Urban legends: Anichkov Bridge, horses, Klodt. Anichkov Bridge

St. Petersburg is considered one of the most beautiful cities. Its cozy quiet streets, riddled with canals, are connected by magnificent bridges. Moreover, many of them have an ancient history and date back to time immemorial. Anichkov Bridge, located on the Fontanka, is one of the most famous in St. Petersburg. It began to be built during the reign of Peter the Great, in 1715. Throughout its long history, the crossing of the Fontanka has been rebuilt several times, appearing in its final version only seventy years later.

Initially, the Anichkov Bridge was a rather simple wooden structure. The supports were covered with ordinary boards and painted to resemble stone rustications. The construction was supervised by engineer M. Anichkov, in whose honor the structure was named. In those days, this bridge was the southern border of St. Petersburg, so there was a barrier on it and there was a checkpoint where visitors’ documents were checked and a fee was charged. In connection with the development of shipping, in 1721 the Anichkov Bridge was improved. Its middle part became liftable, making it possible to pass small bridges. This bridge was important for the development of the young city, since it was the bridge that connected the Alexander Nevsky Monastery with the Admiralty.

In a damp climate, the wooden structure deteriorated quite quickly, so it was decided to replace it with a stone one. The new three-span structure, built according to the design of the Frenchman J. Perronet, had an adjustable middle part, towers and chains with a lifting mechanism. Other photos of which are shown above were also built using this principle.

Over time, the city grew, and Nevsky Prospekt expanded. The old crossings turned out to be too narrow for large streets, so the need to rebuild them again arose. A new reconstruction of the bridge was carried out in 1841 (under the leadership of engineer I. Butats). Now it has become much wider, the spans were lined with brick, the supports were finished with granite. In addition, the Anichkov Bridge has ceased to be a drawbridge. Drawings by the famous German architect K. Schinkel were used on the decorative lattice of the fence. Instead of towers, sculptures appeared at the crossing - the work of the sculptor P.K. Klodt.

The architect’s creations formed a certain logical sequence among themselves, the essence of which is reflected in the name - “Horse Tamers”. Each of the sculptures symbolized a certain stage of people’s struggle with the elements and an undeniable victory over it. The grand opening of the structure took place in November 1841. However, the quality of the work turned out to be very unsatisfactory; a few years later, deformation of the vaults was discovered. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the condition of the crossing became completely threatening. Then in 1906 the question of rebuilding the Anichkov Bridge arose again. Work to strengthen the structure was carried out under the leadership of the architect P. Shchusev.

Afterwards, the famous sculptures left their places more than once. So, in 1941, during the attack on the city by the fascist occupiers, the monuments were hidden in holes in the garden around the city. Only in 1945 did they return to their pedestals.

St. Petersburg experienced many memorable historical events. Anichkov Bridge, the Admiralty, and many other attractions are involuntary witnesses of the transformations associated with the development and improvement of the city.

Anichkov Bridge is one of the famous landmarks of St. Petersburg. It is located between buildings 66 and 68, 39 and 41 on Nevsky Prospekt. The bridge was named in honor of Lieutenant Colonel-engineer Mikhail Anichkov, whose battalion under Peter the Great was stationed beyond the Fontanka in an old Finnish village, nicknamed Anichkova Sloboda.

Wooden bridge

Until 1712-1714, Fontanka was known as Nameless Erik. Nevsky Prospekt, which was being built at that time, was considered one of the important streets of the capital - in the place where the paths intersected, a constant crossing was required.

In 1715, Emperor Peter I issued a decree on the construction of a bridge on the Fontannaya River. Construction work was completed in May 1716. This is how a multi-span wooden beam crossing on pile supports appeared. The bridge blocked not only the channel itself, but also the swampy floodplain. The crossing turned out to be of impressive size (we are talking about its length), however, it could not have been otherwise, because the Fontanka itself reached 200 meters in width.

The length of the bridge is 150 meters. The construction of the crossing was carried out by an engineering battalion under the command of Mikhail Anichkov.

Even in the era of Peter I, the bridge was rebuilt. So, in 1721 it was expanded, 18 spans were made. The middle part became liftable, since at that time the Fontannaya River was cleared and deepened so much that ships even began to sail along it.

In 1726 and 1742, major repairs of the bridge were carried out. In 1749, the architect Semyon Volkov built a new wooden crossing, which had practically no differences from the standard structures of those times. According to one version, the bridge was built without drawbridges and strengthened so that the elephants donated by the Iranian Shah could be delivered to the king.

If you believe other information, then, according to the drawing of 1750, the construction of the crossing was based on a simple beam system with a lifting span. The devices that lift the middle part of the bridge are made in the form of “cranes”. During the reconstruction process, it was decided to preserve all eighteen spans, finished with stone rustication. The bridge was fenced with wooden balusters standing between the pedestals and topped with vases.

Until the end of the 18th century, Fontanka was considered the border of the city, and the Anichkov Bridge in St. Petersburg, in turn, was a checkpoint.

Stone bridge with turrets

By the middle of the 18th century, the city went beyond its natural boundaries, and suburban areas began to be built up. This can explain the wide activity of government institutions of the Russian Empire, which dealt with issues of planning and development of cities, regulation of small rivers and canals.

According to the projects of the Commission on the stone structure of Moscow and St. Petersburg, in the 1780-1789s, work was carried out to develop the Fontannaya River. A specially established commission took part in this, which until 1783 was under the leadership of General F.V. Bauer. During the work carried out, stone coastal walls with a descent to the water and 7 similar bridges made of stone with wooden draw spans in the middle and towers on bulls were built.

The Anichkov Bridge was rebuilt from 1783 to 1787. There is an opinion that the author of this project is the famous French bridge builder J.R. Perrone. But this is not documented. The crossings of the school of the famous Frenchman continued to be built until the 19th century.

The Anichkov Bridge, the history of which dates back decades, has acquired a new look. The side spans of the crossing were made equal in size and covered with box vaults made of stone; the middle span was wooden and liftable. Heavy chains were stretched between the four superstructured towers, with the help of which the canvases of the adjustable part were raised.

In 1841, the first bronze statues appeared on the western side of the crossing: “A Young Man Taking a Horse by the Bridle” and “A Horse with a Walking Young Man.” The sculptures on the eastern bank were a repetition of the western one, only they were cast from plaster, painted the color of bronze.

New bronze horses from the foundry yard, by order of Nicholas I, were sent as a gift to the King of Prussia, Frederick William IV. The sculptures are still in Berlin today. And only in 1844 the plaster statues were replaced with new, bronze ones. True, they stayed for quite a while. A couple of years later, the emperor thanked the “King of the Two Sicilies” with them for his hospitality.

Copies of Klodt's horses were located in Strelna, Peterhof, and also in the Golitsyn estate. And each time they were removed from the bridge, returning the plaster ones to their place. In 1851, the bridge was finally completed. The sculptor refused to repeat the previous statues. He set to work creating two new compositions. The horses left the Anichkov Bridge in St. Petersburg two more times. During the siege of 1941, they were removed and buried in the palace garden, and in 2000 they were sent for restoration for the city’s anniversary. Anyone who has seen the Anichkov Bridge will remember the horse sculptures for a long time.

Modern restoration

In 2007-2008, one of the landmarks of St. Petersburg (SPb) was reconstructed. The Anichkov Bridge has undergone a major overhaul. First of all, we started eliminating cracks in the asphalt concrete pavement above the intermediate supports and abutments, also got rid of defects along the drainage trays and carried out waterproofing repairs. The company "Pylon" won the tender, whose main activity for the last 10 years has been the improvement and repair of the Fontanka embankments. NPO Rand acted as the general designer.

During the reconstruction, it was planned to replace the most dangerous fragments of the arched brickwork and shift 20 rows of the vault in the area where the main support is on granite abutments. It was also necessary to update some stone blocks that had cracked from stress or severe frosts.

Bridge operation

During the siege of Leningrad, horse groups were buried on the territory of the Palace of Pioneers. The granite pedestals were lined with boxes of seeded grass. As a result of direct hits from explosive devices, the Anichkov bridge was severely destroyed. In 1942, on November 6, a bomb weighing 250 kg arrived at the crossing, causing a granite stand and 30 meters of a grate made of cast iron to fall into the Fontanka. However, the next day they resumed tram traffic on the bridge, and after another 5 days they completed work on restoring the fence. The new parts of the grille differ only in the “Lentrublite” brand. The animal sculptures were returned to the bridge by May 1, 1945.

Nearby Attractions

Are you planning to visit the second capital of Russia and don’t know what is worth seeing? As mentioned above, the Anichkov Bridge is considered one of the attractions. St. Petersburg is rich in various crossings and amazing architectural monuments. Not far from the Anichkov Bridge are the Mikhailovsky Garden, the monument to Chizhik-Pyzhik, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, the Russian Museum, the Summer Garden and the Fountain House.

Educational center "Anichkov Bridge"

Local residents know that not only the landmark of St. Petersburg is called “Anichkov Bridge”. This is also the name of the European educational center. It unites two creative teams, both are known not only in Russia, but also in Europe. The company works with preschool educational institutions, implementing early development methods.

Folklore name

The residents of St. Petersburg have a good sense of humor, and they make fun of their city in a very graceful and elegant way. So, for example, St. Isaac's Cathedral received the name “Inkwells”, the monument to Peter the Great - “The Bronze Horseman”, and the Anichkov Bridge began to be called the “Bridge of Sixteen Eggs”.

Anichkov Bridge spread across the Fontanka River along the line of Nevsky Prospekt. Of the small bridges, Anichkov Bridge is the most famous in St. Petersburg. Despite the quite ordinary architecture of the bridge itself, Klodt’s sculptural group “The Taming of the Horse by Man” made the Anichkov Bridge actually one of the calling cards of St. Petersburg. The total length of the bridge is 54.6 meters, width – 37.9 meters.

In 1715, by order of Peter I, at the intersection of Nevsky Prospekt and the river. Fontanka began the construction of a wooden bridge with a barrier, which was successfully completed in 1716. It is worth noting here that the construction of the river crossing was carried out by a construction battalion under the command of Lieutenant Colonel engineer M.O. Anichkov.

Hence the name - Anichkov Bridge. And the old Finnish village on the Fontanka, where the battalion was stationed, has since become known as "Anichkova Sloboda". Folk legends that interpret the origin of the names of the bridge and the settlement, linking them with the name of a certain Anna (or Anechka), as well as the emphasis on the first syllable, are fundamentally incorrect. The emphasis on the second syllable is considered correct - Anichkov Bridge and Anichkova Sloboda.

In 1721, reconstruction was carried out to expand the Anichkov Bridge. To allow mast ships to pass along the Fontanka, the bridge was converted into a drawbridge in 1726. Next capital repair of Anichkov Bridge took place in 1741 - the old piles were replaced with new ones. In 1749, according to the design of the architect Volkov, a virtually new crossing was built across the Fontanka.

In 1780 - 1789, work was carried out to improve the Fontanka. Under the leadership of General F.V. Bauer, granite embankments with comfortable slopes to the water were built. According to the design of the architect J.-R. Perrone, seven stone bridges of the same type were erected. One of them was reconstructed in 1783-1787 Anichkov Bridge. The rebuilt bridge consisted of three spans. Two spans were granite, the middle draw span was wooden, and on the bridge abutments there were towers with draw units. It is worth noting that until the end of the 18th century, the Fontanka River was the border of the city and the Anichkov Bridge served as the city’s border bridge.

By 1840 Anichkov Bridge turned out to be significantly narrower than the roadway of Nevsky Prospekt, which had been widened by that time. In addition, the wooden span of the crossing fell into disrepair. And in 1841-1842, the bridge was completely rebuilt according to the engineering designs of I.F. Butatsa. Three spans were laid out of brick, the bridge abutments were lined with marble and a cast-iron fence with paired fragments of mermaids and seahorses was installed according to the sketches of the German architect Karl Schinkel. The bridge was also equipped with granite pedestals, on which sculptures of the “Conquest of a Horse by Man” series, made by the outstanding Russian sculptor P.K. Klodtom. According to the Finance Ministry, almost 200 thousand silver rubles were spent on the construction of the bridge.

The history of construction is curious “Taming the Horse” statues. Initially, the equestrian groups were ordered by Klodt to be installed on the pier of the Admiralteyskaya Embankment opposite the Academy of Arts. However, sphinxes brought from Egypt were installed there, and a pair of Klodt’s horses, at the suggestion of the sculpture himself, it was decided to install on the western side of the Anichkov Bridge. On the eastern side, plaster copies of them were temporarily installed, to replace which bronze statues of horses were soon cast. However, by order of Nicholas I, they went straight from the foundry to Germany as a gift to the King of Prussia, Frederick William IV. Klodt again began working on sculptures and in 1844 new bronze statues were erected to replace the plaster statues, but they were destined to not last long. Nicholas I gave these horses to the Sicilian king Ferdinand II and again plaster copies were placed on the Anichkov Bridge. At this time, Klodt decides to create completely new sculptures, continuing storyline “The Conquest of the Horse by Man”, and refuse to copy the horses on the western side of the bridge. Finally, in 1850, two new bronze sculptures were installed on the pedestals on the eastern side, and the Anichkov Bridge acquired its current appearance.

It is interesting that the horses “looking” towards Palace Square are shod, but the horses “looking” towards Liteiny Prospekt are not. There is a version around this fact that since in tsarist times there were forges and foundries on Liteiny Prospect, unshod horses “go” towards the forges, and shod horses, on the contrary, go away from Liteiny Prospekt. Another interesting fact is that the horse sculptures had a real prototype - the Arabian trotter Amalatbek.
In creating drawings for the statues, Klodt was helped by his daughter, who, having mounted a horse, reared it, and the sculptor made sketches.

Further history of Anichkov Bridge continued in 1902, when its condition was recognized as emergency, and repair work was carried out in 1906-1908. During the Great Patriotic War and the siege of Leningrad, Klodt’s sculptures were buried underground in the courtyard of the current Pioneer Palace. However, even before the end of the war, Klodt's horses were returned to their place. In 2000, the bronze statues of horses were restored under the direction of sculptor V.G. Sorin, and in 2008 a planned overhaul of the bridge took place.

Many legends and traditions of St. Petersburg are associated with the Anichkov Bridge. It is difficult to judge what is fiction and what is true. For example, they say that one of Klodt’s horses, located on the side of Gostiny Dvor and closest to it, has Napoleon’s profile instead of a distinctive gender. The French Emperor annoyed Klodt by darkening the sculptor’s honeymoon with persistent courtship of his young wife. Whatever the reality, they are certainly rightfully considered one of the brightest symbols of St. Petersburg.

Anichkov Bridge is one of the most famous in St. Petersburg. The bridge was named after Lieutenant Colonel M.O. Anichkov, who commanded the construction battalion that built the bridge. The length of the crossing was 150 meters, covering not only the Fontanka, but also the swampy floodplain of the river.

In 1715, Emperor Peter I issued a decree: “Build a bridge across the Bolshaya Neva on the Fontannaya River.” By May 1716, the work was completed and a multi-span wooden beam bridge on pile supports was built across the Nameless Erik, as the Fontanka was then called, blocking both the channel itself and the swampy floodplain. It was of light construction with a narrow roadway. And although no drawings of that bridge have been preserved, it is known that it was one of those wooden bridges that were being built en masse at that time, and therefore, most likely, its structures were covered with boards and painted to resemble stone rustics in order to give the structure a “representative” look . The bridge was built by an engineering battalion, commanded by engineer-lieutenant colonel Mikhail Anichkov. Anichkov's battalion was stationed on the banks of the Fontanka in an old Finnish village, since then nicknamed "Anichkova Sloboda"

Even in the era of Peter the Great, the bridge was rebuilt: in 1721 the crossing was expanded, the bridge became eighteen spans. The middle part was made liftable, since by that time the Fontanka had already been cleared and deepened, and ships began to sail along it. This bridge underwent major repairs in 1726 and 1742, and in 1749 the architect Semyon Volkov built a new wooden bridge, which was not much different from the standard bridges of that time. According to the surviving drawing of 1750 “Plan and façade of the Anichkov Bridge” by van Boles, the bridge was a simple beam system with a lifting span. The lifting devices of the middle part were made in the form of “cranes”. Eighteen arched spans, treated with stone rustication, were preserved. The fence consisted of a row of wooden balusters standing between tables topped with vases or balls. According to one version, the crossing was strengthened in order to deliver a gift from the Shah of Iran to the king - elephants. Until the end of the 18th century, the Fontanka served as the border of the city, so the bridge served as a kind of checkpoint. There was a border checkpoint near the bridge

In the middle of the 18th century, the city stepped over its natural border and began to be built on the territory of the former suburbs. This explains the extensive activities of the Commission on the Stone Structure of St. Petersburg and Moscow to regulate small rivers and canals, according to whose projects from 1780 to 1789 work was carried out on the development of the Fontanka. Under the leadership of General F.V. Bauer, stone coastal walls with slopes to the water were erected, as well as seven stone bridges of the same type with medium draw spans and towers on bulls. The authorship of the project is attributed to J.-R. Perrone, but there is no documentary evidence of this. Since that time, only one similar bridge has survived - the Lomonosov Bridge; in fact, one can judge from it the architecture of the Anichkov Bridge. The side spans of the bridge were equal in size and covered with box stone vaults, the middle span was made of wood and opened to allow small ships and barges to pass through. Between the four granite tower superstructures, which rested on river supports, heavy chains were stretched, which served to lift the canvas of the adjustable part


By the early 40s of the 19th century, the roadway on Nevsky Prospekt was significantly wider than the Anichkov Bridge. In addition, the middle wooden part of the bridge, which at one time was designed for the movement of carriages and carts along it, turned out to be unsuitable. The project for rebuilding the bridge, drawn up under the leadership of Lieutenant General A.D. Gotman by engineer-major I.F. Butazza with the participation of engineer I. Reder, was approved by Nicholas I in December 1840. In 1841, the old bridge was dismantled and a new one was erected in seven months. In January 1842, the grand opening of the new crossing took place. The bridge acquired its current appearance in 1841-42, when the bridge was rebuilt and expanded, the towers disappeared. Three spans, covered with gentle arches, were laid out of brick, the bridge supports and spans were lined with granite, cast-iron railings appeared with alternating paired images of seahorses and mermaids according to a drawing by the Berlin architect Karl Schinkel. Exactly the same railings already existed in Berlin on the Palace Bridge by that time. Granite pedestals for statues also appeared, on which were erected the sculptures “Horse Tamers,” commissioned by the sculptor P. K. Klodt to decorate the Admiralty Embankment. The original design also included the installation of bronze vases in the middle of the bridge (above each of the supports). This point of the project was abandoned, leaving pedestals as a souvenir for descendants


The operation of the new bridge revealed serious design flaws, which already in 1843 led to deformations in the vaults. Periodic studies in 1843, 1847, 1855, 1899 recorded that the destructive process continued. An inspection on October 9, 1902 revealed that the condition of the bridge was dangerous. The reasons for the destruction of the bridge are seen in the fact that the rigid granite cladding was not reliably connected to the easily compressible brickwork of the vaults. Due to the lack of reliable insulation, water entered into the cracks, in places where dissimilar materials came into contact, destroying the vaults under the influence of natural forces - frost, winds, etc.


It took almost five years to design the new bridge, since in the process of solving a simple and clear technical problem, opposing views were expressed on the role of structures in the formation of architectural forms. Thus, the first project, carried out by the preparatory commission of urban railways on behalf of the City Duma, provided for the preservation of the appearance of the bridge with the replacement of stone vaulted structures with metal beams of a curved shape with a metal deck painted “granite-like”. There was an option according to which it was planned to attach a pendant made of thin granite slabs to the bottom and sides. The goal of these projects was to build a non-thrust bridge system, but similar in shape to the existing one. In the end, the project was approved by the City Duma, but its implementation was opposed by the Academy of Arts, and later by the Construction Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.


The reconstruction of the Anichkov Bridge was carried out in 1906-1908 under the leadership of the architect P.V. Shchusev. The reconstruction of the vaults was carried out in sections, leaving the seam between them unfilled. As a result of the reconstruction, the bulls and abutments remained the same, the brick vaults were laid along a box curve with an arrow of 1: 7.74. The brick vaults are lined with pink granite. All bridge structures are insulated with rolled lead. The length of the spans was: middle - 12.5 m, extreme - 12.6 m each. The width of the bridge was 37.9 m, of which the roadway occupied 31.9 m.


The first two sculptures cast in bronze, “A Horse with a Walking Youth” and “Young Man Taking a Horse by the Bridle,” appeared on the western side in 1841. The sculptures on the eastern bank repeated the western ones, but were temporary, made of plaster, painted bronze. Only the bronze horses cast by him as replacements and barely cooled straight from the foundry were presented by Nicholas I to the Prussian king Frederick William IV. They are still in Berlin. In 1844, the oriental plaster sculptures were finally replaced with bronze ones, but they did not last long; two years later, Nicholas I presented them to the “King of the Two Sicilies” for the hospitality shown to the Russian Empress during her trip to Italy and in 1846 they ended up in Naples. Subsequently, copies of Klodt’s horses ended up in Peterhof, Strelna, and the Moscow estate of the Golitsyns - Kuzminki

Each time they were removed from the bridge and replaced with plaster copies. Finally, in 1851 the bridge was finally “completed”. Klodt did not repeat the previous sculptures, but created two new compositions; as a result, the statues began to depict four different stages of conquering a horse. The statues left the bridge twice more. In 1941, during the siege, they were removed and buried in the garden of the Anichkov Palace, and in 2000 they were taken away for restoration and for the 300th anniversary of the city. In the 1900s in Moscow, on Begovaya Alley near the Moscow Hippodrome, copies of sculptures made by the grandson of P. K. Klodt, sculptor K. A. Klodt, with the participation of S. M. Volnukhin were installed. It is interesting that the statues of horses that “look” towards the Admiralty have horseshoes on their hooves, while the statues of horses looking towards Vosstaniya Square do not have horseshoes. A widespread legend explains this by the fact that in the 18th century, foundries (where the avenue actually got its name) and forges were located on Liteiny Prospekt. Therefore, shod horses “go” from the forges, to the beginning of the avenue, and unshod horses, on the contrary, are positioned facing in the direction of Liteiny Prospekt.


During the siege of Leningrad, the bridge was significantly damaged by artillery attacks. Granite parapets and sections of railings were damaged. The crossing became a monument to the blockade: on the granite pedestal of Klodt’s horses, they did not deliberately restore the trace left by fragments of a German artillery shell. Equestrian groups were buried in the courtyard of the Palace of Pioneers. Boxes with sown grass were displayed on granite pedestals. The bridge was badly damaged by direct bomb hits. But even before the end of the war it was restored, and the equestrian statues were returned to their place on the eve of May 1, 1945.


In the mid-90s, a major reconstruction of the cast iron fences of the bridge was carried out. They were copied and re-cast at the enterprise of the Federal Nuclear Center in the city of Snezhinsk, Chelyabinsk region. This little-known fact is evidenced by the emblem of the city of Snezhinsk, which can be found on the casting of the railing


A. Blok wrote about the sculptures of the Anichkov Bridge.

Bridge over the Fontanka River in St. Petersburg. One of the most famous city bridges. The first wooden crossing in this place was built in 1716. In 1785, simultaneously with the dressing of the Fontanka in granite embankments, the stone Anichkov Bridge was erected. Finally, in 1841-1842 it was rebuilt according to the design of A.P. Bryullov, I.F. Buttats and A.H. Reder, as a result of which the current three-span bridge appeared. Subsequently, this bridge structure was repeatedly repaired and restored.

The name of the bridge, like the palace nearby, is associated with Lieutenant Colonel Mikhail Anichkov, whose engineering battalion during the reign of Peter the Great was located in this place across the Fontanka River - in the so-called “Anichkova Sloboda”. This battalion built the first wooden Anichkov bridge, which gave its name to all subsequent bridges. And the “folk legends” that arose later about a certain Anya (Anichka), a victim of unhappy love, are nothing more than urban legends.

When, at the beginning of the 19th century, Nevsky Prospekt expanded so much that it began to exceed the deck of the old Anichkov Bridge, traffic jams began to form here often. In addition, the wooden drawbridge could not withstand the increased traffic of carriages, carts and carts. Therefore, Nicholas I decided to build a new bridge, which was implemented in 1841-1842.

The main decoration and attraction of the Anichkov Bridge is the sculpture “Horse Tamers” by P. K. Klodt, located on granite pedestals on four sides, two at each edge of the bridge. These bronze sculptures reflect the four different stages of man's conquest of the horse, and today they are one of the popular symbols of St. Petersburg. It is interesting that the figures of young men and horses on the eastern bank of the bridge have a later origin - the originals (and subsequent copies) were removed several times and given by Emperor Nicholas I to his guests, as a result of which copies of Klodt’s horses are now available in Berlin, Naples, Peterhof, Strelna and Kuzminki near Moscow.

It is interesting that the horses that are directed towards the Admiralty are shod, but the statues looking towards Vosstaniya Square are not. There is an opinion that this is due to the previous location of the forges on Liteyny Prospekt: ​​shod horses go from the forges to the beginning of the avenue, and unshod horses go towards Liteyny.

Eight male figures (young men and horses) near the Anichkov Bridge gave rise to the somewhat frivolous popular name for this crossing - “the bridge of sixteen eggs.”

In addition to the Anichkov sculptures, the bridge is decorated with granite cladding and cast iron railings, the design of which is made of paired images of seahorses and mermaids. There are similar railings in Berlin on the Palace Bridge, since the author of the sketches for the gratings of both bridges is the same person - Karl Schinkel.

During the Leningrad blockade, sculptures from the Anichkov Bridge were removed and buried in the garden of the Anichkov Palace. And not in vain - the bridge itself was heavily damaged by air strikes, some pedestals still retain traces of German shells, they decided not to restore these potholes, but to preserve them as a monument to the blockade.

The length of the bridge is 54.6 m, width is 37.9 m.

Anichkov Bridge is included in the Unified State Register of Cultural Heritage Objects (historical and cultural monuments) of Russia.