograd Side. Serving as an important transport artery in St. Petersburg from the very first day of its existence, the first wooden bridge built on this site already in 1894 rotted quickly, but it was reconstructed into a five-span steel only in 1956 under the supervision of architects L. Noskov and P. Areshev. Not to ruin the intricate architectural ensemble of the Palace Bridge and the unique buildings and monuments on the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island, the architects had to borrow heavily from the design of nearby Palace Bridge so that the right and left wings of the architectural ensemble would be symmetrical. As a result, the Exchange bridge was made as a five-span steel-arched bridge having the similar to Palace Bridge dimensions, measuring 239 meters long and 27 meters wide and featuring quite stern décor - straight steel bars supporting the bridge, strict columns, relatively simple lanterns and ornate railings composed of traditional javelins with Neptune's three-pronged spear nestled between the thick curbside posts. The railings' decorative nautical theme corresponds to the Spit ensemble's nautical theme, where the Rostral columns are situated. And although this stunning drawbridge, opening up in the center of the Malaya Neva River, boasts neither quaint décor nor the unique double-jointed construction (Sadovy and Potseluyev bridges, which span the Moika River, and Pestelya Bridge, which spans the Fontanka River, have similar constructions), it as become of the city symbols and an inseparable part of the harmonious and symmetrical complex of the Spit of the Vasilievsky island.

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