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Bolsheokhtinsky Bridge
Located between Krasnogvardeyskaya square and Tulskaya street | the bridge connects Sverdlovskaya and Sinopskaya embankments
One of the grandest bridges of Saint-Petersburg, the first in the city to be equipped with a draw span in the middle of the river, connecting the historical centre with the older neighbourhood of the Neva’s right bank. The bridge is twinned with the Tower bridge of London.
It is the first Saint-Petersburg bridge over the Neva river with traffic flow at the level of the lower part of the superstructure. This bridge is also often referred to as the triple bridge, as only the middle span is drawn during the white nights while the side ones remain unopened. A picturesque view of the Neva and the Smolniy Cathedral can be appreciated from this “lace-like” bridge.
The founding of the bridge was dedicated to the bicentennial of the Poltava battle, hence the choice of the name of the bridge – the bridge of Peter the Great, which is written in gold with cyphers, crowns and dates of construction. The Official opening of this unique engineering structure took place in 1911. In 1917 the bridge was renamed Bolsheokhtinskiy after the oldest district of Saint-Petersburg, Bolshaya Okhta, which was formed even before the foundation of the city.
Nowadays it is not only a popular five-lane highway, but also a famous sight for tourists. Breathtaking grandeur of the construction is illuminated with modern artistic lighting of 1300 bulbs at nights.
