Bank Bridge is one of the bridges in the center of St. Petersburg.
The bridge is an outstanding monument of bridge-building architecture of the first quarter of the 19th century.
Bank Bridge is one of the most beautiful, visited and photographed bridges in St. Petersburg.
Such popularity is given to the bridge by the fact that it is completely pedestrian, hanging and decorated with sculptures of griffins. The griffins of the sculpture are mistakenly called, in fact, there are sculptures of winged lions on the bridge.
Thanks to the sculptures, the bridge is also called the "bridge with griffins" or "bridge with winged lions".
Bank Bridge is one of the three surviving pedestrian chain bridges in St. Petersburg (along with Lion and Pochtamtsky bridge).
The Bank Bridge spans the Griboyedov Canal and connects the Kazan and Spassky Islands.
The name "Banking" bridge was given due to the fact that it is located next to the Assignation Bank (now the St. Petersburg State University of Economics is located in the building).
The bank bridge is completely pedestrian (hanging chain); has a total length of 28 meters and a width of 3.1 meters.
The bridge is a single-span girder structure consisting of two box beams welded from channels connected by longitudinal and transverse links.
The passing part of the bridge is made of a single boardwalk laid on a transverse beam. The steel beam of rigidity on the facades of the bridge is covered by a cornice of boards.
The role of the bridge pylons is performed by cast-iron frames (frames) decorated with sculptures of griffins. The frames are attached to a wooden grillage, compressed from above and below by massive cast-iron plates, to which bearing chains of metal links of circular cross-section are attached.
The railing of the bridge is wrought iron.
On both sides of the bridge, on the pylons, there are large winged lions (griffins), of which there are four and which, in addition to decorations, serve as bridge lanterns.
Sculptures of winged lions are the work of sculptor P.P. Sokolov.
The height of each of the winged lions is about 2.4 meters.
Mythical winged lions, whose images, before the appearance of such on the bridge, were found only in furniture decoration and architectural details, were first cast from cast iron at the Alexander Iron Foundry, and their wings were minted from sheet copper and covered with gold leaf.
Near the bridge stands the historic building of the Assignation Bank of the Russian Empire, built in 1783-1799 by architect Giacomo Quarenghi.
Now the building is the main building of the St. Petersburg State University of Economics.
Building address: Sadovaya Street, 21.
The Bank Bridge offers views of the Griboyedov Canal, the embankments of the canal, the Kazan Bridge along the axis Nevsky Prospekt and historical buildings, including Kazan Cathedral and the church were saved on Blood.
The history of the Bank Bridge
The bridge was built according to the designs of engineer G.M. Tretter and opened to pedestrian traffic on July 24 (August 5, new style), 1826.
By the end of the 19th century, the grilles on the bridge were replaced with metal ones of a simple pattern, and the lanterns on the heads of winged lions were destroyed.
In 1952, restoration work was carried out to return the bridge to its original appearance. During the work, the railing was restored according to the project of engineer A.L. Rotach, floor lamps with lanterns and the original lead painting of cast iron, metal and wooden parts of the bridge was resumed.
In 1967, the gilding of the architectural details of the bridge was restored.
In 1976, the wooden girders of the bridge were replaced with metal ones. In 1988, the gilding of the decorative elements of the bridge with gold leaf was updated. In 1997, the cast-iron griffins were repaired, the railing was restored and the electric lighting was repaired.
From January 13, 2017 to June 2019, there was a large-scale reconstruction of the Griffin bridge. The griffins were restored to the appearance they had before the restoration of the 1950s. So the winged lions became not green, but dark - the color of patinated bronze.
In the future, repairs were also carried out on the bridge.
Practical information
Upstream of the Griboyedov Canal from the Bank Bridge is the Kazan Bridge, below is the pedestrian Flour Bridge.
Coordinates of the Bank Bridge: 59°55'55.0"N 30°19'29.0"E (59.931944, 30.324722).
Nearest metro stations: "Nevsky Prospekt", "Gostiny Dvor" and "Admiralteiskaya".
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