Description of the attraction
The Bridge of Four Lions connects the Spassky and Kazansky Islands in the Admiralteisky District of St. Petersburg through the Griboyedov Canal. More precisely, the bridge connects Malaya Podyacheskaya Street and Lion Lane. It is located in the sharpest bend of the channel. The Lion Bridge is a cultural heritage site of Russia.
The bridge got its name from four sculptures of lions, cast from cast iron according to the models of the sculptor Sokolov (he is also the author of the sphinxes of the Egyptian bridge and the Bankovsky griffins).
The Lion Bridge is one of the suspension chain bridges in St. Petersburg, built in 1825-1925. The bridge is one of the most notable and remarkable suspension bridges in the city thanks to the figures of lions, hiding in themselves the cast-iron parts of the supports and from the jaws of which the chains that hold the bridge come out. The pillars of the bridge, lined with granite, are made of hewn stone and rubble masonry, and are located at the same level with the canal embankment. The foundation of the bridge supports were grillages installed on wooden piles. The bridge deck is supported by metal chains consisting of circular links. The lattice of the Lion Bridge, in comparison with the decorative elements of other bridges, at first glance seems unpretentious and even ascetic. However, it was the pattern of a series of elongated rhombuses, connected by corners with each other, and small flower rosettes, edged with semicircles, that subsequently found the most widespread use in the architecture of St. Petersburg.
The authors of the architectural project of the Lion Bridge were the German bridge engineer Wilhelm von Tretter, who served in Russia from 1814 to 1831, and V. A. Christianovich. In the course of the joint work of these design engineers, all the suspension bridges of St. Petersburg were built: Pochtamtsky, Panteleimonovsky, Bankovsky, Egyptian, Lion.
The official opening of the Lion Bridge took place in 1826 on July 1. On the opening day itself, in three hours, about 2,700 people walked across the bridge, according to surviving information.
The bridge was restored several times. Unfortunately, for some time, as a result of the restoration, it lost its original appearance and changed not for the better. During the restoration of the 1880s, the graceful cast gratings were replaced with a wrought iron fence, the lions were painted dark gray (instead of the original white) and ceased to be visible in the evening. In addition, during the restoration, the lanterns were removed from the middle of the bridge and have not been restored. In this form, the bridge continued to remain until 1954 (despite the capital reconstruction of 1948-1949 under the leadership of engineer A. M. Yanovsky with the complete replacement of wooden beams with metal ones) when finally, in accordance with the project of the architect Alexander Rotach, they were returned fence, lanterns and white paint for the lions. At the same time, the bridge deck was repaired.
The latest restoration of the Lion Bridge was carried out on the eve of the celebration of the three hundredth anniversary of the city in 1999-2000. Then its beams were replaced by a superstructure, the supporting cables and skeletal frames were repaired, and the figures of four lions were restored.
It is noteworthy that, despite its relatively small size (its length is 27.8 m, width is 2.2 m), the Lion Bridge is one of the most iconic in the northern capital and is an invariable object of tourist pilgrimage. It is considered one of the most romantic places in St. Petersburg and offers a very picturesque view of the banks of the Griboyedov Canal with preserved century-old trees.
