The capital of Russia is not only a huge metropolis, but also a city in which about 40 rivers flow. And only some of them today have an open, that is, a land channel. These are Yauza, Skhodnya, Ichka, Ochakovka, Setun, Ramenka, Chechera and, of course, the most full-flowing one, which has the same name for the city itself.
Bridges across the Moscow River
The Moscow River, originating on the Smolensk-Moscow Upland, within the capital has acquired stone banks made of concrete and granite, dams and many bridges. The length of its metropolitan section is 80 km, while the width reaches values from 120 to 200 m. It is considered the widest near Luzhniki, and the narrowest near the walls of the Kremlin.
More than three dozen bridge structures are designed to connect the banks of a rather full-flowing river. Moreover, some of them have a history of several centuries. Most of them were built during the Soviet era.
Moskvoretsky bridge is considered one of the largest metropolitan structures that allow crossing the river. Having been in Moscow, one should not miss the opportunity to take beautiful photos as against the backdropbridge, and from it. After all, from here you can see beautiful views of the Kremlin towers - Beklemishevskaya and Spasskaya, St. Basil's Cathedral.
Historical background
The history of the Moskvoretsky bridge is more than five centuries old. It was erected on the site of one of the crossings, which also existed for many years. The crossing was one of the closest to the Kremlin and the most convenient. Gradually, the first structures were erected. At the end of the 15th century it was a floating structure, at the end of the 18th - wooden on stilts.
The bridge received its stone foundations in 1829. But these were only bulls, which were the support for the still wooden 28-meter spans. At the end of the 19th century, all wooden elements were badly damaged during a major fire, after which they were replaced with metal ones.
In 1935, all the capital's bridge structures underwent some changes. The modern look of the city was being formed, and their canvases were somewhat deployed along the axis to create fan-shaped diverging streets from the heart of the capital. Moskvoretsky bridge was considered as the head section of these works. It took its modern form in 1938.
Characteristics of the bridge structure
The bridge throughout its entire length has two lanes for pedestrian traffic and a fairly wide canvas for two-way traffic. It consists of two parts - Bolshoi and Maly Moskvoretsky Bridge. Both of them look like one whole and are most often perceived as one building.
The length of the mainstructures 554 meters, and a width of 40 m. This is a monolithic reinforced concrete structure of the arch type. It has three spans. The central one rises above the river to a height of 14 meters. Roads pass under the sides. The large bridge has observation platforms, which are located on our central pillars. The side walls have small hatches, slightly lightening the whole structure.
The smaller structure is the same width but only 32.5 meters long. This is only one span of monolithic reinforced concrete. Crosses the Drainage Canal structure.
Modern history
Moskvoretsky Bridge is famous not only for the history of its creation and beautiful views. In 1987, it completed the flight of the notorious Rust, who made his "call for peace." The daring antics of the young man, which made so much noise, led to multiple rearrangements in the field of defense in the country at that time. Even he himself still cannot articulate exactly why he did it.
In 2015, the bridge again attracted the attention of the world. Politician B. Nemtsov was killed on it. After that, the bridge almost got a new name. But the initiative to rename it did not find support either from the authorities or from the broad masses. Therefore, the building remained with its historical name.
Both events caused a wide resonance around the world and drew attention to the bridge as well. Many foreign tourists visit it not only to see the Kremlin walls from the best angle, but also for this reason.
