It is now about 9 o'clock in the morning, the city is quite awake; someone is already sitting at their jobs, preparing for their work achievements... And public utilities are cleaning and washing Moscow. A woman janitor in a blue blouse carefully sweeps the area and steps around the Engels monument at the Prechistensky Gate.
From the delivered tank with clean water They water the flower beds and lawns... It would be better to water them earlier - it’s already a bit hot and the sun is shining. But city flowers are not too capricious.
I was surprised by the summer area near the Vanilla restaurant by Stepan Mikhalkov. Usually a spacious, fashionable summer terrace with silk curtains, exquisite furniture and orchids in fashionable vases is installed here. This time - a simple wooden fence around the tables, and even with the inscription “Beluga”... Did Stepan really take used equipment from another restaurant?
But people are already sitting at the tables in the morning, having breakfast before the working day.
To get to the bridge, you need to go around the Temple...
No one can be seen on the church steps yet, except for the security guard, enthusiastically talking with someone on the phone...
But workers in construction overalls suddenly emerge from the Temple. Did you go to morning service before your shift started?
Flowerpots with flowers are placed throughout Moscow, and the Temple is also not far behind, the steps of the stairs are decorated with flowerpots with petunia...
The façade of the Temple facing the river...
From the terrace of the Temple you can see Trifonov's "House on the aberezhnaya", and from behind it the Kotelnicheskaya skyscraper peeks out...
On the other side sticks out the idol of Tsereteli - the monumental Peter I, placed near the Temple, sorry, backwards...
Below, under the terraces, in the square of the Temple, roses are in full bloom...
And on the embankment behind the square there are already tourist buses, despite the morning hour...
Here is the Patriarchal Bridge, going to Zamoskvorechye. There is a photo exhibition dedicated to Russian churches.
Today is June 23rd, but no one is closing the exhibition yet...
View from the bridge to the Kremlin...
And on the Strelka between the river and the canal, where Peter is piled up...
The main attraction of Strelka, besides the House on the Embankment, is the old chocolate bar. 1st factory Einem, in Soviet times - Red October. Not so long ago it was removed from the center of Moscow, leaving only the chocolate museum in its old place. Now factory buildings are either vacated and put in order, turning them into business and Entertainment Center, or dismantled if they are of little architectural value.
Office life is already in full swing near the former workshops...
But the open restaurant has not yet begun work... The umbrellas are rolled up, the chairs are upside down so as not to interfere with cleaning... The restaurant employees have been swaying for a long time!
There are still few tourists with cameras...
Mostly passers-by go about their business with measured steps... And they don’t even pay much attention to the views that open up.
The famous Tsvetkov house in Soimonovsky Proezd in front of the Temple.
View of the Smolensk skyscraper. And Moscow City, of course, impudently fits into the landscape behind it...
Miraculously surviving next to the House on the embankment, the Church of St. Nicholas the Pleasant ( Life-Giving Trinity) on Bersenevka, built in the 17th century, and the adjacent boyar chambers of the 16th century.
It was the proximity to the Government House that helped the church survive during the period of mass demolition of church buildings. In 1932, only the bell tower was destroyed, and the church itself, in which a dormitory was set up for the builders of the House, went through troubled times... Now it has been restored and looks good against the background of the gray walls of the Stalinist building...
From the bridge you can go down to Bersenevka...
The ancient houses, which had been reduced to the state of slums by the early 1990s, were not demolished; they have been tidied up and turned into offices.
Observation deck with flowers and benches. The benches are hidden between the flowerpots, but there are significantly fewer of them than there were at first... Flowerpots are constantly being rearranged, this way and that, apparently, some of the benches turned out to be superfluous.
And below, work continues to reconstruct the area. chocolate factory. Something has been demolished there again and another patch of land is being cultivated... The descents from the stairs here are completely ready, but the exit from them is still closed, it’s not like going down to the construction site... 
A little further you can go down to the canal embankment...
And cultural life is already booming there!
In a sense, the bridge is considered a symbolic road leading to the Temple... 
But from the Yakimanka side the bridge leads to a new shopping and hotel center. It is not yet open, while finishing work is underway, but the staircase inside the building leading from the bridge to Bolshaya Yakimanka has been operating for several years, directly next to the construction site.
The Patriarchal Bridge has the style of traditional architecture of the 19th century. Lamps are inserted into its canvas, which create unusual lighting in the evening. The part of the bridge located from the temple is made in openwork and has a ceremonial appearance. In the area of the bridge, lined with white marble, one can see the cups and stems of crinoids, crinoids and various ancient fossils.
Story
The pedestrian Patriarchal Bridge was built according to the design of architects and artists Z. K. Tsereteli, M. M. Posokhin, as well as engineers A. Kolchin and O. Chemerinsky. The construction passed the examination, acceptance tests of the structure were successful. The bridge opened in September 2004 and has become one of the favorite places of Muscovites and tourists. It got its name in honor of the Russian Patriarch Alexander II. Then, when the main part of the production of the Red October confectionery factory was moved from the territory of Bersenevskaya embankment, the stylobate bridge part was completed. The Patriarchal Bridge was built in this way. The grand opening of the new part took place on the first Saturday of September 2007 - on this day they celebrated Moscow City Day.
Geographical location
Rightfully considered one of the most beautiful places in the city, the 203-meter long bridge structure passes over the famous river called Moscow. The Patriarchal Bridge consists of structures of three spans and is located opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The first branch of the bridge goes across the Moscow River, connecting Prechistenskaya embankment with Bersenevskaya. The second stylobate part is located above and passes through Bolotny Island. This design position does not interfere with the normal movement of traffic and allows for good navigation of ships. In the near future, it is planned to complete the construction of an overpass, along which it will be possible to go to Bolshaya Yakimanka.
Not far from the bridge are the following attractions: the famous House on the Embankment museum, the majestic Cathedral of Christ the Savior and the
How to get there?
The bridge structure is located in Moscow at the address: st. Volkhonka, Patriarchal Bridge. How to get to this attraction? There are three options: by your own car, by taxi or on your own, that is, using public transport. To get there by personal car, it is more convenient to use a map or navigator. Please note that the bridge is located in the very center of the city, so traffic is heavy and it is difficult to find a parking space nearby. It is wiser to leave the transport far away and walk.
An easy way is to take a taxi. You can call a car from any taxi company, since in Moscow every taxi driver knows where the Patriarchal Bridge is.
For those who decide to come on their own, you need to familiarize yourself with the location of this attraction on the map. The most convenient way to get there on your own is to use the metro. The nearest station, from which you can quickly get to the bridge structure, is Kropotkinskaya. It is located on the red Sokolnicheskaya line of the Moscow metro. Having reached this station, you need to pay attention to the signs posted at the exit to the city. There is direct access from the metro to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. This is the shortest and most convenient way. After walking for about 1 minute, you can find yourself near the temple. Then you need to go around it and get onto the bridge straight from the gate. And even if the sign is not found, you can exit through any of several exits into the city. After leaving the metro, there is an opportunity to see the temple from every point and walk to it.
You can take a more picturesque route along the embankment or the street of the old city by getting off at the Park Kultury metro station. In this case, it is better to use a map, navigator, or ask passers-by. This walk will allow you to see more beautiful places Moscow.
Also not far from the bridge structure are trolleybus routes No. 2, 16, 33, 44.
Map
As we have already found out, there is different ways visit the Patriarchal Bridge. A map or navigator will help you get directions from anywhere in Moscow. In the same way, you can quickly find a convenient road by car or choose a rational path for a walk. The fragment of the map also shows metro stations that pass near the bridge. All this information will allow you to choose the optimal route.
Traditions
Despite its short existence, the Patriarchal Bridge has become a symbol of family unity. It is very popular among couples in love. You can often see wedding processions here. The part of the bridge located on the side of the temple is very beautiful and delicate, which makes it ideal for a wedding photo. It was in this place that the tradition of newlyweds to fasten the “lock of love” and throw the key into the river was founded for the first time in Moscow. It is believed that such a marriage will be strong. On the fences you can see a huge number of different castles: with names and unnamed, large and small, ordinary and elegant.
The bridge was used by the directors of the film "Love in big city" The most trembling moments were filmed on it. Several times (from 2008 to 2011) New Year’s greetings from the President to the people of Russia were recorded in this place.
Beautiful pictures
At any season and time of day you can meet many people here who are simply walking, enjoying the beauty or filming the Patriarchal Bridge. The photos turn out wonderful, as it offers magnificent views. You can capture the walls of the Kremlin and the center of Moscow from a favorable angle. The Cathedral of Christ the Savior looks majestic, photographed from the bridge structure. Not only tourists, but also local residents, who pass here very often, cannot resist taking another beautiful shot. The pictures turn out to be extraordinary in the evening, when the lights and lanterns light up in different colors. Despite the fact that the bridge is always crowded, there is no fuss on it. The bridge structure is spacious and wide, so it is not crowded. Almost everyone who visited it is satisfied with the calm walk and beautiful views.
Cathedral Church of Christ the Savior in Moscow - Cathedral Russian Orthodox Church (Volkhonka Street, 15-17). The existing structure, built in the 1990s, is a recreation of the temple of the same name, created in the 19th century. The temple is a collective cenotaph of the soldiers of the Russian Imperial Army who died in the war with Napoleon; the names of officers who died in the Patriotic War of 1812 and the Foreign Campaigns of 1797-1806 and 1813-1814 are inscribed on the walls of the temple. The original temple was erected according to the design of the architect K. A. Ton. Construction lasted almost 44 years: the temple was founded on September 22, 1839, consecrated on May 26, 1883. The temple building was destroyed at the height of Stalin's reconstruction of the city on December 5, 1931. Rebuilt in 1994-1997. The temple has the status of the Patriarchal Metochion.
The temple, the largest in Russia at the time of completion, is designed for 10,000 people. In plan, the temple looks like an equilateral cross about 80 m wide. The height of the temple with the dome and cross is 103 m (1.5 m higher than Saint Isaac's Cathedral). Built in the traditions of the Russian-Byzantine style, which enjoyed broad government support at the time construction began. The painting inside the temple occupies about 22,000 m2.
The modern complex of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior includes:
The upper temple is the Cathedral of Christ the Savior itself. It has three altars: the main one in honor of the Nativity of Christ and two side altars in the choir in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (south) and Saint Prince Alexander Nevsky (north). Consecrated on August 6 (19), 2000;
The lower temple is the Church of the Transfiguration, built in memory of the Alekseevsky women's monastery located on this site. It has three altars: the main one in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord and two small chapels in honor of Alexy, the man of God and the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God. The church was consecrated on August 6 (19), 1996.
The stylobate part, which houses the temple museum, the hall of Church Councils, the hall of the Supreme Church Council, refectory chambers, as well as technical and service premises.
House on the street Prechistenka, 2. Located near the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. I was attracted by my New Year's decorations. That's why he's here.) 
Patriarchal Bridge is a pedestrian bridge across the Moscow River. Connects the territory of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and Prechistenskaya, Bersenevskaya and Yakimanskaya embankments. Opened in 2004. Construction of the bridge began in 2002 and opened in September 2004. Installed on both sides memorial plaques with the following text: “The Patriarchal Bridge was built in 2004 according to the design of the architect M. M. Posokhin, the artist Z. K. Tsereteli and the engineers A. M. Kolchin, O. I. Chemerinsky.” At the time of its opening, the bridge connected the Cathedral of Christ the Savior with Bersenevskaya Embankment. On June 14, 2005, by decree of the capital government, the bridge was given the name “Patriarchal”.
In 2006, the city government decided to extend the bridge to Bolshaya Yakimanka Street. Since 2009, the Patriarchal Bridge has been part of the tourist zone " Golden ring Moscow." The bridge is located near the Kropotkinskaya metro station. It connects Prechistenskaya embankment with Bersenevskaya, crosses Bolotny Island at a level of ten meters above the ground, and then the Vodootvodny Canal, ending at Yakimanskaya embankment. The bridge offers views of the Kremlin, the House on the Embankment, the Central House of Artists, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Bolotny Island, the monument to Peter I by Zurab Tsereteli, Bolotnaya Square, Gorky Park, the Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge (upstream), as well as the Crimean and St. Andrew's bridges (downstream).
By its design, the bridge is arched and single-span. Length - 203 meters, span width - 105 meters, width of the passage within the span - 54 meters, height of the span within the passage - 12.5 meters. At night, the bridge is illuminated by more than 200 lamps, 500 floodlights and LEDs. To illuminate the lower surface of the bridge, color changers were used - equipment for automatically changing colors, diffused light fixtures with a CMYK color mixing system. The control program is configured in such a way that the lamps gradually change the color of their rays. The arches change color to green, purple, blue, red and white at intervals of about 15 seconds.
You can find my other photo reports here.
The Patriarchal Bridge is a relatively new structure, it was built in 2004, but during the short period of its existence the bridge has become a favorite among Muscovites. It offers a beautiful view of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the Kremlin and the panorama of the center of Moscow.
Story
Construction of the new pedestrian bridge began in 2002. The best Moscow specialists took part in the development of the project: architect Posokhin, sculptor-artist Tsereteli, engineers Chemerinsky and Kolchin.
- The grand opening of the Patriarchal Bridge took place in June 2004.
- In 2006, it was decided to extend the bridge to Bolshaya Yakimanka Street. The new part was opened in 2007.
- Two years later, in 2009, memorial plaques were installed on the Bridge in memory of Patriarch Alexy of Moscow and All Rus'.
- In 2017, the city authorities decided to open the Alley of Patriarchs; sculptures of the main spiritual shepherds of Orthodox Rus' from Job to Alexy are also planned to be installed on the bridge.
The Patriarchal Bridge has officially become one of the monuments of the “Golden Ring” of Russia.
Location
The bridge is located in historical center capital, not far from the Kropotkinskaya metro station, it connects the main Moscow Cathedral with Bersenevskaya Embankment, crosses Bolotny Island and the Obvodny Canal. You can get to it both from Kropotkinskaya and from Zamoskvorechye, from the Tretyakovskaya or Novokuznetskaya metro stations.
How to get to the bridge of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior
The Cathedral of Christ the Savior is located very close to the Kropotkinskaya station; the majestic building is clearly visible right from the entrance to the Metropolitan. You can also get off at Novokuznetskaya and walk along the Patriarchal Bridge.
Traditions
Despite the “youth” of the structure, certain signs and traditions are associated with the Patriarchal Bridge. It is believed that if one of the lights lights up slowly, this means that new life has arisen in the Moscow family planning center.
The Patriarchal Bridge has become among the people a symbol of family unity. Here you can often see couples in love, as well as newlyweds who, as a sign of the inviolability of marriage bonds, secure locks on the bridge railings and throw the key into the Moscow river.
The bridge in the city center is a great place for a photo shoot. From here you can clearly see the Kremlin, the famous House on the Embankment, which now houses a museum, a monument to Peter the Great, the Pertsev apartment building and other attractions of Old Moscow.
Bridge design
The bridge was built in the architectural traditions of the nineteenth century. The structure consists of three arched spans. The part of the bridge located closer to Prechistenskaya Embankment is made with openwork railings; white marble was used to decorate the second one.
There are more than two hundred lanterns on the bridge, which act as architectural decoration during daylight hours, and beautifully illuminate the structure in the evening and at night. For lighting, spotlights and LED lamps are also used, which change color every fifteen seconds. The bridge is alternately illuminated in blue, red, white, purple and green.
Photos
Photos of the Patriarchal Bridge have taken their rightful place in catalogs of Moscow attractions. You can see how the building itself different time days, as well as panoramic views that open from the Patriarchal Bridge.
Today, on a beautiful autumn day, we invite you to take a walk around the center of Moscow, along the Patriarchal Bridge. From here you can enjoy magnificent views of Moscow - a city that is in constant motion, constantly changing. From the Yakimanskaya embankment there is a pedestrian Patriarchal Bridge, which connects the Prechistenskaya and Bersenevskaya embankments. It was opened in 2005, architect M. Posokhin, artist Z. Tsereteli and engineers A. Kolchin and O. Chemerinsky. The length of the bridge is 203 m, width - 10 m. From here, magnificent panoramas of the center of Moscow open up. In general, the structure is stylized according to the traditional architecture of bridges of the 19th century. Lamps are built into the bridge deck, creating original lighting.
Immediately after its opening, this bridge became popular place for lovers and newlyweds. It was on this bridge that a new phenomenon was noticed for the first time in Moscow - “love locks” began to appear on its fence: large barn ones, small and elegant ones, with or without names.
And on the other side is the former territory of the Red October confectionery factory, the monument to Peter the Great, the Central House of Artists on Krymsky Val.
On the right we can see the St. Nicholas Church on Bersenevka in Verkhniye Sadovniki and the chambers of the Duma clerk Averky Kirillov, which form a single complex. The date 1657 is engraved on the foundation stone of the chambers. However, as archaeological research has shown, already in the 15th-16th centuries there was a wooden house with a basement on this site. The chambers were connected to the church, which was a brownie. Averky Kirillov, who was killed by the Streltsy during the Streltsy riot in 1682, is buried there. The church was built in 1656-1657, the main altar was consecrated in honor of the Holy Trinity. Therefore, it is also often called Trinity.
Also from the Patriarchal Bridge the Moscow Kremlin can be seen in all its glory. In front of it is the Big Stone Bridge. The first bridge on this site was built in 1686-1692 on the path of the ancient ford and was called All Saints, after the Church of All Saints on the left bank of the Moscow River. In 1859, according to the design of engineer Tanenberg, it was built new bridge, called Bolshoi Kamenny. It was located a little higher along the river - its continuation was Lenivka Street. The current single-span bridge was built in 1938.
On the other side is the “House on the Embankment” already mentioned in previous posts. The phrase “House on the Embankment” comes from the title of the novel of the same name by Yuri Trifonov. In the 1960s and early 1990s, this house was also called “Treshka” because it overlooks the Kremlin, depicted on the Soviet three-ruble banknote. Official name- “Government House”.
On Prechistenskaya embankment, a dark red brick building attracts attention - Pertsova’s apartment building. The apartment building of Z.A. Pertsova, built in 1905-1907 in the Art Nouveau style with Russian elements according to the sketches of the artist S.V. Malyutin (known as the creator of the Russian nesting doll). Artists once rented apartments here, and in the basement in 1908-1910 the artistic cabaret “The Bat” was located. To the right you can see the Church of Elijah the Everyday Prophet.
The high-rise building on the right is the building of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, built in 1948-1953. The height of the building is 172 meters, the central building has 28 floors. Modern skyscrapers of Moscow City can be seen in the background.
And, of course, being on the Patriarchal Bridge, you can’t help but take a photo of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior - from here it opens in all its glory. The Cathedral of Christ the Savior was built in gratitude for the intercession of the Almighty during a critical period in Russian history as a monument to the courage of the Russian people in the fight against the Napoleonic invasion of 1812. On December 25, 1812, when the last soldier of Napoleon’s 600,000-strong army was expelled from Russia, Emperor Alexander I, in honor of the victory of the Russian army and in gratitude to God, signed the Highest Manifesto on the construction of a church in Moscow in the name of the Savior Christ and issued the “Highest Decree To the Holy Synod on the establishment of the holiday on December 25, in remembrance of the deliverance of the Church and the Russian Empire from the invasion of the Gauls and with them twenty languages." The Cathedral of Christ the Savior took almost 44 years to build. At the beginning of 1918, due to the persecution of the Church and the publication of the Decree of the Soviet government “On the separation of church from state and school from church,” the Temple was completely deprived of assistance from the authorities. Then, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow and All Rus', the Brotherhood of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was created, which set itself the goal of maintaining the splendor of the Temple, preserving Orthodox life, and also carrying out extensive educational activities. On December 5, 1931, the Temple-Monument of Military Glory, the Main Temple of Russia, was barbarically destroyed. For many years after the explosion, a monstrous hole yawned on the site of the majestic Temple, where in 1958, during Khrushchev’s godless “thaw,” the Moscow swimming pool appeared. By 1999, the new Cathedral of Christ the Savior was built as a conditional external copy of its historical predecessor: the structure became two-level, with the Church of the Transfiguration in the basement level.
Here, opposite the Temple, there is a monument to Emperor Alexander II the Liberator. Sculptor Alexander Rukavishnikov, architects Igor Voskresensky and Sergey Sharov. It was opened on June 8, 2005. Behind the emperor are two bronze lions.
This concludes my story for today. It would seem like a very small corner of Moscow. But how rich it is in history, how much you can see and learn here. To be continued…
