The Pevchesky Bridge (; literally ''Singers' Bridge''), also known as the Choristers' Bridge or Yellow Bridge (Жёлтый Мост, Zhyolty Most), is a single-span bridge across the

Moika River The Moyka (, also Romanization, latinised as Moika) is a short river in Saint Petersburg which splits from the Neva River. Along with the Neva, the Fontanka river, and canals including the Griboyedov Canal, Griboyedov and Kryukov Canal, Kryu ...

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 ...

. The bridge is a part of the

Palace Square Palace Square ( rus, Дворцо́вая пло́щадь, r=Dvortsovaya Ploshchad, p=dvɐrˈtsovəjə ˈploɕːɪtʲ), connecting Nevsky Prospekt with Palace Bridge leading to Vasilievsky Island, is the central city square of St Petersb ...

. The length of the bridge is 21 metres, and the width is 72 metres. It is the third-widest bridge in Saint Petersburg, after the Blue Bridge and Kazansky Bridge. Before the

February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...

, the term "Choristers' Bridge" was shorthand for the tsarist foreign ministry, just as the French foreign ministry is known as the Quai d'Orsay. The first wooden bridge on the site was designed by the French architect Auguste de Montferrand; it was inaugurated in 1834. The first pedestrians to cross the bridge were the troops marching to the parade celebrating the unveiling of the Alexander Column (also designed by Montferrand).''Pevchesky Most'' on the Walkspb.ru site
The bridge got the name ''Yellow'' from the color of the railings, and according to the tradition of color-coding the bridges crossing the Moika River (that already had the Blue Bridge, the Green Bridge and the Red Bridge). In 1837,

Georg von Cancrin Count Georg Ludwig Cancrin (; 16 November 1774 – 10 September 1845) was a Russian German aristocrat and politician best known for spearheading reforms in the Russian financial system early in the 19th century. Early life Cancrin was born in H ...

, an imperial minister of finance, proposed to replace the wooden bridge with a much wider

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 ...

structure. According to legend, Emperor Nicholas I himself chose the location for the bridge. Across the river from the

Winter Palace The Winter Palace is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the House of Romanov, previous emperors, from 1732 to 1917. The palace and its precincts now house the Hermitage Museum. The floor area is 233,345 square ...

was located the house of Count Yury Alexandrovich Golovkin. Once, Golovkin was in such a hurry to meet the Emperor, that he stepped from the boat transporting him across the Moyka and nearly drowned. Thus, Nicholas stated to Golvkin that he specifically located the bridge close to Golovkin's house, so as not to repeat the accident. The new bridge was designed by architects

Vasily Stasov Duke Vasily Petrovich Stasov (Russian: Васи́лий Петро́вич Ста́сов; 4 August 1769 – 5 September 1848) was a famous Russian architect, born into a wealthy noble family: his father, Pyotr Fyodorovich Stasov, came from ...

, Domenico Adamini, and engineer E.A. Adam. The bridge was opened on 24 October 1840. The first user of the bridge was Nicholas I himself, who solemnly crossed the new bridge in his horse-drawn coach. The main decoration of the bridge are beautiful cast iron railings, with numerous frills, the main repeating elements being fan-like palmettos. Later, the bridge got the name ''Pevchesky'' (literally Singers' bridge), because the Saint Petersburg Court Capella was accommodated nearby. In 1937, the rose-colored paving stones of the bridge were replaced by bitumen. In 2004, the companies ''Lenmoststroy'' and ''Intarsiya'' undertook restoration works on the bridge.Pevchesky Most on Most-spb.ru site

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{{coord, 59.9401, N, 30.3193, E, display=title Vasily Stasov buildings and structures Bridges in Saint Petersburg Bridges completed in 1840 Auguste de Montferrand buildings and structures Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Saint Petersburg

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