Neva river and its attractions in St. Petersburg

Neva – a river in Russia, flowing through the territory of the Leningrad region and St. Petersburg, connecting Lake Ladoga with the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea.

The length is 74 km, the basin area is 281 thousand km². The Neva is the only river flowing from Lake Ladoga.

On the banks of the Neva, in addition to St. Petersburg, there are three more cities: Shlisselburg, Kirovsk, Otradnoye and several dozen other settlements. It is navigable throughout, is part of the Volga-Baltic waterway and the White Sea-Baltic Canal.

Main waterways of the Neva delta
Name Region Length, km
Great Neva from the mouth of the Fontanka to the Blagoveshchensky Bridge 2.40
From the Blagoveshchensky Bridge to the Palace Bridge 1.22
Little Neva 4.85
Ekateringofka 3.60
Zhdanovka 2.20
Smolenka 3.30
Great Nevka from the Neva to Little Nevka 3.70
from Little Nevka to Middle Nevka 2.05
From Middle Nevka to Neva Bay 2.15
Middle Nevka 2.60
Little Nevka 4.90
Karpovka 3.00
Krestovka 0.74
Fontanka 6.70
Moyka 4.67
Griboyedov Canal 5.00
Pryazhka 1.32
Kryukov Canal 1.15
Obvodny Canal 8.08

Neva bridges in St. Petersburg:

Big Obukhovsky Bridge – built in 2004 as a cable-stayed bridge connecting Obukhovsky Defense avenue with Oktyabrskaya Embankment.

Volodarsky Bridge – built in 1936 as a movable concrete bridge connecting Narodnaya and Ivanovo streets.

Finland Railway Bridge – built in 1912 as a movable, metallic, double-segment railway bridge.

St. Petersburg, Neva delta

Alexander Nevsky Bridge – built in 1965 as a movable concrete bridge connecting Alexander Nevsky Square and Zanevsky Avenue.

Bolsheokhtinsky Bridge – built in 1911 as a movable, three-segment, metal bridge connecting the historic center of St. Petersburg with the Malaya Ohta district.

Liteyny Bridge (formerly the bridge of Alexander II) – built in 1879 as a movable, six-segment, arch bridge connecting Liteyny Prospekt with Academician Lebedev Str. and Vyborg.

Trinity Bridge (formerly the Kirov bridge) – built in 1903 as a five-segment movable metal bridge connecting Suvorov Square, Trinity Square and Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt.

Palace Bridge – built in 1916 as a movable, five-segment, iron bridge. Its opened central span is one of the city symbols. Connects Nevsky Prospekt with the Exchange Square and Vasilievsky Island.

Blagoveshchensky Bridge (formerly the Lieutenant Schmidt Bridge) – built in 1850 as a movable seven-segment iron bridge connecting Labour Square with the 7th Line of Vasilievsky Island.

Embankments and berths on the Neva

In 2020, the length of the embankments within the boundaries of St. Petersburg was about 154 km (with the suburbs about 170 km). The length of the sea coastline within the modern urban area is about 35 km.

Neva embankments on the right bank: Oktyabrskaya embankment, Malookhtinsky prospect, Sverdlovskaya embankment, Arsenalnaya embankment, Pirogovskaya embankment, Vyborgskaya embankment, Ushakovskaya embankment, Primorsky prospect.

Neva Embankments on the left bank: Rybatsky Prospekt, Obukhovskoy Oborona Prospekt, Sinopskaya Embankment, Smolnaya Embankment, Voskresenskaya Embankment, Kutuzov Embankment, Palace Embankment, Admiralteyskaya Embankment, English Embankment.

The River Station (1970, architects I. N. Kuskov, V. V. Popov) is a complex of buildings and structures above the Volodarsky Bridge: a mooring wall for the tourist fleet, a mooring for integrated fleet maintenance, and a mooring for Valaam Island.

Marine passenger pier (near the Tuchkov bridge)

Piers on Neva for sightseeing and walking routes within the city:

at the Summer Garden, on the Palace Embankment near the Winter Canal, the Commandant’s Pier of the Peter and Paul Fortress, on the Universitetskaya Embankment at the lower abutment of the Palace Bridge, on the Admiralteyskaya Embankment near the Palace Bridge (“descent with lions”), on Universitetskaya embankment near the Kunstkamera, on the Admiralteiskaya embankment near the Bronze Horseman, Makarov Embankment, 28.

Neva attractions in St. Petersburg

Museum-Diorama “Neva Battle of 1240” (2009, artist I. S. Zhebrovsky, Ust-Izhora) – a diorama of the Neva Battle in real size.

The Church of Prince Alexander Nevsky (1799, architects V. I. and P. V. Neelov, Ust-Izhora, 217 9th January Avenue) is a functioning Orthodox church in the classical style.

Church of the Holy Trinity (Oktyabrskaya embankment, 18) – the temple of Kinovia of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

The Alexander Nevsky Lavra (1713) is an Orthodox male monastery, a complex of buildings in the Baroque style of the 18th century.

Alexander Nevsky Square – Museum of City Sculpture, Moscow Hotel, monument to Alexander Nevsky (2002, sculptor Kozenyuk).

Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Malookhtinsky Prospekt).

Nienschanz (XIV-XVIII) is an archaeological site at the mouth of the Okhta River.

Smolny Monastery (1744, architect F. B. Rastrelli) is a former convent with the Smolny Cathedral.

Dacha Bezborodko (1784, architects G. Quarenghi, N. A. Lvov, Sverdlovskaya embankment, 40) – a manor with the famous “lion” fence.

Crosses (1868, architect V.P. Lvov) – prison, detention center No. 1.

Museum complex “The Universe of Water”.

Lenin Square – a monument to V. I. Lenin on an armored car (1926, sculptor S. A. Evseev, architects V. A. Shchuko, V. G. Gelfrich), Finland Station (1960, architects P. A. Ashastin, N. V. Baranov, Ya. N. Lukin, engineer I. A. Rybin), “Singing Fountains”.

Cruiser Aurora is a cruiser of the 1st rank of the Baltic Fleet, known for its role in the October Revolution of 1917.

House of Peter I (1703) – a small wooden house, the summer home of the king.

The Summer Garden (1704) is a monument of landscape gardening art of the 18th century.

Field of Mars – a monument to the “Fighters of the Revolution” (1933, architect L. V. Rudnev with eternal flame).

Suvorov Square – with a monument to A. V. Suvorov (1801, sculptor M. I. Kozlovsky).

Trinity Square – the Solovetsky stone was installed.

The Peter and Paul Fortress is a fortress on Zayachy Island, founded on May 16 (27), 1703. Peter and Paul Cathedral, Grand Duke’s Tomb, St. Petersburg Mint.

The Marble Palace (1785, architect A. Rinaldi) is a branch of the Russian Museum.

The Hermitage is the largest in Russia and one of the largest art, cultural and historical museums in the world.

Fountain on the Neva (2006).

Spit of Vasilyevsky Island – Stock Exchange Building (1816, architect J. Thomas de Thomon), Rostral columns.

The Admiralty (1823, architect A. D. Zakharov) – a ship on a spire – one of the symbols of the city.

The Zoological Museum (1832, architect I.F. Lukini) is the oldest zoological museum in Russia.

The Kunstkamera (1758, architect S. I. Chevakinsky) is an office of rarities, the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the first museum in Russia.

Monument to M.V. Lomonosov.

University – in the building of the Twelve Collegia (1742, D. Trezzini).

The Menshikov Palace (1721, architect J. M. Fontana, G.-I. Shedel) is the first stone building in St. Petersburg.

Senate SquareSt. Isaac’s Cathedral (1858, architect Karl Rossi), the Senate and Synod Building (1834, architect Karl Rossi), the Bronze Horseman (1770, sculptor E. Falcone).

Academy of Arts (1788, architect A. F. Kokorinov, J.-B. Vallin-Delamot).

Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1900, architect V. A. Kosyakov) – the courtyard of the Kozelskaya Vvedenskaya Optina Hermitage.

Mining Institute (1811, architect A. N. Voronikhin).

Timetable of bridge openings in St. Petersburg

  • Volodarsky bridge: from 2:00 to 3:45 and from 4:15 to 5:45
  • Alexander Nevsky Bridge: from 2:20 to 5:10
  • Bolsheokhtinsky bridge: from 2:00 to 5:00
  • Foundry bridge: from 1:40 to 4:45
  • Trinity Bridge: from 1:20 to 4:50
  • Palace Bridge: from 1:10 to 2:50 and from 3:10 to 4:55
  • Blagoveshchensky Bridge: from 1:25 to 2:45 and from 3:10 to 5:00
  • Exchange bridge: from 2:00 to 4:55
  • Tuchkov bridge: from 2:00 to 2:55

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