Description of the attraction
At the beginning of the 18th century, a palace was erected in St. Petersburg on the left bank of the Fontanka, which resembled the Italian pleasure houses of that era. It began to be called Italian. Various meetings, meetings, negotiations were held there. From the palace to Znamenskaya Street (in our time, Vosstaniya Street) there was a large garden with greenhouses, which also after some time began to be called Italian. Following the palace and the garden, the street was first named Sadovaya Italian, later Malaya Italianskaya. The street facing the right bank of the Fontanka (opposite the palace) became known as Bolshaya Italianskaya. Accordingly, the bridge connecting both Italian streets, Bolshaya and Malaya, also began to be called Italian. In 1902, these streets were renamed: Malaya Italianskaya - into Zhukovskogo Street, and Bolshaya Italianskaya - into Italyanskaya.
The Italian bridge connects the Spassky and Kazansky islands of the central district of the city across the Griboyedovsky canal. It is located next to the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, better known as the Savior on Spilled Blood, and not far from the State Russian Museum (Mikhailovsky Palace), 300 meters from the Gostiny Dvor metro station (exit to the Griboyedov Canal).
The Italian bridge was built in 1896 on the site of the haulage. The single-span wooden structure consisted of plank trusses with a clear span of 19.7 m. The author of the project was engineer L. N. Kolpitsyn. To preserve the gap under the bridge, external flights of stairs were built at both ends. The bridge was paved with xylene slabs. In 1902, according to the project of K. Bald, the bridge was rebuilt, replacing the xylolite slabs with boards.
In 1911-1912. this design was replaced by a new one, the project of which was developed by engineer K. V. Efimiev. Now the Italian bridge has become cobbled with supports of three-row wooden piles located in 2 mutually perpendicular directions. The span of that bridge was 9.1 m.
In 1937, the Italian Bridge was completely rebuilt so that two heating pipes could be inserted through it. According to the documents of 1946, the length of the bridge was 18.4 meters, the opening of the bridge was 8.5 meters, and the width between the railing was just over 2 meters.
Over time, the bridge fell into disrepair. In 1955, during the renovation of the embankment, it was rebuilt again, acquiring its present appearance. Engineering calculations were made by V. S. Vasilkovsky and A. D. Gutsayt.
The Italian bridge was built in the classicism style. It did not retain the original decor details. The decorations are in many ways similar to the artistic elements of other bridges, the construction of which was carried out in the early 19th century. The railings of the bridge are sectional. They are made of rounded rods with capitals - opening buds - and decorated with cast iron uprights with additional details: peaks with acacia twigs, round shields with crossed swords. On the shields there are five-pointed stars, which were common as decorative elements in Soviet times.
The railings of the bridge are in many ways reminiscent of the classic designs. The appearance of the lighting elements of the Italian Bridge - lanterns and floor lamps - is similar to examples of Russian classicism and resembles, for example, the floor lamps of the Green Bridge on the Moika. The facades of the load-bearing beams are also decorated in the style of classicism, but instead of the sculptural ornamentation with plant or animal themes common in classicism, the fields of the beams are divided along curved arcs into three parts. This reminds of the division of the entablature of buildings made in the style of classicism into a frieze, architrave and cornice.
The lower and upper strips of beams are decorated with many artistic and architectural details and elements.
