Kalinkin bridge in St. Petersburg: photo, description, history

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:54

There are only three bridges in St. Petersburg named Kalinkin: Malo-Kalinkin, Staro-Kalinkin and Novo-Kalinkin.

The Staro-Kalinkin Bridge can be called the most unique architectural monument of the city of St. Petersburg, stretching across the Fontanka in the Central District of the city and connecting the Nameless and Kolomensky Islands.

The article provides some information about the Kalinkin bridge: photo, description, history and features.

Briefly about the origin of bridge names

The name of all Kalinka bridges comes from the Finnish name of the village, located in the lower reaches of the Fontanka River - Kallina. In the very first years of the construction of the city of St. Petersburg, the name of the village was remade in the Russian manner and became known as Kalinkina. And on old maps it was designated as Callina or Kaljula.

This is where the names of the bridges come from.

A Brief History of the Three Bridges

Currently, the bridges of St. Petersburg are unique and unique decorations of the city's appearance and historical monuments. And there are a lot of them in the city.

The oldest of the three Kalinka bridges in St. Petersburg isStaro-Kalinkin, built in 1733 (designed by Gerard I. I. and Sukhtelen P. K.). Initially, it was wooden and since 1737 it was a drawbridge. By 1893, the wooden span was replaced by a more solid one, made of stone. The location of the bridge is the territory of the Admir alteysky district, and, as noted above, it connects the Bezymyanny and Kolomensky islands.

Malo-Kalinkin bridge (in other words, Malo-Kalinkinsky) was built in 1783 (engineer I. N. Borisov). It connects the Pokrovsky and Kolomna Islands, running over the Griboyedov Canal. Administratively, it is also located in the Admir alteisky district.

The youngest Novo-Kalinkin bridge was the first to be built across the Obvodny Canal. It appeared in the alignment of Staro-Petergofsky Avenue almost immediately after the construction of the canal itself (1836). The author of the project of a three-span wooden crossing is engineer Bazin P. P.

History of the Staro-Kalinkin Bridge

In St. Petersburg (the photo is presented in the article), this bridge is one of the most unique historical and architectural sights. As noted above, there was originally a multi-span wooden bridge.

Throughly constructed bridge (1785-1788) became the seventh bridge across the Fontanka. All of them were built according to the standard design of the architect-engineer J. R. Perrone. The drawbridges of medium size were suspended from chains attached to the pavilion towers.

In 1890, the city government approvedbridge reconstruction project. It was developed by the architect M. I. Ryllo. The project retained the towers, but deprived the bridge of decorative elements: obelisks with hanging lanterns, sidewalk railings, built-in granite benches. The next time, according to this project, the Kalinkin bridge was rebuilt in 1892-1893. This reconstruction was also connected with the emerging prospect of laying tracks for trams. As a result, the span of wood was replaced by stone. The obelisks, benches and parapet have since been lost, and only the towers have survived.

It should be noted that after complete reconstructions in the 19th century, those same towers survived only at 2 bridges - Chernyshev (located upstream of the river) and Staro-Kalinkin described in the article.

Latest renovations

As a result of the reconstruction of 1907-1908, the bridge was again widened. Granite vaults were attached to it both above and below.

In 1965, the Lenmostotrest team proposed to restore the original historical appearance of the Kalinkin bridge, which was supported, and the architect I. N. Benois developed a new project. Thanks to this restoration, the bridge acquired a look that is as close as possible to the original bridge. As a result of the work carried out, almost all elements of the former decor were restored. In 1969, according to another project (architect Ivanov V. M.), gilding was restored on the metal details of the decor (balls of obelisks and towers). In the period 1986-1987. lanterns were installed on the towers and commemorative plaques, with the dates of the start and completion of construction indicated on themworks.

As a result of these recent reconstructions, the Staro-Kalinkin Bridge was given its original appearance - the appearance of the end of the 18th century.

Description

The bridge is located along the axis of Staro-Petergofsky Prospekt. Its length is 65.6 meters, width - 30 meters. The outermost stone vaults lined with granite blocks are outlined by box curves. The river middle supports are triangular profiled with ice cutters. Towers of the classical form, made of granite and completed with domes, were erected above them.

Made of metal sections fixed between granite bollards, the railings of the bridge do not differ from the railings installed on the Fontanka embankment.

It should be noted that the current appearance of the bridge was adopted from the painting by K. Knappe "Kalinkin Bridge" (more details below).

Some interesting historical facts

The image of the Kalinkin bridge in St. Petersburg can be seen in the Hermitage in a painting by the artist K. Knappe. It was thanks to this canvas that it was possible to find out a more accurate date of its construction. In addition, it turned out that the sidewalks were separated by granite barriers from the roadway, and at the entrances to the bridge on four sides there were granite obelisks with hanging lanterns. Also at the parapets were benches, also made of granite. All this was determined by the picture.

There is another interesting historical object near the bridge. This is a house (2, Staro-Petergofsky Ave.), which since 1836 housed the Naval Hospital (the firstin Russia), which was established by Peter I back in 1715.