Follow the river: free walk along the river...

Unlike the Neva and its many rivers and canals, the Fontaka has a single embankment along its seven-kilometer stretch. Until the middle of the 18th century, the Fontanka served as the southern border of the city, and after that - the border of the fine construction of St. Petersburg. Not surprisingly, there are a large number of buildings here that are of historical and cultural value. Moreover, you can get acquainted with them not only on the promenade, but also on board a boat tour. The modern name of the river Fontanka (from the Russian word "fountain") was invented in 1737, when aqueducts were built across it to supply water to the fountains of the Summer Garden. In the 18th century, forests grew on the southern banks of the Fontanka, which protected bandits who attacked the highways leading from St. Petersburg. For this reason, at the intersection of the main roads with the Fontanka, there were army and police posts during this period. Numerous semicircular and rectangular bridgeheads have survived today as a memory of the posts. Only in the second half of the 18th century, when the city border passed into the present Zagorodny Prospekt, the Fontanka officially entered the city limits. The first building on the banks of the Fontanka was the Summer Palace of Peter the Great. According to the custom introduced by Peter at that time, all buildings along a river had to have their own berths and piers. From 1780 to 1789, the architect Alexey Kvasov built granite embankments, ramps and slipways to the river. At the end of the 18th century, the river channel was straightened. In 1797-1800, the Mikhailovsky Castle was built on the banks of the Fontanka by the architect Vincenzo Brenna on the orders of Paul I, around which a moat was dug on three sides and connected to the river.