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v t e Water system of Ligovsky Canal
Legend
Dudergofskoye lake Dudergofka River 1718-1721 To Moskovskoye s. Three highways interchange Ring Road To Bronka Three highways interchange Dachnaya street Three highways interchange Diameter To sea port terminal To Predportovaya To Ulyanka, Ligovo To Predportovaya To Leninsky Prospekt To Predportovaya To Leninsky Prospekt To Konstitutsii square Leninsky Pr. To Leninsky Metro Krasnenkaya River To Konstitutsii square Krasnoputilovskaya To Avtovo Moscow Gate Square Moskovsky Avenue Tsarskoselskaya Railway Kubinskaya Street Obvodny Y. V. Aqueduct Aviatorov Pound Znamenskya Square Nevsky Prospect Ponds Fontanka Panteleymonovsky Aqueduct Fountains of the Summer Garden Ponds in Tauride Garden Steam pump Water inlet 1720s Neva Moyka

The Fontanka (Russian: Фонтанка), a left branch of the river Neva, flows through the whole of Central Saint Petersburg, Russia – from the Summer Garden to Gutuyevsky Island [ru]. It is 6.7 kilometres (4.2 mi) long, with a width up to 70 metres (230 ft), and a depth up to 3.5 metres (11 ft). The Moyka River forms a right-bank branch of the Fontanka. Lined along the Fontanka Embankment stand the former private residences of Russian nobility.

Description

The river, one of 93 rivers and channels in Saint Petersburg, was once named Anonymous Creek (in Russian, Bezymyannyi Yerik, Безымянный ерик). In Russian, yerik is a secondary or intermittent river-channel (creek or brook). In 1719 the river received its present name, because water from it supplied the fountains of the Summer Garden.

Until the mid-18th century the Fontanka River marked the southern boundary of Saint Petersburg. Along its banks stood the spacious messuages of members of the Russian Imperial Family and of the nobility, the most brilliant being the Summer Palace and the Anichkov Palace. In 1780–89, architect Andrey Kvasov supervised the construction of the granite embankments and approaches to the river. The river-bed was regularised as well.

Examples of Baroque architecture along the banks of the river include the Sheremetev Palace, Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace, Naryshkin-Shuvalov Palace, and the Church of St Panteleimon (built 1735–1739). Notable Neoclassical structures from the 18th century include the Catherine Institute [ru], the Anichkov Palace and the Yusupov Palace on Sadovaya Street [ru].

Some of the mansions contain museums of the writers and composers who lived there: Gavrila Derzhavin (1743–1816), Alexander Pushkin (1799–1837), Ivan Turgenev (1818–1833), Anna Akhmatova (1889–1966) and others.

Fifteen bridges span the Fontanka, including the 18th-century Lomonosov Bridge and the extravagant Egyptian Bridge. The most famous bridge, the Anichkov Bridge, carries the Nevsky Prospekt over the river.

See also

• List of bridges in Saint Petersburg

References

• Канн П. Я. Прогулки по Петербургу: Вдоль Мойки, Фонтанки, Садовой. St. Petersburg, 1994.

External links

• Media related to Fontanka River at Wikimedia Commons

v t e Rivers and canals of Saint Petersburg
Admiralteysky Canal Admiralteysky Rov Bezymyanny ruchey Bobilka Bolshaya Izhorka Bumazhny Canal Chyornaya Rechka Chyornaya, Lakhta Chyornaya, Serovo Chyornaya, Sestroretsk Dachnaya Dudergofka Dudergofsky Canal Fontanka Frantsuzsky Kovsh Galernaya Gavan Glukharka Gorely Ruchey Great Neva Great Nevka Griboyedov Canal Ivanovka Izhora Kamenka Karpovka Kovsh Novoy Gollandii Krasnenkaya Krestovka Kronverksky Canal Kronverksky Strait Kryukov Canal Lapka Ligovsky Canal Ligovsky Pond † Little Neva Little Nevka Lubya Matisov Canal Middle Nevka Monastyrka Morskoy Canal Moyka Murinsky ruchey Murzinka Nagorny Canal Neva Novaya Novo-Admiralteysky Canal Obvodny Canal Okhta Okkervil Pryazhka Red Canal † Saint Petersburg Fortress Canal † Salnobuyansky Canal Seldyanoy Canal † Sestra Shkipersky Canal Slavyanka Smolenka Spartak Swan Canal Starozhilovka Tarakanovka Utka Volkovka Volkovsky Canal Voskresensky Canal Vvedensky Canal † Winter Canal Yekateringofka Yemelyanovka Yuntolovka Zhdanovka

59°55′00″N 30°16′42″E / 59.91667°N 30.27833°E / 59.91667; 30.27833

• Distributaries of the Neva
• Rivers of Saint Petersburg