All major cities in the world were built on the banks of rivers. Moscow was no exception, founded on the banks of the Moscow River and named after the water artery. The first historical documents contain scattered information about how many rivers flow through the city. Only in 1926 was the first catalog of the rivers of the Moscow province compiled, in which it was noted that there were 40 rivers within the boundaries of Moscow. Of these, only 23 had names, the rest were nameless. The most significant were the Moscow River, Yauza, Neglinka.
Bridges in Moscow
As the construction of residential areas in areas located on the banks of flowing rivers, the construction of bridges was carried out, providing transport links between residential areas. Even native Muscovites cannot always answer how many bridges there are in Moscow today, because they include flyovers, railway bridges and overpasses (bridges that run over roads). But one of the main decorations of the capital are embankments and 34 bridges connecting river banks.
The oldest of them: Lefortovsky, Borovitsky and Novospassky. They were built in tsarist times and have not been rebuilt since then. It is believed that the service life of any bridge structure is 100 years, after which the structure is dismantled and a new one is erected. This happened to one of the most beautiful and most significant - Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge.
Historical digression
The first bridge structure connecting the banks of the Moskva River near the Beklemishevskaya Tower of the Kremlin was built in 1498. At that time, the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge was a floating structure. It connected the Tverskaya and Serpukhovskaya roads. The construction of stationary bridges was not carried out at that time, since when enemies attacked from the south, the floating bridge could be easily removed, and the river was a natural obstacle blocking the path to the city. At the end of the 18th century, instead of a flooring of logs, a wooden bridge was built on piles 10 meters wide and 120.5 meters long. In 1829, the first reconstruction was carried out, as a result of which stone bulls and three wooden arched spans were installed.
After a fire in 1870, the wooden structures burned down, and two years later they were replaced by metal spans. The new bridge was named after Moskvoretskaya Street passing under it. It functioned until 1936, after which a new building was built instead.
The Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge known today was designed by architects I. G. Sardaryan and A. V. Shchusev. Construction was carried out in 1937-1938 under the guidance of engineer V. S. Kirillov.
Architectural features
The Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge in Moscow is one of the largest in Europe. With a width of 40 meters, the total length of the bridge is 554 meters. This is a monolithic reinforced concrete structure, the main span of which is 95 meters long. It blocks the course of the Moscow River. According to the project, the span was raised high above the level of the reservoir, so that river boats could pass under the bridge
The carriageway of the ramp from the left bank passes into Vasilevsky Spusk leading to Red Square, on the right bank the ramp smoothly passes the Chuguevsky Bridge leading to Bolshaya Ordynka. The main feature of the Moskvoretsky Bridge are special balconies built so that, while on them, you can look at the unique views of the Kremlin and Red Square. Pink granite was used for facing the facades and balconies, thanks to which the building began to harmonize with the architectural ensemble of the Kremlin.
As you can see on the map, the Moskvoretsky Bridge is located not far from the Spassky Gates. Being on it, tourists can admire the classic view of St. Basil's Cathedral, located on Red Square, the embankments of the Moscow River: Kremlin, Moskvoretskaya, Sofia. From the bridge you can see the Balchug Hotel, a beautiful view of the new Zaryadye Park built on the site of the former Rossiya Hotel.
Scandal facts related to the bridge
In modern history on the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky bridge twicethere were scandalous events that became a shock not only for Russia. One of them happened during the period of perestroika. The culprit of the event was a pilot from West Germany - Matthias Rust. At the end of May 1987, on a small single-engine plane from Hamburg to Helsinki, the pilot suddenly changed course and crossed the air border of the Soviet Union without obstacles from the border guard. Having flown over 1,000 km, the aircraft landed safely on the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge in Moscow. According to Rust, he originally planned to land on Red Square, but due to a large crowd of people he changed the landing site.
The second scandalous event that shocked the whole world in 2015 was the assassination of world-famous politician Boris Nemtsov in the late evening of February 27th. After that, there were even proposals to rename the bridge structure to the Nemtsov Bridge. This name was fixed among the friends and associates of the politician. A memorial has been created at the site of the murder, where volunteers are on duty every day, and Muscovites and guests of the capital bring fresh flowers to the place of Boris Nemtsov's death.
