Prachechny Bridge, Stone arch bridge over the Fontanka River in Saint Petersburg, Russia

Prachechny Bridge is a three-span stone arch bridge over the Fontanka River, linking the Summer Garden island with the Unnamed Island. Its unequal granite-clad vaults rest on pile foundations, and the central span is higher and wider than the two flanking ones. Oval lucarnes above the piers lighten the masonry, and ten-step stairways at the four abutments lead down to the embankments.

Prachechny Bridge was built from 1766 to 1769 across the Fontanka, one of Saint Petersburg's first stone bridges and its first three-span stone one. The 1762 project planned a wooden draw span, but the final design made it entirely of stone. Architect Yury Felten oversaw the granite embankments, while I. L. Rossi and T. I. Nasonov directed the bridge works. Its name comes from the palace laundries at the corner of Sergiyevskaya Street and the Fontanka.

The name comes from the palace laundries that stood at the corner of Sergievskaya Street and the Fontanka. The bridge appears in Joseph Brodsky's 1968 poem "Prachechny Bridge", whose opening lines place a parting couple on it like hands of a clock at twelve.

The bridge is accessible year-round for pedestrians and light vehicle traffic across the canal. Walking along the canal provides the best way to experience this bridge as part of the city's street network.

The bridge appears in Joseph Brodsky's 1968 poem "Prachechny Bridge", which opens with two people on the span likened to clock hands meeting at twelve before parting forever. The bridge also carries oval lucarnes above its piers, openings that lighten the masonry and shape its outline.