One of the most beautiful bridges in Pavlovsk Park is the Centaurs Bridge. It was built according to the design of architect V. Brenna during 1795-1796. This is a small single-span arched bridge faced with hewn slabs of Gatchina limestone; the profiled cornice and keystone are made from the same material. Eight stone pedestals are installed on the bridge, between which elegant wrought iron railings are laid, ending with volutes on both sides of the crossing. At the corners of the bridge, sculptures were installed—two pairs of identical centaurs. Two sculptures depicted a beardless young centaur, and the other two an old bearded one. These centaurs were plaster copies of marble centaurs from the Capitoline Museums in Rome, dating from the 1st–2nd century AD. It is believed that the Roman centaurs, in turn, are copies of ancient Greek bronze sculptures, now lost.

Plaster is a material poorly suited to our climate, and the sculptures quickly deteriorated. Therefore, around 1805, marble sculptures were installed instead of the plaster ones, according to a design by Voronikhin. There are two versions regarding the origin of the marble sculptures. Traditionally, it is believed that the marble centaurs were created in the workshop of the Russian sculptor Martos. This version is also mentioned in the Description of Museum Items of Pavlovsk. However, recently documents were discovered indicating that the marble sculptures were ordered by the Ober-Kammerherr of Her Imperial Majesty’s Court, Count Sheremetev, in Carrara, and the author of the sculptures is presumably the Carrara sculptor Franzoni. Currently, copies made from another material—epoxy resin—stand here. In each pair, one sculpture depicts a young centaur, and the other a bearded old man. These decorations give the bridge its name—the Centaurs Bridge.

A few words about Carrara. It is a city in northern Italy, near the coast of the Ligurian Sea. It is home to world-famous marble quarries (Carrara means quarry in Celtic). Carrara white marble is highly valued by sculptors and architects. The Roman Pantheon is made of Carrara marble. Michelangelo sculpted his David from it. Carrara has a school of sculptors with a centuries-old history.

Interestingly, according to documents, five centaurs were brought from Italy! The mystery was clarified when the fifth centaur (beardless), very similar to the Pavlovsk ones both in material and style, was found at the Sheremetev estate Ostankino in Moscow.

These four marble centaurs have survived to this day, although seriously damaged over two centuries. In 1932, they were removed from the bridge to the Gonzago Gallery. After the war, the sculptures were in a deplorable state and required restoration, which was long postponed and only completed in 2016. Now the restored centaurs are located in the Volier Pavilion.

Next to the Cold Bath and the Centaurs Bridge is the Family Grove, whose trees were planted in honor of the birth of children. Pavel Petrovich and Maria Feodorovna had ten children: four sons and six daughters. Later, as the children grew up and married, new trees were planted in honor of their spouses and then grandchildren. Each tree had a nameplate, and by 1828, when Maria Feodorovna passed away, there were 50 trees in the grove.

Source:

http://cityguidespb.ru/prigorody/pavlovsk_museum/382-most-kentavrov.html

https://www.citywalls.ru/house25742.html