View source for Fontanka

{{Short description|Left branch of the river Neva in Saint Petersburg, Russia}}
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{{Water system of Ligovsky Canal |collapse= yes}}

The '''Fontanka''' ({{langx|ru| Фонтанка}}), a [[:wikt:left bank|left]] branch of the river [[Neva]], flows through the whole of [[Central Saint Petersburg]], [[Russia]] – from the [[Summer Garden]] to {{ill|Gutuyevsky Island|ru|Гутуевский остров}}. It is {{convert|6.7|km|mi}} long, with a width up to {{convert|70|m|ft}}, and a depth  up to {{convert|3.5|m|ft}}. The [[Moyka River]] forms a right-bank branch of the Fontanka. Lined along the [[Fontanka Embankment]] stand the former private residences of [[Russian nobility]].

==Description==
[[File:Fontanka River Perspective 01.jpg|thumb| Fontanka River Perspective. View to [[Trinity Cathedral, Saint Petersburg| Trinity Cathedral]].]]
{{Location map+|Russia Saint Petersburg central| places = {{Location map~| Russia Saint Petersburg central|lat_deg= 59.9479
 |lon_deg= 30.3364 |label=source}}{{Location map~| Russia Saint Petersburg central |lat_deg=  59.9162 |lon_deg= 30.2636
 |label=mouth}} |caption = Fontanka course in central St Petersburg | float = center}}
The river, one of 93 rivers and [[channel (geography) | channels]] in Saint Petersburg, was once named ''Anonymous Creek'' (in Russian, ''Bezymyannyi Yerik'', ''Безымянный ерик''). In Russian, ''yerik'' is a secondary or [[intermittent river]]-channel ([[creek (stream)|creek]] or brook). In 1719 the river received its present name, because water from it supplied the [[fountain]]s of the [[Summer Garden]]. 

Until the mid-18th century the Fontanka River marked the southern boundary of Saint Petersburg. Along its banks stood the spacious [[messuage]]s of members of the [[House of Romanov | Russian Imperial Family]] and of the nobility, the most brilliant being the [[Summer Palace (Russia) |Summer Palace]] and the [[Anichkov Palace]]. In 1780–89, architect [[Andrey Kvasov]] supervised the construction of the granite embankments and approaches to the river. The river-bed was regularised as well. 

Examples of [[Baroque]] architecture along the banks of the river include the [[Fountain House (Saint Petersburg)|Sheremetev Palace]], [[Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace]], [[Naryshkin-Shuvalov Palace]], and the Church of St Panteleimon (built 1735–1739). Notable [[Neoclassical architecture |Neoclassical]] structures from the 18th century include the {{ill|Catherine Institute|ru|Екатерининский институт (Санкт-Петербург)}}, the Anichkov Palace and the {{ill|Yusupov Palace on Sadovaya Street|ru|Дворец Юсуповых на Садовой улице}}. 

Some of the mansions contain museums of the writers and composers who lived there: [[Gavrila Derzhavin]] (1743–1816), [[Alexander Pushkin]] (1799–1837), [[Ivan Turgenev]] (1818–1833), [[Anna Akhmatova]] (1889–1966) and others.

Fifteen bridges span the Fontanka, including the 18th-century [[Lomonosov Bridge]] and the extravagant [[Egyptian Bridge]]. The most famous bridge, the [[Anichkov Bridge]], carries the [[Nevsky Prospekt]] over the river.

{{Wide image|Панорама набережной Фонтанки.jpg|1500px| Panorama of Fontanka centred on [[Panteleymonovsky Bridge|St Panteleimon's Bridge]] and [[Summer Garden]] behind it}}

==See also==
* [[List of bridges in Saint Petersburg]]

== References ==
*Канн П. Я. Прогулки по Петербургу: Вдоль Мойки, Фонтанки, Садовой. St. Petersburg, 1994.

== External links ==
* {{commons category-inline|Fontanka River}}

{{Rivers and channels of Saint Petersburg}}
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[[Category:Distributaries of the Neva]]
[[Category:Rivers of Saint Petersburg]]