Along the rivers and canals of St. Petersburg: Swan Canal

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:43

Very often, various epithets are used in relation to St. Petersburg: Northern Palmyra, Fourth Rome, Northern Venice, City of Lions, City of Islands, etc. Among them there is also the City of Rivers and Canals. And this is no coincidence. After all, it arose on the banks of the Neva, which in its delta is divided into 5 branches and has a fairly large number of tributaries and channels. They divide the land into separate parts - islands. The number of islands is constantly changing. This is mainly due to the need to equip the canals and eliminate them.

How did the channels multiply?

After St. Petersburg became the capital of the Russian Empire in 1712, civil engineering began to actively develop in it. Initially, it was planned on Vasilyevsky Island, despite the fact that the first center of the city had already taken shape on Troitskaya Square, on Berezovy Island (now Petrogradskaya Storona). However, the development of Vasilyevsky as an urban center did not happen - the city began to grow actively on the left bank of the Neva. Most of the houses were at that timewooden, but also stone had wooden ceilings. Such houses burned easily, because the city burned out often and strongly. In order to reduce the burning area, by decree of Peter I, it was decided to divide the territory into separate parts, separated from each other by water arteries as a natural barrier to the spread of fire. For this, work began to dig a large number of channels. In addition, dug canals performed another important function - draining the wetland. It was then that the Neva channels Moika and Fontanka appeared, the Ligovsky Canal, the Admir alteisky Canal, etc. were dug.

Groove history

By 1711, the city's first garden, the Summer Garden, had already been planted on the left bank. A small river Lebedinka flowed next to it. For eight years it was cleaned and deepened. They gave a new name - the Summer Canal, in accordance with the name of the garden. After all, she walked just along its western border. The name of the Swan Canal was given somewhat later due to the fact that the swans of the Summer Garden gradually moved to its territory.

In the 30s. four wooden bridges were built across the groove, two of which have similar names: Upper Lebyazhy and Lower. The banks were sewn up with wood.

At the end of the 18th c. a stone terrace was erected on the right bank of the Swan Canal.

In the middle of the 20th c. they deepened it again, covered the bottom with turf and sprinkled the banks, made them a granite frame.

Groove bridges

The Upper Swan Bridge was thrown across the Swan Canal in St.the place where it flows into the Neva. His ancestor, erected in 1711, bore the proud name of Swan. The stone bridge became thanks to the architect Yuri Matveyevich Felten. Its supports were made of rubble stone slabs and faced with granite. The parapet of the bridge was also made of granite.

The Lower Swan Bridge was thrown over the canal also at the junction with the Neva. Its ancestor was built in 1720 according to the project of H. van Boles from wood. It was lifting, which in those days was a fairly progressive design. The name was given to it the 1st Tsaritsynsky, as it was located next to the Tsaritsyn Meadow - that was the name of the territory of the Field of Mars at that time.

Its iron fence is decorated with rosettes of daisy-like flowers on crossed spears, acanthus leaves.

In the middle of the 19th century. the bridge was rebuilt in stone. In the 20s. In the 20th century, its central part was reinforced with reinforced concrete.

Conversation with the one-armed commandant

The channel is often used by writers and artists when creating works. In Kuprin's story "The One-Armed Commandant" General I. N. Skobelev was located on the chain bridge near the Swan Canal during the parade on the Field of Mars. On his instructions, in accordance with the charter, all slingshots were closed for passage after Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich drove through them to the territory intended for the parade. The late foreign ambassador could not pass through the slingshots and wasforced to turn to Ivan Nikitich Skobelev. In the conversation that took place, Skobelev drew a parallel between his conversation with Napoleon on the day of the Battle of Borodino and this conversation. His comparison was not too flattering for the ambassador, and he complained to the emperor. As a result, Skobelev was removed from his post.