Hermitage Bridge

The original bridge was a three-span wooden drawbridge constructed in 1718–20 by Harmen van Bol'es, immediately after the canal near the Winter Palace was completed. This bridge was narrow, allowing passage of only one cart at a time.

The permanent stone bridge was built in 1763–66, in conjunction with building of granite embankments of the Neva River. Today, Hermitage Bridge remains the oldest stone bridge in Saint Petersburg.^[1]

Originally the arch of the bridge was built from brick and limestone with granite exterior. In 1934 it was replaced with the new monolithic hinge-free ferroconcrete arch, but the granite facade was preserved by the project of engineer A. D. Sapestein and architect K. M. Dmitriev, the adviser – professor G. P. Peredery.^[2] In 1950, the original decor of ramps was restored.

v t e Winter Canal
Legend
Moyka Second Winter Bridge Moika river embankment Military archive First Winter Bridge Millionnaya Street Descent to W. Canal Noviy Hermitage General Staff Building Descent to W. Canal Hermitage Arch Hermitage theatre Bolshoy Hermitage Hermitage Bridge Palace Embankment Descent to Neva Neva

On 20 April 1738, the bridge received its first official name of Upper Embankment Bridge (Russian: Верхний Набережный мост) after the Upper Embankment street (today's Palace Embankment). However, this name didn't catch on. The name Winter Palace Bridge (Russian: Зимнедворцовый мост) after the nearby Winter Palace started to circulate in the middle of the 18th century. From the end of the 18th century the bridge was renamed to Palace Bridge (not to be confused with the modern Palace Bridge). The current name was established in 1929. The Hermitage Bridge name came from the Hermitage Theater which was built by that time between Winter Canal and Winter Palace.^[3]