St. Petersburg widest bright Blue Bridge

18th century construction – St. Petersburg widest bright Blue Bridge
18th century construction – St. Petersburg widest bright Blue Bridge

St. Petersburg widest bright Blue Bridge
Previously wooden and painted in bright blue, the name “Blue” is due to its original appearance. In the XIX century, the crossing was rebuilt in stone, but the bridge retained its color and name until today.
In fact, in the 18th century it was typical of St. Petersburg to name bridges in different colors. And in particular, the Moika River was famous for its “colored” bridges. And alongside with Blue bridge, there were other colored bridges – Green, Red and Yellow. Undoubtedly, these buildings were the brightest spots in the architecture of St. Petersburg, in which strict colors prevailed. Noteworthy, the coloring of buildings was ctrictly regulated by royal decrees. However, the multi-colored bridges on the Moika was by no means a bold design move. In fact, located close to each other bridges were so similar that the townspeople often confused them. Anyway, it was a wise decision to have colorful bridges among gray granite architecture of St. Petersburg.
To date, there are only two “color” bridges in the city – Red and Blue. The green bridge eventually got the name Politseisky (the Police Officer), and the Yellow Bridge became the Singing Bridge.

The widest in St. Petersburg, Blue Bridge
The widest in St. Petersburg, Blue Bridge

The “blue” bridge in St. Petersburg across the Moika River, is the widest bridge in the city, and perhaps, the widest in the world. Its width is 99 meters. Interestingly, the width of the crossing is almost three times its length.

An integral part of St. Isaac’s Square, the bridge in front of the Mariinsky Palace, perceived as its continuation. It is with such properties of the bridge-area that the Blue Bridge can easily lead you into visual deception. In fact, almost every guest of the Northern capital has visited this bridge. However, most of them most likely admit that they never saw the Blue Bridge. This unique invisible structure can indeed be overlooked, since it is one with the Isaac’s Square, thereby simply dissolving into it.

Its famous because of its biggest width, the Blue Bridge, of course, was not immediately received. In the beginning of the 19th century, according to the project of the architect V. I. Geste, instead of a wooden one a stone bridge was erected. At the same time, its width, which at that time was more than its 32-meter length, was 41 meters. A little later, when the banks of the Mojkiby were fortified, the Blue Bridge was widened. A few years later, after erecting the Mariinsky Palace on the St. Isaac’s Square, the bridge was again added several meters. Thus, the width of the modern Blue Bridge was slightly more than 97 meters, which is three times its length.

St. Petersburg widest bright Blue Bridge

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