Wednesday Walk along the Moika river embankment

The city of St. Petersburg is located in the delta of the Neva River. The full-flowing Neva River splits into several branches and flows into the Gulf of Finland. Smaller rivers and canals connect the different arms of the Neva. Some rivers flow out of the Neva and into the Neva, while others start their course from one of the Neva branches and make their own way to the Gulf of Finland. The Moika River is one of the smaller rivers, it flows into the Big Neva shortly before the Neva flows into the Gulf of Finland. The water in the Moika River flows in the same direction as the water in the Neva River, but the Moika River bed makes more bends on its way. The distance from the Neva to the Moika sometimes decreases to 200 metres, sometimes increases to 800 metres.

I started my walk along the Moika embankment near Palace Square. This is one of those places where the distance from the Moika to the Neva is minimal. Here the Moika is connected to the Neva by a short canal called the Winter Canal. A high arch with a passage over this canal is located on the embankment of the Neva River, it connects the buildings of the Hermitage Museum of Art and Culture and History.

A little further on, I noticed an unusual concentration of road signs. The stationary road signs were covered with black polythene film, but there were many new warning and prohibition signs. All of these signs were for motorised traffic only, so I ventured on with my walk. Soon I saw the reason for these road signs, the embankment was undergoing repair work. Nearby I found another pedestrian sign - but fortunately a narrow corridor for pedestrians had been saved.

The building next to which the renovation is taking place is the Round Market building. Contrary to its name, the building is not shaped like a circle, it is an equilateral triangle with rounded corners. There hasn't been a market in this building for over a hundred years, it houses a restaurant and offices for various organisations. I don't have any special personal memories associated with this building, but for some reason it always evokes warm feelings in me. This time I stopped at the next bridge to look back and see the panorama of the Moika River with this building.

Mikhailovsky Garden is located on the left bank of the Moika River further on. Now this garden, like many other city gardens is closed for drying and for spring park improvement works. Crocuses and other spring flowers are blooming in the flowerbeds of the garden, but you can admire them only from behind the bars. Many passers-by stop for a while near the bars of the Mikhailovsky Garden to admire the flowers or to take a photo as a souvenir.

Meanwhile, I reached the source of the Moika River. The Moika River starts near the Summer Garden. The Summer Garden is located on an island between the Neva River, the Fontanka River, the Moika River and the Swan Canal. The Fontanka River originates in the Neva River, and the Moika River flows out of the Fontanka River. So the route of the walk ‘along the embankment of the Moika River’ in this place can be considered complete. But I decided to walk a little more.

The Summer Garden is also closed now for gardening works, so I walked further along the opposite bank of the Fontanka, in the neighbourhood that bears the historical name ‘Salt Town’ - in the XVIII century there were warehouse buildings for storing salt and wine.

This is my entry for the #WednesdayWalk challenge by @tattoodjay.