Bronze Horseman. Where is the monument to Peter I “Bronze Horseman” Creation of the monument “Bronze Horseman”

Each St. Petersburg monument to Peter is interesting in its own way: one because of its history, the other because of its installation location. The bust of Peter I on Okhta is placed in a special, one might say, iconic place. Here were the first settlements of carpenters and shipwrights, whom the tsar transferred from the northern provinces (mainly from the current Arkhangelsk, Vologda, Kostroma and Yaroslavl regions). According to legend, most of the workers were settled on the right bank of the Okhta, the smaller number on the left. This is how the names of the settlements appeared - Bolshaya and Malaya Okhta. Bolshaya Okhta - from the Neva Garden to Krasnogvardeiskaya Square, Malaya - from Krasnogvardeiskaya Square to the Connecting Line of the Railway (between Granitnaya and Zolnaya Streets), along which the border with the Nevsky District passes.

The monument to Peter the Great on Bolshaya Okhta is also interesting because in its more than 100-year history it was erected twice. For the first time - for the 190th anniversary of the Okhta settlements. The grand opening of the monument, created on the initiative of the Okhta Suburban Society, took place on September 25, 1911. Initially, the monument was located in the park of the especially revered Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit. This temple stood in the alignment of modern Bolsheokhtinsky Prospekt (it was demolished when this route was laid). Not far from the church, in a building on the corner of Kontorskaya Street, the office of the Okhta Suburban Society (which is how the street got its name) and the fire department were located - this was the administrative center of Okhta.

The famous sculptor Ilya Yakovlevich Ginzburg took up the work on the bust of the founder of St. Petersburg and the Okhtinsky Perevedestrovye Slobodas. Donations from eminent Okhta citizens and a contribution from the Okhta Suburban Society went towards the production and installation of the monument. The bronze bust and granite pedestal were made at the factory of V.V. Gavrilov.

The monument represented the emperor with his head uncovered, in his uniform, with St. Andrew's ribbon over his shoulder. An inscription was carved on the granite pedestal: “Grateful Okhtans to Peter the 1st.” But the monument did not stand for long: in 1919, as they say, it was thrown into the Neva by the “revolutionary masses”, and in the 1920s the empty pedestal also disappeared.

A second bronze bust of Peter I was installed on Bolshaya Okhta in May 2003, as part of the anniversary celebrations on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the city on the Neva. The initiative to recreate it belongs to schoolchildren of the Krasnogvardeisky district; Readers of the Okhtinskaya library and members of the Okhta History Lovers Club (CLIO) acted as intermediaries and active participants in the movement for the restoration of the monument. The monument was revived with the support of the Bolshaya Okhta Municipal Council. This work (based on archival materials) was carried out by the sculptor V. I. Obukhov (Vinnichenko) and the architects A. I. Pivtorak and E. Yu. Gorobtsova. True, the bust turned out to be not entirely identical, which is easy to find out by comparing it with old photographs.

One of the most famous and popular attractions of Arkhangelsk is the monument to Emperor Peter the Great. Any resident of our country knows what this sculpture looks like, although he does not think about it. The thing is that this particular landmark is depicted on a banknote with a face value of 500 rubles. What else is famous about the monument to Peter 1 in Arkhangelsk and when did it appear?

Description of the attraction

The famous sculpture depicts the Russian emperor during the Battle of Poltava. dressed in an officer's uniform, he holds a cane in one hand and a telescope in the other. The author of the sculpture is M.M. Antokolsky. The master's signature style is easy to notice in his desire to work out every detail and give it maximum historical correspondence. The first thing that surprises the monument to Peter 1 in Arkhangelsk when viewed in person is its miniature size. The height of the bronze statue is only 2.5 meters. Despite its fame and popularity, the Arkhangelsk statue is a copy: originally the same sculpture was installed in the city of Taganrog. Today, similar sculptures (made according to the same layout) stand in St. Petersburg, Peterhof, Shlisselburg. Also, the original plaster statue, which became the prototype of bronze sculptures and created personally by Mark Antokolsky in 1872, is today kept in the Tretyakov Gallery.

Monument to Peter 1 in Arkhangelsk: why was it placed here?

During his reign, the emperor visited Arkhangelsk more than once. It was here that he first saw the sea and thought about the need to create a state fleet. Peter the Great personally laid down the ship “St. Paul” in these parts, and later came here on the day of its launch. Thanks to the personal orders of the sovereign, the Solombala shipyard appeared in Arkhangelsk and negotiations on the production of sculpture for the city were conducted in May 1909. This initiative was first put forward by I.V. Sosnovsky. In 1912, the statue cast in Paris was transported to its installation site. The pedestal for it was made by the monks of the Solovetsky Monastery from gray granite. The monument to Peter 1 in Arkhangelsk was inaugurated on June 27, 1914. Four dates were engraved on the pedestal, the first three of which immortalized the days the emperor himself visited the city, and the fourth - the year of the opening of the monument.

The difficult fate of the bronze Russian emperor

Bronze Peter did not have a chance to stand in his rightful place for long. In 1920, the statue was most brazenly thrown off its pedestal by local supporters of communism as a symbol of capitalist power. For the next 13 years, the sculpture lay alone on the banks of the Northern Dvina and near “Peter’s house.” After that, she was transported to the city’s local history museum. The monument to Peter 1 returned to its rightful place in Arkhangelsk in 1948, where it is still located.

Monument to Peter the Great today

You can see one of the most famous sights of Arkhangelsk at the address: Northern Dvina embankment, building 82. When initially installed, the monument was located in an open area and was visible from afar. Today there is a small park around the statue. In spring, lilac blooms here magnificently, and in summer everything is surrounded by greenery. It may not be so easy for city guests to find this sculpture on their own. Don't be shy about asking local residents for help. After all, the monument to Peter 1, which is so amazing and sometimes sad, is not only the most famous landmark of the city in the country, but also a statue loved by many citizens. Be sure to find time to personally meet the bronze sovereign if you happen to visit Arkhangelsk.

In many cities of Russia you can find monuments and sculptures dedicated to famous people of our country, who not only, for example, visited this or that city, but also had a great influence on its development. One of these people for Lipetsk was Peter I. It was thanks to him that iron smelting and ironworks appeared in the city, where, among other things, guns were made. With their help, the Swedes were defeated near Poltava. In addition, Peter discovered mineral springs, and since then Lipetsk has become one of the oldest resorts in our country.

Monument to Peter I in Lipetsk

The monument in honor of the great emperor in Lipetsk appeared in 1996. With the advent of the monument, the square on which it was installed began to be called Petrovskaya by local residents. IN 2003 The city administration decided to officially rename Karl Marx Square to Peter I Square. The construction of the monument itself was carried out in the shortest possible time. The authors of this work were sculptors V.M. Klykov. and Wagner A.E., and the architect was Soshnikov S.A.

The cladding of the monument is made of local stone - dolomite. The restoration of the monument itself also took place in the city at the Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant. The statue of Peter is 5.6 meters high and weighs about 27 tons. Peter I appears to residents and guests of the city as a man confidently taking a step towards new discoveries in the city and carrying a scroll in his hand. The column under the monument is decorated with the Russian coat of arms and figures in the form of mermaids.

"The Bronze Horseman" - a monument to the first Russian Emperor Peter I, has become one of the symbols of St. Petersburg. Its grand opening, timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the reign of Empress Catherine II, took place on August 18 (August 7, old style) 1782 on Senate Square.

The initiative to create a monument to Peter I belongs to Catherine II. It was on her orders that Prince Alexander Mikhailovich Golitsyn turned to the professors of the Paris Academy of Painting and Sculpture Diderot and Voltaire, whose opinion Catherine II completely trusted.

Famous masters recommended Etienne-Maurice Falconet for this work, who had long dreamed of creating a monumental work. The wax sketch was made by the master in Paris, and after his arrival in Russia in 1766, work began on a plaster model the size of the statue.

Refusing the allegorical solution proposed to him by those around Catherine II, Falcone decided to present the king as “the creator, legislator and benefactor of his country,” who “extends his right hand over the country he travels around.” He instructed his student Marie Anne Collot to model the head of the statue, but subsequently made changes to the image, trying to express in the face of Peter a combination of thought and strength.

The casting of the monument took place at the end of August 1774. But it was not possible to complete it in one go, as Falcone had hoped. During casting, cracks formed in the mold, through which liquid metal began to flow. A fire started in the workshop.

The dedication and resourcefulness of the foundry master Emelyan Khailov allowed the flames to be extinguished, but the entire upper part of the casting from the rider's knees and the horse's chest to their heads was irreparably damaged and had to be cut down. During the time between the first and second casting, the craftsmen sealed and caulked the holes left in the cast part of the monument from the pipes (sprues) through which liquid metal was fed into the mold, and polished the bronze. The upper part of the statue was cast in the summer of 1777.

Then the joining of the two parts of the sculpture and the sealing of the seam between them, chasing, polishing and patina of the bronze began. In the summer of 1778, the decoration of the monument was largely completed. In memory of this, Falconet engraved on one of the folds of Peter I’s cloak an inscription in Latin: “Sculpted and cast by Etienne Falconet, Parisian 1778.” In August of the same year, the sculptor left Russia without waiting for the opening of the monument.

Architect Yuri Felten monitored the progress of work on the construction of the monument after the French sculptor left Russia.

The support for the monument is a snake trampled by a horse by the sculptor Fyodor Gordeev, symbolizing envy, inertia and malice.

The base of the sculpture - a giant granite block, the so-called thunder stone, was found in 1768 on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, near the village of Konnaya Lakhta. The delivery of the colossal monolith weighing about 1.6 thousand tons to the site of the monument was completed in 1770. First it was transported overland on a platform with grooved runners, which, through 32 bronze balls, rested on portable rails laid on a prepared surface, and then on a specially built barge. According to a drawing by architect Yuri Felten, the stone was given the shape of a rock; as a result of processing, its size was significantly reduced. On the pedestal there is an inscription in Russian and Latin: “Catherine the Second to Peter the Great.” The installation of the monument was supervised by the sculptor Gordeev.

The height of the sculpture of Peter I is 5.35 meters, the height of the pedestal is 5.1 meters, the length of the pedestal is 8.5 meters.

In the statue of Peter pacifying his horse on a steep cliff top, the unity of movement and rest is superbly conveyed; The monument is given special grandeur by the royally proud seat of the king, the commanding gesture of his hand, the turn of his raised head in a laurel wreath, personifying resistance to the elements and the affirmation of the sovereign will.

The monumental statue of a horseman, with an imperious hand squeezing the reins of a horse rearing in a swift rush, symbolizes the growth of the power of Russia.

The location of the monument to Peter I on Senate Square was not chosen by chance. Nearby are the Admiralty, founded by the emperor, and the building of the main legislative body of tsarist Russia - the Senate. Catherine II insisted on placing the monument in the center of Senate Square. The author of the sculpture, Etienne Falconet, did things his own way by erecting the monument closer to the Neva.

After the opening of the monument, Senate Square received the name Petrovskaya; in 1925-2008 it was called Decembrists Square. In 2008, it was returned to its previous name - Senate.

Thanks to Alexander Pushkin, who used a fantastic story about a monument coming to life during a flood that shook the city in his poem, the bronze monument of Peter.

During the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945), the monument was covered with sandbags, on top of which a wooden case was built.

The Bronze Horseman has been restored several times. In particular, in 1909, the water that had accumulated inside the monument was drained and the cracks were sealed; in 1912, holes were drilled in the sculpture for water drainage; in 1935, all newly formed defects were eliminated. A complex of restoration work was carried out in 1976.

The monument to Peter I is an integral part of the city center ensemble.

On City Day in St. Petersburg, official festive events are traditionally held on Senate Square.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources