Strognovskyi bridge lies near the port, and built over a Karantinnaya beam. It’s called on behalf of Russian general-governor and the first Honorable Citizen of Odessa count Stroganov.
The landscape where Odessa was built, has a few large beams: Vodyanaya (where the Balkovskaya street located), Voennaya (goes down from Deribasovskaya through Gavannaya streets to Voennyi descent) and the Bolshaya Karantinnaya, which goes down to the port. That is why there were a lot of bridges in Odessa since the city’s birth. Since the founding even Deriasovskaya has an own bridge, but it was filled later. The biggest bridge in Odessa before the Revolution was certainly Stroganovskyi bridge.
The projects of this bridge were sent to Sankt-Petersburg since 1840th years, but the capital did not gave an approval of any of them. When the one project was finally approved, the building continued to ten years, from 1852 till 1863. Under the manual of architect Gonsiorovskiy bridge was built by the contractor Butirskiy. In fact, Stroganovskyi consists two bridges, connected by the mound. The longitude of the bridge with arches and stone blocks formed 120 meters.
The landscape where Odessa was built, has a few large beams: Vodyanaya (where the Balkovskaya street located), Voennaya (goes down from Deribasovskaya through Gavannaya streets to Voennyi descent) and the Bolshaya Karantinnaya, which goes down to the port. That is why there were a lot of bridges in Odessa since the city’s birth. Since the founding even Deriasovskaya has an own bridge, but it was filled later. The biggest bridge in Odessa before the Revolution was certainly Stroganovskyi bridge.
The projects of this bridge were sent to Sankt-Petersburg since 1840th years, but the capital did not gave an approval of any of them. When the one project was finally approved, the building continued to ten years, from 1852 till 1863. Under the manual of architect Gonsiorovskiy bridge was built by the contractor Butirskiy. In fact, Stroganovskyi consists two bridges, connected by the mound. The longitude of the bridge with arches and stone blocks formed 120 meters.
Stroganovskyi bridge has conceded superiority in height only recently, when there was built even higher Tioschin bridge. It’s dark faith came to Teshin’s bridge too, and it’s became the bridge of suicides. Etnographer and journalist Alexander Deribas wrote about Stroganovskyi bridge the following: ”It’s under the abyss. Now it has the high cast-iron fence to prevent suicides. A lot of unhappy suffering people, which previously relied on the low railing of the bridge, felt like to fly upside down. The suicides were so regular, that the decision to make higher railing was taken.” Odessa’s writers Iurii Olesha and Valetine Kataev has mentioned this place in theirs stories. Olesha lived nearby, on Karantinnaya street, which has his name now. Another Odessa’s writer, his friend Lev Slavin, wrote in his memories: “The tram brought from Karantynnyi lane right to the high school. But Iura preferred to walk by feet. He walked through Grecheskaya street. His steps became slowly on the Stroganovskyi bridge. There were three parallel bridges under the noisy street near the sea-port. Stairs are run down like the stone spirals. Iura liked the many levels of this place. The big and high building grows from the bottom. It’s became brown with the time and looked like an old fort. It’s upper level reaches the bridge. On the doors was the plate where was signed “Trapani Shipping”. The narrow process leaded there from the bridge. Iura treaded it, and felt this boomy space underfoot. He dreamed he was walking along the elastic air, and he felt like tightrope walker”. It could be that even in those times Olesha created his brave tightrope walker Tibule from his story “Three fatsos”.
This cereal area called under the bridge “Kanava” (the ditch). Besides the port workers there were thieves cheats and crooks of all kinds. Later the colorful places of Kanava were used in many movies, when it was need to show the urban slums – in the films “Lone White Sail”, “The Mexican,” “Waves of the Black Sea”, “For Soviet Power”, and others.The tram strated to go there in 1911. After a few years of overload and also because of ground waters the bridge which was built from the ephemeral coquina, was almost completely restored. Not we can see only an old railing and the one aperture from the one side of Devolanovskyi descent.
