Bank Bridge (Russian: ''Bankovsky most'', ''Банковский мост'') is a long pedestrian

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

crossing the Griboedov Canal near the former

Russian Assignation Bank The Russian Assignation Bank or State Assignation Bank (), sometimes referred to as Assignat Bank, was a bank of issue in the Russian Empire, established in early 1769 by Catherine the Great. In terms of volume of issuance, it was the largest of ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Similar to other

s across the canal, the existing structure dates from 1826. The bridge engineer was Wilhelm von Traitteur, who conceived of a

pedestrian separation structure A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, by wheelchair or with other mobility aids. Streets and roads often have a designated footpath for pedestrian traffic, called the '' sidewalk'' in North American English, the ''pavement'' in British En ...

suspended by cables. He was an engineer who also built other bridges over the Griboyedov Canal, Fontanka and Moika. The general management of the bridge construction was carried out by colonel E. A. Adam. The special popularity of the bridge was gained through angular sculptures of four winged lions crowning the

abutment An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end that provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining walls ...

s. They were designed by sculptor Pavel Sokolov (1764–1835), who also contributed lions for Bridge of Lions and sphinxes for Egyptian Bridge. The bridge is in front of the former Assignation Bank building (now housing the

Saint Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance Saint Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance ( Russian: ''Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет экономики и финансов'') was a public university in Saint Petersb ...

). The bridge underwent numerous repairs and restorations, as well as structural modifications. In 1949 the wooden cover of the bridge was repaired, and later in 1951–1952 the wooden bearing structure of the bridge was replaced by a metal one. In 1967 and 1988 the gilding of the lions’ wings was renovated. In 1997 the sculptures and handrail lattice were restored. In 2007-2008 Griboyedov Canal Embankment from Kazan Cathedral to the Bank Bridge was renovated. Nowadays the winged lions are the symbol of St. Petersburg University of Economics and Finance. A local legend says that rubbing the paw of one of the winged lions paw will lead to great wealth.

External links

* {{coord, 59, 55, 56, N, 30, 19, 30, E, region:RU_type:landmark, display=title Pedestrian bridges in Russia Bridges in Saint Petersburg Bridges completed in 1826 1826 establishments in the Russian Empire Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Saint Petersburg