Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge
The Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge stands just before the Kremlin, beautiful in the day and in the night. Bolshoy Kamenny, meaning "great stone bridge," in Russian, actually does not depict the bridge as it stands today (1). The bridge in fact was formerly of stone, but that bridge was done away with, and today the bridge stands in steel. The bridge before was completely destroyed, which hurt the Moscovites interested in preserving history. Compared with the Andreyevsky and the Krasnoluzhskii bridges, which were at least partially preserved and added to, this instance of bridge alteration is extreme.
Bolshoy Kamenny contrasts with the two bridges that took the original bridge and added a pedestrian walkway for the public because these cases act as historical palimpsest. The Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge is more of a phoenix, similar to Moscow herself - from the ashes of one rises the creation of the next generation. In terms of which is better for cultural preservation, it depends who you ask. A purist may be saddened by the destruction of an icon (and an important one at that - the Stone Bridge was the first of its kind in Europe), but a pragmatist may weigh the costs of carrying over the heavy stone and the repairs as heavier than the historical value of maintaining at least a part of the original. In any case, the Bolshoy Kamenny remains a structurally sound instrument to get from the Kremlin to the area of Zamoskvorechye, an important center in Moscow.
Enjoy the following video with some clips of many bridges, but stay tuned for the Bolshoy Kamenny at around 1:37.
Take a look at this 360 view from Bolshoy Kamenny Most (The Big Stone Bridge)
Hello Moskva, 2014. http://hellomoskva.com/moscow-bridges/