Palace Bridge

Why go

Palace Bridge rewards attention to scale, orientation, and setting. Palace Bridge (Дворцо́вый мост) is a road traffic and foot bascule bridge spanning the Neva River in Saint Petersburg between Palace Square and Vasilievsky Island. Before leaving, compare one close detail of Palace Bridge with its broadest public view.

What to look for

• Palace Bridge: Identify the strongest vertical and horizontal lines on arrival.
• Palace Bridge: Search for craftsmanship that a distant photograph misses.
• Palace Bridge: Use the surrounding pavement or garden to judge scale.

The full story

Palace Bridge (Дворцо́вый мост) is a road traffic and foot bascule bridge spanning the Neva River in Saint Petersburg between Palace Square and Vasilievsky Island. Like every other Neva bridge, it is drawn by night, making foot travel between various parts of the city virtually impossible. The total length of Palace Bridge is 260.1 meters, width is 27.8 meters. It is actually composed of five spans, the southernmost joining Palace Embankment between Winter Palace and Admiralty and leading to Palace Square. History Construction of the cast-iron bridge was started in 1912 to designs by Andrey Pshenitsky, but the work was delayed by World War I and the bridge was not opened to the public until December 23, 1916. The design was subject to strict controls so as to prevent the bridge from obstructing the view from Palace Embankment towards Kunstkammer, Imperial Academy of Arts, and other structures on Vasilievsky Island.

Useful to know

• Walk Palace Bridge in daylight, then compare its outline with the Spit of Vasilievsky Island.

Your next visit

Estimated · Declared scenario and planning estimates; no live opening, weather, queue or booking service.