Thursday, April 2, 2009

London Bridge is falling down ... good because St. Petersburg's bridges are the best!

Fun fact: St. Petersburg, Russia has approximately three hundred bridges throughout the city! Why, one may ask, do they have such an exorbitantly high amount of мосты? A crash course in the geography of the city quickly shows the need for the bridges. Saint Petersburg is situated on the middle taiga lowlands along the shores of the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. It is also split up among islands of the Neva river delta. There are many canals and rivers, including the famous and important Neva river that intersect the city over and over. The Russians have built a formidable collection of bridges to conquer the mighty river and peaceful canals flowing through the vibrant city. The bridges are not only aesthetically pleasing (Anichkov Bridge and The Bank Bridge are two of my favorite) they create interesting cultural adaptions as well. During the evening, the bridges are raised to allow boats and ships to pass through. If you are on the wrong side of the bridge late at night, you better be prepared for an extensive wait to cross. Below is a link to a nice summary and pictures of many of St. Petersburg's most interesting and beautiful bridges.

http://www.saint-petersburg.com/bridges/

1 comment:

Bimini said...

I hope you plan to study in St Pete then Tyce...