ფონტანკა

Thanks to the famous song “Chizhik Pyzhik,” everyone knows about Fontanka. However, hardly anyone knows that this river received its name only in the early 18th century, when pipes were laid across it in order to transfer water from the reservoir near Basseinaya St. to the fountains of the Summer Garden. The river began to be called Fontannaya and later became Fontanka. The first structure erected on its shore was the Summer Palace of Peter the Great. Soon after that, noble-born and wealthy residents of St. Petersburg began developing their estates along the Fontanka River.