Marble Bridge


The Siberian Marble Gallery is a decorative pedestrian roofed Palladian bridge in Empress Catherine Park in the former royal residence Tsarskoye Selo near Saint Petersburg, Russia. It connects the Swan Islands — an artificial archipelago of seven islets in the landscape park of Tsarskoe Selo — spanning a rivulet flowing between several ponds. The bridge was modelled after the Palladian Bridge in the park of Wilton House, in England, and served as a showcase for Ural marble. All the details of the bridge — including the granite Ionic colonnade — were produced in Yekaterinburg, transported to Tsarskoe Selo and then assembled in the workshop of Vincenzo Tortori in 1774. It is probably called Siberian due to its construction with marble from the Urals.