One of the most famous bridges of Saint Petersburg, Anichkov Bridge is not only the symbol of the Northern Capital, but also very important passage across Fontanka River and a part of main street of the city – Nevsky Prospect.

The first bridge on this site was constructed in 1715-1716 according to the decree of Peter the Great by the military engineer M. Anichkov, whose name was given to the bridge. As the city and the river traffic were growing fast, the bridge went through several reconstructions during the Peter the Great times. In 1721 a new drawing bridge with towers (looking like a modern Lomonosov Bridge) was mounted. But in 1840’s the increasing traffic on Nevsky Prospect made this bridge inappropriate and the new stone three spanned bridge was mantled by the supervision of A.Gotman. After several more reconstructions in the beginning of XX century, the bridge got its modern look.

Nowadays the Anichkov bridge is a three-bay stone bridge 54,6 meters long and 37,9 meters wide. The most impressive and famous decoration of the bridge is 4 equestrian groups of statues “The Steed Tamers”, that were placed on both ends of the bridge in 1851. The spectacular sculptures of a man holding back the rearing up horse, created by Peter Klodt were removed during the WW II and kept in the Anichkov Palace garden. Recently the sculptures and the railings of the bridge were restored.