The trade bridge is located in the cultural and historical center of St. Petersburg, on one of its first channels. The bridge is not only a crossing, connects the street and the square.
Now it serves as an external connection between the two buildings of the famous Mariinsky Theater - the main and the modern one, scandalously famous for its inappropriate architectural solution, the number of protected historical sites destroyed for its construction and the controversial legality of this process.
Where is it and how to get there
The trade bridge in St. Petersburg spread across the Kryukov Canal (one of the oldest in the city, named after the contractor Semyon Kryukov) and connected the two sides of its embankment, as well as Soyuz Pechatnikov Street with Theater Square, adjacent to the main building of the Mariinsky Tetra.
It is located between the Decembrists bridge and Kashin, located below and upstream the channel, respectively.
The closest metro stations are Sennaya Ploshchad, Sadovaya and Spasskaya, the interchange hub of three lines (blue, violet and orange).
Ground-based public transport in the area is represented by buses and shuttles. They should get to the stop "Theater Square", "Mariinsky Theater" or "Nikolskaya Square".
Trade bridge at Theater Square. Name history
Given the proximity of the famous Mariinsky St. Petersburg to the Trade Bridge, one might wonder why it was not named, for example, the Theater Bridge, if you did not take an interest in the history of this part of the city.
Until 1798, the bridge was called the Middle because of its location on the canal relative to other crossings available at that time. Mention of this is found in the sources of 1797. The early name was not fixed, despite the fact that data on the time of construction of the bridge, its original design and the contractor have been preserved.
The modern name comes from Torgovaya Street (now the Union of Pechatniks), which received its name from a nearby market. The "Private Market" (also referred to as the "Market") was built in the style of classicism, designed by Giacomo Quarenghi in the late 80s of the 18th century for a whole quarter. Later - in 1930 - in its place was built the Central City Club of the 1st Five-Year Plan, renamed in the late 70's the Palace of Culture. The first five-year plan, which changed styles from constructivism to the Stalinist Empire and was completely destroyed during the construction of the second stage of the Mariinsky Theater in 2005.
The Trading Market under the name "Lithuanian" was more famous than owed to the castle of the same name located in the neighborhood, which, in turn, received this nickname from the Lithuanian Musketeer Regiment, which was once housed there.
The castle was originally known as "Prison" - for the purpose of its existence. However, he was destined to have a different purpose from the time of construction in 1787 to perestroika in 1823-1826. Only after this the castle began to receive convicted, and not military, within its walls. In February 1917, a rebellious crowd burned down the building, and its foundation was later used in the construction of residential buildings (the plans initially included the construction of a stadium or public garden).
What is it, Trade Bridge
Currently, the design is intended for use by pedestrians (areas on both sides of a two-lane road) and traffic. Asphalt coating. The parts are separated by a high concrete parapet. Fences and railings are metal, their drawing is simple. Art casting is used only for floor lamps with lanterns and support nameplates.
The total length of the crossing is 26 meters and 70 centimeters, the length of the span is 24 meters, and the width is 10 meters 50 centimeters. The bridge consists of three spans - equal in size: the extreme - about 6.5 meters, and the average - 11.15 meters.
The construction is metal, beam-continuous. A reinforced concrete slab is laid over steel I-beams. The span has a lower curved outline. The masonry of the intermediate supports is faced with granite. The extreme supports of the bridge are foundations, built of concrete and lined as well. At the base of their wooden piles.
What the bridge was, so it remained
The trade bridge was built in the 83-85s of the 18th century according to a project typical of that time, the name of the author of which was not preserved. The contractor Nikolay Egorov did the work. True, the bridge did not always look like this. Capital restoration and repair work, carried out repeatedly, deprived the crossing in 1905 of obelisks with floor lamps. They were restored only in 1960-1961. When comparing the drawings and photos of the Trade Bridge, you can see that to this day it has a primary appearance.
The same cannot be said about the supporting structure and coating. Initially, it had three spans, the average was adjustable. The first changes were made in 1805-1810. Instead of an adjustable span, a wooden strut structure was built. In 1868, the bridge was first thoroughly restored, making some changes to the wooden structure.
By the end of the 19th century, the state of the bridge became unsatisfactory. In 1900 the movement of crews on it was even suspended. The repeated requests of the city council to raise funds for major repairs were not satisfied by the Duma in 1905. The collapse of the Egyptian bridge served as the impetus for such a decision. During the work, instead of wooden girders, I-beams were installed, floor lamps were removed, the bridge foundations were fixed. Responsible for the construction work was engineer P.A. Likhachev.
The bridge underwent a second overhaul in 1946-1947, and was completely renovated in 1960-1961. Thanks to the efforts of the authors of the project - architect A. L. Rotach and engineer A. D. Gutzeit, reinforced concrete replaced wood flooring, new metal beams appeared and obelisks with floor lamps were restored.
