The Palace Embankment or Palace Quay is a street along the Neva River

Neva River

The Neva is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length , it is the third largest river in Europe in terms of average discharge .The Neva is the only river flowing from Lake...

 in Central Saint Petersburg

Central Saint Petersburg

Central Saint Petersburg is the central and the leading part of Saint Petersburg, Russia. It looks nothing like the downtown district of a typical major city, and has no skyscrapers...

 which contains the complex of the Hermitage Museum

Hermitage Museum

The State Hermitage is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums of the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been opened to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display,...

 buildings (including the Winter Palace

Winter Palace

The Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia, was, from 1732 to 1917, the official residence of the Russian monarchs. Situated between the Palace Embankment and the Palace Square, adjacent to the site of Peter the Great's original Winter Palace, the present and fourth Winter Palace was built and...

), the Hermitage Theatre

Hermitage Theatre

The Hermitage Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia is one of five Hermitage buildings lining the Palace Embankment of the Neva River.The palatial theatre was built between 1783 and 1787 at the behest of Catherine the Great to a Palladian design by Giacomo Quarenghi...

, the Marble Palace

Marble Palace

Marble Palace is one of the first Neoclassical palaces in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is situated between the Field of Mars and Palace Quay, slightly to the east from New Michael Palace....

, the Vladimir Palace

Vladimir Palace

The Vladimir Palace was the last imperial palace to be constructed in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was designed by a team of architects for Alexander II's son, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia...

, the New Michael Palace

New Michael Palace

The New Michael Palace was the third Saint Petersburg palace designed by Andrei Stackenschneider for Nicholas I's children...

 and the Summer Garden

Summer Garden

The Summer Garden occupies an island between the Fontanka, Moika, and the Swan Canal in Saint Petersburg and shares its name with the adjacent Summer Palace of Peter the Great.-Original:...

.

The street was laid out between 1763 and 1767, when it used to be a preferred place of residence for the Russian Imperial Nobility. The street begins at the Palace Bridge

Palace Bridge

Palace Bridge is a road traffic and foot bascule bridge spanning the Neva River in Saint Petersburg between Palace Square and Vasilievsky Island. Like every other Neva bridge , it is drawn by night, making foot travel between various parts of the city virtually impossible...

, where the Admiralty Embankment

Admiralty Embankment

The Admiralty Embankment ) or Admiralty Quay is a street along the Neva River in Central Saint Petersburg, named after the Admiralty Board.Between 1919 and 1944 the street was known as Roshal Embankment, named after the revolutionary S. G. Roshal....

 becomes the Palace Embankment, and the street ends at the Fontanka

Fontanka

Fontanka is a left branch of the river Neva, which flows through the whole of Central Saint Petersburg, Russia. Its length is 6,700 meters, its width is up to 70 meters, and its depth is up to 3,5 meters. The Fontanka Embankment is lined with the former private residences of Russian nobility.This...

, where it becomes the Kutuzov Embankment

Kutuzov Embankment

The Kutuzov Embankment or Kutuzov Quay is a street along the Neva River in Central Saint Petersburg. The street begins at the Fontanka, where the Palace Embankment becomes the Kutuzov Embankment, and the street ends at the Liteyny Prospekt and Bridge...

.

The Palace Embankment is a very popular street among tourists, as it has a wonderful view of the Neva, the Peter and Paul Fortress

Peter and Paul Fortress

The Peter and Paul Fortress is the original citadel of St. Petersburg, Russia, founded by Peter the Great in 1703 and built to Domenico Trezzini's designs from 1706-1740.-History:...

 and Vasilievsky Island

Vasilievsky Island

Vasilyevsky Island is an island in Saint Petersburg, Russia, bordered by the rivers Bolshaya Neva and Malaya Neva in the south and northeast, and by the Gulf of Finland in the west. Vasilyevsky Island is separated from Dekabristov Island by the Smolenka River...

. Many sightseeing boats are available for hire there.

Pushkin associations

In his novel Eugene Onegin

Eugene Onegin

Eugene Onegin is a novel in verse written by Alexander Pushkin.It is a classic of Russian literature, and its eponymous protagonist has served as the model for a number of Russian literary heroes . It was published in serial form between 1825 and 1832...

, Alexander Pushkin depicted himself walking along Palace Quay with his hero, Eugene Onegin:

For the first edition of this chapter, the poet commissioned an illustration depicting him and Onegin walking together along the quay. Upon receiving the illustration, which represented him leaning on a parapet with his back turned towards the Peter and Paul Fortress, he was exceedingly displeased with the result (which had little in common with his own preliminary sketch, illustrated to the right) and scribbled the following epigram

Epigram

An epigram is a brief, interesting, usually memorable and sometimes surprising statement. Derived from the epigramma "inscription" from ἐπιγράφειν epigraphein "to write on inscribe", this literary device has been employed for over two millennia....

 underneath:
(translated by Vladimir Nabokov

Vladimir Nabokov

Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov was a multilingual Russian novelist and short story writer. Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Russian, then rose to international prominence as a master English prose stylist...

)