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Marble Bridge

Marble Bridge, Podkaprizovaya Road, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 196603

The Marble Bridge was built in 1774 in the Landscape section of Catherine Park. The bridge stands over a channel connecting the Large Pond with the Swan Ponds, which are still called that to this day because swans lived on them. Seven small islands were specially created for the swans, and on the islands, houses were built, painted according to the designs of A. Rinaldi.
Imperial Parks of Tsarskoye Selo - Catherine Park
photo
Jermaine

The Marble Bridge was built in 1774 in the Landscape Section of the Catherine Park. The bridge stands over a channel connecting the Large Pond with the Swan Ponds, which are still called that to this day because swans lived on them. Seven islands were specially created for the swans, and on these islands, houses were built and painted according to the designs of A. Rinaldi. The bridge has three names – Marble, Palladian, and Siberian Marble Gallery. The bridge is placed over a narrow channel connecting the Large Pond with the neighboring pond, on which an archipelago of 7 islands was created. Swans lived on these islands in houses painted according to Rinaldi’s designs. These islands still retain the name Swan Islands to this day.

The Marble Bridge is a colonnade set on a granite base, with staircases spreading out on the sides. On the sides of the large and gentle central arch are smaller semicircular arches. The upper part of the bridge is formed by two square pavilions placed above the arched spans. The pavilions are connected by a colonnade of light and slender Ionic columns. The spaces between their pedestals are decorated with balustrades made of shaped balusters.

The model for the Marble Bridge, constructed following Neelov’s design, was inspired by bridges in the English parks of Stowe and Wilton, created based on Palladio’s project.

In the early 1770s, at the Yekaterinburg Faceting Factory, Ural stone carvers under the guidance of master V. Tortori carved columns, capitals, pedestals, balusters, and other details from local bluish-gray Gornoshchitsky and white Stanovoy marbles according to the presented model. Panels for cladding the bridge’s abutments were made from grayish-pink granite.

The construction of the Marble Bridge’s foundations dates back to 1773; in 1774, the bridge was assembled from ready-made parts in Tsarskoye Selo by master Tortori and his assistants.

Sources:

https://www.tzar.ru/objects/ekaterininskypark/landscape/marblebridge

https://pushkin.spb.ru/encycl/parks/mramornyiy-palladiev-most.html

 

photo
Jermaine

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Imperial Parks of Tsarskoye Selo - Catherine Park
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Imperial Parks of Tsarskoye Selo - Catherine Park
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Imperial Parks of Tsarskoye Selo - Catherine Park
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Imperial Parks of Tsarskoye Selo - Catherine Park
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Imperial Parks of Tsarskoye Selo - Catherine Park
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Own little garden

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Imperial Parks of Tsarskoye Selo - Catherine Park
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Moreyskaya Column

Devil's Bridge, Catherine Park, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 196609

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Imperial Parks of Tsarskoye Selo - Catherine Park
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Damn bridge

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Imperial Parks of Tsarskoye Selo - Catherine Park
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Cast iron gazebo

PC64+VP, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 196602

Imperial Parks of Tsarskoye Selo - Catherine Park
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Cold Bath in Tsarskoye Selo

Sadovaya St., 7, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 196601

Imperial Parks of Tsarskoye Selo - Catherine Park
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Agate Rooms

Sadovaya St., 7, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 196601

Imperial Parks of Tsarskoye Selo - Catherine Park
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Cameron Gallery

Sadovaya St., 7, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 196601

Imperial Parks of Tsarskoye Selo - Catherine Park
The gallery was named after its architect, Charles Cameron. It is located on a hillside, at the border between the formal and landscape parts of Catherine Park. The idea of constructing the gallery belonged to Catherine II. Construction of the gallery began in 1784 and was completed in March 1787. Cameron Gallery is a place from which one could see not only Tsarskoye Selo but the world at large; it represented a viewpoint elevated above everyday life. In height, Cameron Gallery matches the Catherine Palace, but because it stands on a gentle slope, the height of its lower floor increases significantly as it moves away from the palace, due to the gradual elevation of the plinth, made of hewn blocks of Syas stone slabs.
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Hanging garden and terrace

Catherine Park / Catherine Park, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 196601

Imperial Parks of Tsarskoye Selo - Catherine Park
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The Hanging Garden and the Stairway of the Gods in Tsarskoye Selo

Catherine Park / Catherine Park, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 196601

Samson Sukhanov: Master of Stonework
Imperial Parks of Tsarskoye Selo - Catherine Park
An unusual monument of classical architecture, resembling the romantic ruins of an ancient Roman bridge
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