Bank Bridge

This slender pedestrian suspension bridge over the Griboyedov Canal is guarded at each end by a pair of gilded-winged griffins, cast-iron mythical creatures whose bodies conceal the anchoring cables. Built in the early nineteenth century near a former assignation bank, which gave it its name, it is among the most charming of the city's small crossings. The golden wings of the griffins, restored after periods of theft and damage, glint against the canal water.