Bolshoi Moscvoretskii bridge was erected in the beginning of the 20th Century. It is the only large bridge in the centre of Moscow; It is made entirely of reinforced concrete. It was designed by the engineer Kirillov and the architects Shchusev and Sardaryan so as to connect Red Square with Zamoskvorechie. Its length from the approach is almost half a kilometre. By the way the bridge is called Bolshoi – big – because all bridges over the Moscow river were called that and their extensions over the overflow canal were called Maly – small. There is a view of the Kremlin from the bridge which at one time was called the 100 rouble view. That was the view that was on the hundred rouble note before the monetary reforms in 1961.
On the 28th May, 1987 there was an incident of state wide scale. 19 year old German amateur pilot, Mathias Rust, landed a small aircraft, a Cessna 172B Skyhawk, on Bolshoi Moscvoretskii bridge and rolled as far as Saint Basil’s cathedral which stands on Red Square. Rust flew out of Hamburg, made a short stop in Helsinki for a quick refill. He informed the ground control that he would be heading to Stockholm. However, he quickly turned off his radio and headed to Moscow.
Mathias explained that his flight was a gesture for peace. But the Moscow authorities regarded such a gesture as hooliganism and illegal border crossing. The pilot was condemned to 4 years in prison, but 15 months later was given amnesty.
For some time after Mathias Rust’s landing on Red Square the people nicknamed the square “Sheremetevo 3”.
On the 28th May, 1987 there was an incident of state wide scale. 19 year old German amateur pilot, Mathias Rust, landed a small aircraft, a Cessna 172B Skyhawk, on Bolshoi Moscvoretskii bridge and rolled as far as Saint Basil’s cathedral which stands on Red Square. Rust flew out of Hamburg, made a short stop in Helsinki for a quick refill. He informed the ground control that he would be heading to Stockholm. However, he quickly turned off his radio and headed to Moscow.
Mathias explained that his flight was a gesture for peace. But the Moscow authorities regarded such a gesture as hooliganism and illegal border crossing. The pilot was condemned to 4 years in prison, but 15 months later was given amnesty.
For some time after Mathias Rust’s landing on Red Square the people nicknamed the square “Sheremetevo 3”.
