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Anichkov Bridge is a popular tourist attraction on Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg

Anichkov Bridge - the most significant, not counting the Palace, bridge of St. Petersburg. First of all, it is the “bridge of four horses”, and also one of the best view points of Nevsky Prospect. At this point, the channel of the Fontanka river bends smoothly, the panorama of the embankments widens in both directions, and a rare feeling of sky, air and freedom arises in the densely built center. Best of all, this feeling was conveyed by the emotional correspondent of the Northern Bee, who wrote in 1842 about the opening of traffic on the renewed bridge: “Upon entering the bridge, it seems that I had a rest!”

It seems so far. Even those who are in a hurry, on the Anichkov bridge, involuntarily slow down. There are always artists, photographers, tourists, walking townspeople, as well as curious citizens who are looking for evidence of a popular legend - the sculptor depicted Napoleon's face under the tail of one of the horses. Anyone who wants in the end see this face. True, it is difficult to say that this is Clodt's intention, and not a game of imagination. Many frivolous jokes are generally associated with the statues of the Anichkov Bridge. Nicholas I began this tradition, with wit acknowledging the sculptor's brilliant ability to “make horses”. But let's try to look at the bridge and the horses from a different angle.

Clodt's composition is called “Horse Tamers” - four groups of figures in different poses. Most often, they are looked at exactly as they are at the four independent “horse-tamer” pairs. But in fact, Clodt created something like a sculptural comic strip or a cartoon storyboard: a horse and a naked tamer at various stages of movement. The first group is the one on the west bank of the Fontanka, on the right side of the bridge, facing the Admiralty needle. In this pair, the man wins: he with effort, but controls the resting horse. The second group is on the same bank, on the left side of the bridge. The horse is already beating and grinning, and the figure of the tamer is tense and twisted. The next frame is opposite, on the east bank. The horse reared up and almost broke away, the tamer is tilted to the ground and with difficulty holds the reins. And the last scene: the young athlete still tames the horse, standing on one knee and pulling the rein with both hands.

Need to say that some experts distinguish horses on different sides of the bridge. The fact is that Clodt had several “models”: two similar Arabian stallions and an Orlov Trotter. One animal would not be able to pose. In addition, horses on the east coast are shod, but on the west - no. It is considered that the unshoded only go to the forges, located further, on the Foundry Avenue.

Today it seems surprising that these four ideal statues are far from the first version of the design of the bridge, the result of a long series of inconsistencies and changes. Initially, “Horse Tamers” were intended for the Neva Embankment at Admiralty Boulevard, where porphyry vases and lions now stand. Today, when the stone and bronze population of St. Petersburg is firmly entrenched in their places, it is almost impossible to imagine there the Clodt horses.

There are other horses on Anichkov Bridge, which often remain in the shadows. More precisely, the seahorses, in the pattern of the lattice. They hold Neptune's trident and are interspersed in sections with mermaids and dolphins.

LOCAL FEATURES
Muscovites can also see two of the four equestrian compositions of Clodt, without leaving their own city. In the 1840s, in the Ural iron foundries, which belonged to the princes Golitsyn, for their Moscow estate Kuzminki-Vlakherskoye according to the models of PK Clodt were cast two cast-iron sculptural group "Horses with counselors." Sculptures still stand there near the Music Pavilion, but their current state is far from ideal.

STORY
In place of the modern Anichkov Bridge, several temporary wooden bridges were replaced, the first of which appeared in 1715. Tsar Peter did not like bridges, eager to teach the population of the capital to move by water, but in this place a land crossing was necessary. The name “Anichkov”, contrary to romantic legends, was derived from the name of colonel Anichkov, who commanded the battalion of workers. The bridge was a pile, it was rebuilt and strengthened three times. In the time of Anna Petrovna, even elephants passed through it, heading for the menagerie of the Elephant Yard on Fontanka.

At the end of the XVIII century, Fontanka began to lay granite and build bridges of the same type: three-span, adjustable, with turrets at the edges. The central adjustable span was wooden. However, these bridges were too narrow, and in 1841 Anichkov needed to expand to the “red line” of the avenue. Perestroika was led by engineer von Dershau In this case, all the spans made arched turrets removed. At the same time, a cast-iron openwork lattice appeared with a bas-relief of sea horses and mermaids. It was attributed to Alexander Bryullov for a long time, but in fact it is a copy of the lattice of the Palace Bridge in Berlin, designed by the architect Karl Schinkel.

Peter Clodt began working on The Horse Tamers in 1833. At first it was assumed that there would be two pairs of sculptural groups - the same on both sides of the bridge. “Tamers” on the west bank appeared in 1841, and opposite them plaster temporary statues painted in bronze took their places. The work stretched out for twenty years, including because the finished sculptures were twice sent abroad by royal will - first to the Prussian king in Berlin, then the king of both Sicilies in Naples. As a result, Clodt decided not to repeat the finished statues, but to carve a pair of new ones for the eastern shore, which completed the composition. They were installed in 1851.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the bridge was rebuilt again as threatening flaws in the structure were discovered. In this case, the appearance is not changed. The architect Shchusev supervised the work.

During the Great Patriotic War, sculptural groups were removed from the pedestals and buried in the garden of the Anichkov Palace. The bridge itself is pretty badly hurt. In 2000, the horses left the bridge for the second time in history - they were restored.

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