The bridge received its name from the name of the builder, Lieutenant Colonel-Engineer M.O. Anichkov, whose battalion was stationed in the days of Peter the Great at Fontanka, in Anichkovaya Sloboda.

This is truly one of the most famous bridges in St. Petersburg. A fame Anichkov bridge was mainly given sculpture group "Tamer of horses" by PK Klodt. The image of the tamed horse became one of the symbols of the city.

It is interesting that statues of horses that "look" towards the Admiralty have horseshoes on their hoofs, while statues of horses looking towards the Square of the Rebellion do not have horseshoes. A common legend explains this by the fact that in the 18th century on Liteiny Prospekt there were foundry workshops (from where the prospectus actually got its name) and smithies. Therefore, savvy horses "go" from the smithies, to the beginning of the avenue, and the unkempt horses are on the contrary located in the direction of Liteiny Prospekt.

Anichkov Bridge is a monument of the blockade: on the granite of the pedestal, an unrecovered track was left of the fragments of the German artillery shell.

In the Anichkov Bridge area there is Anichkov Palace, Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace, Fountain House.