Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge - Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge (1692, Demolished)

Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge (1692, Demolished)

A "live" bridge of boats linked the Kremlin with Zamoskvorechye on a nearby site as early as the 15th century. In 1643, Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich engaged Anie and Jogann Cristler, architects from Strassburg to design a stone bridge. Anie Cristler and Tsar Mikhail died in 1645, construction halted.

Sources about the completion of the first Stone Bridge are contradictory.

• The most widely accepted version attributes it to Patriarch Filaret, who picked up the job in 1682; year of completion is either 1687 or 1692.
• Another version connects the completion in 1687 with Vasily Golitsyn, notable for his sponsorship of architecture.

Archive studies by Ivan Kondratiev indicate that original draft had 5 main spans of 40 arshin each. Later, numerous repairs (1707, 1731, 1771, 1788–1792, 1809–1812) changed it to seven spans over eight stone pillars.

It is estimated that the river maximum width was 105 meters (50 sazhen), and overall length of the bridge was 70 sazhen, 11 sazhen wide. Its south end terminated with a barbican tower, commonly called Six Gates (two for through traffic, four looking sideways). This ornate tower is believed to be the first stone Triumph arch in Muscovy .

The bridge deck originally included wooden storehouses, mills, taverns and tax collector's booths. All of these additions were destroyed in 1785 by the governor's decree. Still, it remained a busy public square and a place for religious ceremonies. Police reported frequent illegal street races in troykas, which assembled thousands of bystanders; more races followed when a new and wider bridge was completed.