The Annunciation Bridge ( - ''Blagoveshchensky most''; from 1855 to 1918 Nikolaevsky Bridge, ; from 1918 to 2007 called Lieutenant Schmidt Bridge, ) is the first permanent bridge built across the

Neva River The Neva ( , ; , ) is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast (historical region of Ingria) to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length of , it is the fourth-l ...

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. It connects

Vasilievsky Island Vasilyevsky Island (, Vasilyevsky Ostrov, V.O.) is an island in St. Petersburg, Russia, bordered by the Bolshaya Neva and Malaya Neva Rivers (in the delta of the Neva River) in the south and northeast, and by Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finl ...

and the central part of the city ( Admiralteysky raion). The bridge's length is 331 meters and the width was 24 meters. The original name of the bridge was Nevsky Bridge. It was later renamed Blagoveshchensky Bridge. After the death of

Tsar Nicholas I Nicholas I, group=pron (Russian language, Russian: Николай I Павлович; – ) was Emperor of Russia, List of rulers of Partitioned Poland#Kings of the Kingdom of Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 18 ...

, it was named Nikolaevsky Bridge in his honor, and in 1918 it was renamed for Lieutenant Schmidt. In 1727 a temporary bridge was built at the location of the modern bridge. The place was chosen by Menshikov whose palace is located at the opposite bank. This bridge, named Issakievsky, existed until the current bridge was built, at which time it was moved to the location of where

Palace Bridge Palace Bridge (, ''Dvortsoviy Most''), a road- and foot-traffic bascule bridge, spans the Neva River in Saint Petersburg between Palace Square and Vasilievsky Island. Like every other Neva bridge (except for Big Obukhovsky Bridge), it is dr ...

is located today. The bridge was built in 1843-1850. It was designed by

Stanisław Kierbedź Stanisław Kierbedź (, 1810–1899) was a Polish railway engineer. He designed and supervised the construction of dozens of bridges, railway lines, ports and other objects in Central and Eastern Europe. He served in the Imperial Russian Army with ...

, a Polish engineer working in Russia. The architect

Alexander Brullov Alexander Pavlovich Brullov, sometimes Brulloff (Brulleau until 1822; ; 29 November 1798 – 9 January 1877), was a Russian artist associated with Russian Neoclassicism. Early life Alexander Brullov was born in Saint Petersburg into a family ...

participated in the decoration. The design was a

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

bridge with twin parallel swing sections at its northern end. At the time, it was the longest bridge in Europe. According to the legend, the Russian

Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

, Nicholas I promised to Kierbedź to give him a promotion for every completed span. After the bridge was completed with eight spans total in it, Kierbedź was promoted to the rank of

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

, but actually when he started the construction he already had a rank of

Podpolkovnik ''Podpolkovnik'' () is a military rank in Slavic and nearby countries which corresponds to the lieutenant colonel in the English-speaking states and military. In different languages the exact name of this rank maintains a variety of spelling ...

(i.e. lieutenant colonel). The bridge was formally opened on November 12, 1850. Since it was close to Blagoveshchenskaya (Annunciation) Square, it was called Blagoveshchensky Bridge. In 1855 it was renamed Nikolayevsky Bridge in memory of Emperor Nicholas I. In 1918, after the

revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

, it was renamed again, this time in memory of

Pyotr Schmidt Pyotr Petrovich Schmidt (; – ) was one of the leaders of the Sevastopol Uprising during the Russian Revolution of 1905. Early years Pyotr Petrovich Schmidt was born in 1867 in Odessa, Russian Empire, now Ukraine, to the family of rear ad ...

, a leader of the

Sevastopol Uprising Pyotr Petrovich Schmidt (; – ) was one of the leaders of the Sevastopol Uprising during the Russian Revolution of 1905. Early years Pyotr Petrovich Schmidt was born in 1867 in Odessa, Russian Empire, now Ukraine, to the family of rear ad ...

during the

Russian Revolution of 1905 The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, t ...

. In 2006 a reconstruction of the bridge began. Since it would be completely closed to traffic for over a year, a temporary bridge was constructed between September 2005 and May 2006. During the reconstruction all traffic, both pedestrian and motorized, moved across the temporary bridge. In May 2006 the Lieutenant Schmidt Bridge was closed to traffic, and the dismantling of the spans, and then, of bridge supports began. The reconstruction was completed on August 15, 2007, slightly over two years after work began. During reconstruction the deck was widened from 24 m to 37 m. After reconstruction, the bridge was renamed Blagoveshchensky Bridge.

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"Lieutenant Schmidt son" is preparing for an opening
* {{Authority control Bridges in Saint Petersburg Bridges completed in 1850 Cultural heritage monuments of regional significance in Saint Petersburg

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