The Palace Bridge is the bascule bridge in front of the Winter Palace that links the city centre with Vasilievsky Island, and it is the most photographed of the city's many drawbridges. Built between 1912 and 1916, it carries cars and pedestrians by day; at night, between roughly 1 am and 5 am from late April through November, both spans lift to let river traffic through.
The moment when the bridges open is one of the great public rituals of St Petersburg summers. Crowds gather on both embankments, music plays from speakers, and the spans pull skyward against the still-bright sky of the white nights. Plan around it if you are out late: once the bridge is up, you have a long walk to get back to the other side.