Sightseeing

FIRST ENGINEER BRIDGE One of the smaller bridges in the Venice of the North, measuring 20,05 meters long and 9,5 meters wide, and one of the most charming bridges of Petersburg with its beautiful railings and magnificent floor lamps, the glittering green and gold First Engineer Bridge was designed by architect F.Rastrelli in the second half of the 18th century as a small wooden bridge and situated opposite the main entrance to the Summer Garden (hence the first name of the bridge - the Summer Bridge). In 1828 the devastated wooden bridge was substituted by a new cast-iron bridge and got the name of First Engineer Bridge after the Engineer Castle, which had been built on the site of Empress Elizabeth's former Summer Palace near the site of the bridge. During the next 120 years the bridge was never repaired – it was simple unnecessary due to quality of the original design and materials. Heavily damaged in the course of the WWII, the bridge undergone reconstruction in 1952-1954. Spanning the Moika River, the First Engineer Bridge is considered to be one of the most decorative of St. Petersburg bridges - facade in the Doric architectural style, rectangular orifices bordered with flat frames, bridge's sidewalk tiles designed as a cornice and supported by rich ornamental bracket figures, inscribed plaques with grooves, cast-iron arches, uniquely decorated railings (architect L. Sharlemani), floor lamps composed of six intertwined spear-shaped figures with sharp points on each end, and splendid six-sided lanterns – every single details draws your attention.

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