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 fully trusted. Well-known masters recommended for this work Etienne-Maurice Falcone, who worked at that time as the chief sculptor at the porcelain factory. “There is an abyss of fine taste, intelligence and delicacy in him, and at the same time he is uncouth, stern, does not believe in anything. .. He does not know self-interest,” Diderot wrote about Falcon.
Etienne-Maurice Falcone always dreamed of monumental art and, having received an offer to create an equestrian statue of a colossal size, agreed without hesitation. On September 6, 1766, he signed a contract in which the remuneration for the work was determined in the amount of 200 thousand livres, which was a fairly modest amount - other masters asked for much more. The 50-year-old master came to Russia with 17-year-old assistant Marie-Anne Collot.
Opinions about the appearance of the future sculpture were very different. Thus, the President of the Imperial Academy of Arts, Ivan Ivanovich Belskoy, who supervised the creation of the monument, presented a sculpture of Peter I, standing in full growth with a staff in his hand. Catherine II saw the emperor sitting on a horse with a rod or scepter, and there were other suggestions. So, Diderot conceived a monument in the form of a fountain with allegorical figures, and the state councilor Shtelin sent Belsky a detailed description of his project, according to which Peter I was to appear surrounded by allegorical statues of Prudence and Diligence, Justice and Victory, which prop up the vices of Ignorance and Sloth with their feet, Deception and Envy. Falcone rejected the traditional image of the victorious monarch and refused to depict allegories. “My monument will be simple. There will be no Barbarism, no Love of the peoples, no personification of the People ... I will limit myself only to the statue of this hero, whom I do not interpret as either a great commander or a winner, although he, of course, was both. The personality of the creator, legislator, benefactor of his country is much higher, and this is what people need to show,” he wrote to Diderot.
Falcone created a model of sculpture on the territory of the former temporary Winter Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna from 1768 to 1770. From the imperial stables, two horses of the Oryol breed Kapriz and Brilliant were taken. Falcone made sketches, watching as a guards officer took off on a horse to the platform and put it on its hind legs. Falcone reworked the model of the head of Peter I several times, but never got the approval of Catherine II, and as a result, the head of the Bronze Horseman was successfully sculpted by Marie-Anne Collot. The face of Peter I turned out to be courageous and strong-willed, with wide-open eyes and illuminated by deep thought. For this work, the girl was accepted as a member of the Russian Academy of Arts and Catherine II assigned her a lifelong pension of 10,000 livres. The snake under the horse's feet was made by the Russian sculptor Fyodor Gordeev.
A plaster model of the Bronze Horseman was made by 1778 and opinions about the work were mixed. If Diderot was satisfied, Catherine II did not like the arbitrarily chosen appearance of the monument.
The sculpture was conceived on a colossal scale and the casters did not undertake this complex work. Foreign craftsmen demanded a lot of money for casting, and some frankly said that the casting would not succeed. Finally, a caster, a cannon maker Yemelyan Khailov, was found, who took up the casting of the Bronze Horseman. Together with Falcone, they selected the composition of the alloy and made samples. The difficulty was that the sculpture had three points of support and therefore the thickness of the walls of the front of the statue had to be small - no more than one centimeter.
During the first casting, the pipe through which the bronze was poured burst. In desperation, Falcone ran out of the workshop, but master Khailov did not lose his head, took off his coat and soaked it with water, smeared it with clay and applied it as a patch to the pipe. Risking his life, he prevented the fire, although he himself received burns to his hands and partially damaged his eyesight. The upper part of the Bronze Horseman was damaged anyway, it had to be cut down. Preparations for the new casting took another three years, but this time it was successful, and in honor of the successful completion of the work, the sculptor left the inscription in one of the folds of the cloak of Peter I: “Etienne Falcone, a Parisian of 1788, sculpted and cast.”
Falcone wanted to erect a monument on a plinth in the form of a wave, carved from a natural piece of rock. It was very difficult to find the right block with a height of 11.2 meters, and therefore an appeal was published in the St. Petersburg News newspaper to individuals who wanted to find a suitable piece of rock. And soon the peasant Semyon Vishnyakov responded, who had long noticed a suitable block near the village of Lakhta and informed the head of the prospecting work about this.
The stone, weighing about 1600 tons and called the Thunder-stone, was delivered first on a platform to the coast of the Gulf of Finland, then by water to the Senate Square. Thousands of people took part in the extraction and transportation of the stone. The stone was installed on a platform that moved along two parallel chutes, in which 30 balls made of copper alloy were placed. This operation was carried out in winter from November 15, 1769, when the ground was icy and on March 27, 1770 the stone was delivered to the coast of the Gulf of Finland. In the fall, the block was loaded onto a ship specially built by the master Grigory Korchebnikov, and on September 25, 1770, crowds of people met the Thunder-stone on the banks of the Neva near Senate Square.
In 1778, Falcone's relationship with Catherine II finally deteriorated and, together with Marie-Anne Collot, he was forced to leave for Paris.
The installation of the Bronze Horseman was led by Fyodor Gordeev, and on August 7, 1782, the grand opening of the monument took place, but its creator was never invited to this event. The military parade at the celebration was led by Prince Alexander Golitsyn, and Catherine II arrived along the Neva in a boat and climbed onto the balcony of the Senate building. The empress came out wearing a crown and purple and gave a sign to open the monument. To the sound of drumming, the linen fence from the monument fell and regiments of guards marched along the Neva embankment.
Falcone depicted the figure of Peter I in dynamics, on a rearing horse, and thereby wanted to show not a commander and a winner, but, first of all, a creator and legislator. We see the emperor in simple clothes, and instead of a rich saddle - an animal skin. Only the wreath of laurel crowning the head and the sword at the belt tell us about the winner and the commander. The location of the monument on the top of the rock indicates the difficulties Peter overcame, and the snake is a symbol of evil forces. The monument is unique in that it has only three points of support. On the pedestal there is an inscription “TO PETER the first EKATERINA the second of the summer of 1782”, and on the other side the same text is indicated in Latin. The weight of the Bronze Horseman is eight tons, and the height is five meters.
The name of the Bronze Horseman was later given to the monument thanks to the poem of the same name by A.S. Pushkin, although in fact the monument is made of bronze.
The Bronze Horseman in St. Petersburg is the main symbol of the Northern capital and newlyweds and numerous tourists come to admire one of the most famous sights of the city on Senate Square.
Among the many sculptures decorating the city on the Neva, the monument to the founder of the Northern capital, Peter I, attracts special attention.
The Bronze Horseman is a visiting card of St. Petersburg. Erected by the will of Catherine II, it has been decorating Senate Square for more than 200 years.
The monument to Peter I, called the Bronze Horseman with the light hand of Alexander Pushkin, is one of the symbols of St. Petersburg and one of the most famous sights of the cultural capital.
This Monument to Peter I is located in an open park on Senate Square and is a unique piece of Russian and world culture. The Bronze Horseman is surrounded by well-known sights: the buildings of the Senate and the Synod are located in the west, the Admiralty in the east, St. Isaac's Cathedral in the south.
Newlyweds and numerous tourists come to Senate Square to admire the main symbol of St. Petersburg.
The history of the creation of the monument Bronze Horseman:
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 fully trusted.
These famous masters recommended for this work Étienne-Maurice Falcone, who at that time worked as the chief sculptor in a porcelain factory. “There is an abyss of fine taste, intelligence and delicacy in him, and at the same time he is uncouth, harsh, does not believe in anything ... He does not know self-interest,” Diderot wrote about Falcon.
Catherine summoned to Russia the sculptor Etienne-Maurice Falcone, the author of The Threatening Cupid, which is now kept in the Louvre, and other famous sculptures. By that time, the artist was already 50 years old, he had a rich track record, but he had not yet completed such monumental orders.
Etienne-Maurice Falcone always dreamed of monumental art, and having received an offer to create an equestrian statue of a colossal size, he agreed without hesitation. The 50-year-old master came to Russia with 17-year-old assistant Marie-Anne Collot. On September 6, 1766, he signed a contract, in which the reward for his work was 200,000 livres. This was a fairly modest amount, other masters appreciated this work much more.
Falcone felt that this work of his should go down in history, and did not hesitate to argue with the empress. For example, she demanded that Peter sit on a horse with a rod or scepter in his hand, like a Roman emperor. The project manager and Ekaterina's right hand, Ivan Betskoy, advised putting a full-length figure on the pedestal with a commander's baton in his hand. And Denis Diderot even proposed a monument in the form of a fountain with allegorical figures. It got to such subtleties that "Peter's right eye should be directed to the Admiralty, and the left eye to the building of the Twelve Collegia." But Falcone stood his ground. The contract he signed stated that the monument was to consist "principally of an equestrian statue of colossal size."
Falcone created a model of sculpture on the territory of the former temporary Winter Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna from 1768 to 1770. From the imperial stables, two horses of the Oryol breed Kapriz and Brilliant were taken. Falcone made sketches, watching as a guards officer took off on a horse to the platform and put it on its hind legs.
Falcone reworked the model of the head of Peter I several times, but never got the approval of Catherine II, and as a result, the head of the Bronze Horseman was successfully sculpted by Marie-Anne Collot. The face of Peter I turned out to be courageous and strong-willed, with wide-open eyes and illuminated by deep thought. For this work, the girl was accepted as a member of the Russian Academy of Arts and Catherine II assigned her a lifelong pension of 10,000 livres. The snake under the horse's feet was made by the Russian sculptor Fyodor Gordeev.
A plaster model of the Bronze Horseman was made by 1778 and opinions about the work were mixed. If Diderot was satisfied, Catherine II did not like the arbitrarily chosen appearance of the monument.
The location of the monument is perhaps the only thing that was hardly discussed during its creation. Catherine ordered to place a monument on Senate Square, since the Admiralty founded by Peter I and the main legislative institution of Russia at that time, the Senate, are located nearby. True, the queen wanted to see the monument in the center of the square, but the sculptor acted in his own way and moved the pedestal closer to the Neva.
Its pedestal, perhaps the only one in the history of monumental sculpture, has its own name - Thunder-stone. As a metaphorical "rock" Falcone wanted to use a monolithic rock, but it was not easy to find a stone of a suitable size. Then in the newspaper "Sankt-Peterburgskiye Vedomosti" an announcement appeared, addressed to all individuals who are ready to break out a piece of rock somewhere and bring it to Petersburg.
A certain peasant Semyon Vishnyakov responded, who was engaged in the supply of building stone to St. Petersburg. He had long had a block in the Lakhta region in mind, but he just didn’t have the tool to split it. Where exactly the Thunder Stone lay is not known for certain. Perhaps not far from the village of Lisiy Nos. The documents contained information that the path of the stone to the city took eight miles, that is, about 8.5 kilometers.
According to the recommendations of Ivan Betsky, a special vehicle was developed to transport the rock, thousands of people participated in the transportation. The stone weighed 2400 tons, it was transported in winter so that the soil under it would not sag. The relocation operation lasted from November 15, 1769 to March 27, 1770, after which the stone was loaded onto a ship on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and brought to Senate Square on September 26.
The casting of the statue began in 1774 using a complex technology, which, through the distribution of weight, made it possible to keep the balance of the figure on just three points of support. But the first attempt was unsuccessful - the pipe with red-hot bronze burst, and the upper part of the sculpture was damaged. It took three years to prepare for the second attempt. Constant turmoil and missed deadlines spoiled relations between Falcone and Catherine, and in September 1778 the sculptor left the city without waiting for the completion of work on the monument. The Bronze Horseman was the last work in his life. By the way, on one of the folds of the cloak of Peter I you can find the inscription "Sculpted and cast by Etienne Falcone, a Parisian of 1778."
The installation of the Bronze Horseman on a pedestal was led by the architect Fyodor Gordeev. By Catherine's command, "Catherine II to Peter I" was written on the pedestal. The grand opening of the monument took place on August 7, 1782. In honor of this event, the empress issued a manifesto on a general amnesty, and also ordered the minting of silver and gold medals with his image. Catherine II sent one gold and one silver medal to Falcone, who received them from the hands of Prince Golitsyn in 1783.
The Bronze Horseman "passed" through three wars without damage, although he is in a convenient place for shelling. It was not damaged during the Patriotic War of 1812. The First World War also did not affect the majestic Peter, and during the Great Patriotic War, during the blockade of Leningrad, the Bronze Horseman was sheathed with logs and boards, the monument was covered with sandbags and earth. Other large monuments did the same, which it was not possible to hide or evacuate.
Legends and Myths about the Bronze Horseman:
* There is a legend that Peter I, being in a cheerful mood, decided to jump over the Neva on his beloved horse Lisette. He exclaimed: "All God's and mine" and jumped over the river. The second time he shouted the same words and was also on the other side. And for the third time he decided to jump over the Neva, but he made a reservation and said: “All mine and God’s” and was immediately punished - he turned to stone on Senate Square, in the place where the Bronze Horseman now stands
* They say that Peter I, who fell ill, was in a fever, and it seemed to him that the Swedes were advancing. He jumped on a horse and wanted to rush to the Neva against the enemy, but then a snake crawled out and wrapped around the horse's legs and stopped him, did not allow Peter I to jump into the water and die. So the Bronze Horseman stands in this place - a monument.
* A legend is connected with the Patriotic War of 1812, which says that Alexander I ordered the monument to be evacuated to the Vologda province when there was a threat of the capture of St. Petersburg by French troops. A certain Major Baturin obtained an audience with Prince Golitsyn and told him about a dream that haunted him. Allegedly, he sees Peter on Senate Square moving down from the pedestal and jumping to the king's residence on Kamenny Island. “Young man, what have you brought my Russia to,” Peter tells him, “but as long as I am in place, my city has nothing to fear!” According to legend, Golitsyn retold the dream to the sovereign, and he canceled the order to evacuate the monument.
*Peter I points towards Sweden with his hand, and in the center of Stockholm there is a monument to Charles XII, Peter's opponent in the Northern War, whose left hand is directed towards Russia.
Interesting facts about the Bronze Horseman monument:
1) Falcone depicted the figure of Peter I in dynamics, on a rearing horse, and thereby wanted to show not a commander and a winner, but, first of all, a creator and legislator.
2) The emperor is depicted in simple clothes, and instead of a rich saddle - an animal skin. Only the wreath of laurel crowning the head and the sword at the belt speak of the winner and the commander.
3) The location of the monument on the top of the rock indicates the difficulties Peter overcame, and the snake is a symbol of evil forces.
4) The monument is unique in that it has only three points of support.
5) On the pedestal there is an inscription “TO PETER the first EKATERINA, the second year of 1782”, and on the other side the same text is indicated in Latin.
6) The weight of the Bronze Horseman is eight tons, and the height is five meters.
7) Falcone conceived a monument without a fence, although the fence was nevertheless installed, but has not survived to this day. 8) Now there are people who leave inscriptions on the monument and spoil the pedestal. It is possible that soon a fence will be installed around the Bronze Horseman.
9) In 1909 and 1976, the restoration of the Bronze Horseman was carried out.
10) A capsule with a note on the restoration and a newspaper dated September 3, 1976 was placed inside the monument.
11) The latest gamma-ray examination showed that the frame of the sculpture is in good condition.
12) The name "The Bronze Horseman" is an artistic technique of Pushkin, in fact the figure is bronze.
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Monument Bronze Horseman (Russia) - description, history, location. Exact address, phone number, website. Reviews of tourists, photos and videos.
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The Bronze Horseman on Senate Square is not the only monument to Peter the Great in St. Petersburg, but, undoubtedly, the most famous, which has long become a symbol of the Northern capital. Already at the end of the 18th century, many urban legends and anecdotes were associated with him, and in the 19th century, poets of that time liked to mention the Bronze Horseman in their works.
Contrary to its name, the monument is not copper, but bronze. And the popular name of the monument to Peter was due to the poem of the same name by Pushkin.
According to the idea of Catherine II, who ordered the sculpture, and her consultants, Voltaire and Diderot, Peter was to appear in the solemn guise of a victorious Roman emperor with a rod and a scepter in his hands. However, the French sculptor Etienne Falcone, invited to work on the monument, dared to argue with the crowned heads and showed the world another Peter, without belittling either his military talents or his title as a wise ruler.
After 16 years of work, on August 7, 1782, according to the old style, an equestrian statue of the young king was solemnly installed on a huge pedestal. The monument was the first to be erected in the city square. Peter confidently sits on a rearing horse, covered with a bearskin. The animal personifies the rebellious, ignorant people who submitted to the emperor. The horse's hooves crushed a huge snake, symbolizing the opponents of reforms, and also serving as an additional support for the structure. The figure of the king himself expresses strength, aspiration and steadfastness. On a granite block, by order of Catherine the Great, a dedication was carved in two languages, Russian and Latin: "To Peter I Catherine II of the summer of 1782."
On the granite block on which the monument is erected, by order of Catherine the Great, a dedication is carved in two languages, Russian and Latin: “To Peter I Catherine II of the summer of 1782”.
An interesting story is connected with the stone on which the monument was erected. It was found by a peasant Semyon Vishnyakov at a distance of about 9 km from the square. The Thunder Stone was delivered to the place of installation of the monument with the help of a device that was truly unique for that time, working on the principle of a bearing. Initially, the block weighed about 1600 tons. Then, according to the Falcone project, it was hewn and given the shape of a wave, embodying the power of Russia as a maritime power.
The history of the creation of the monument
And many more stories and tales still go around the gesture of the emperor. Peter's right hand is commandingly extended forward, with his left he firmly holds the reins. Some say that the hand points down to the place where "the city will be laid." Others believe that Peter is looking towards Sweden - the country with which he fought for so long and stubbornly. In the 19th century, one of the most interesting versions was born. She claims that Peter's right hand is actually turned towards the Neva. With his left elbow, he points pointing towards the Senate, which in the 19th century served as the Supreme Court. The interpretation of the gesture is as follows: it is better to drown yourself in the Neva than to sue in the Senate. It was a very corrupt institution in those days.
Address: Senatskaya Square, Nevsky Prospekt, Admiralteyskaya metro station.
And the history of the appearance of which is described in this article is one of the most beautiful monuments of the capital. Moreover, it can be called one of the world's grandiose works of art. The monument is located in the center of the capital. It was installed in the 90s. The building was not approved by all Muscovites and the monument still causes controversy.
One of the most famous Russian tsars is Peter 1. A monument to him was opened in Moscow on September 5, 1997. According to official documents, this event is timed to coincide with the tercentenary of the creation of the Russian fleet, although the anniversary was celebrated a year earlier. At the same time, another project was approved at first, but Tsereteli's version won out.
Despite the fact that the monument is still quite "young", it already has its own legend. Once in the Russian media there were reports that the monument to Peter 1 (a monument in Moscow) was remade from the statue of the discoverer of America, Columbus. Tsereteli, the creator of this structure, was unable to sell his masterpiece to the United States, and it ended up in the hands of the Russians.
Indeed, there is an undoubted similarity between the figures. Both statues stand on the ship's deck. Moreover, the right hands of the figures are raised up. The pedestal in both variants is complex in structure. But there are significant differences, which can only be seen by comparing both projects. They are on display at the Tsereteli Gallery.
The monument to Peter 1 on the Moscow River is a unique building. The supporting frame of the pedestal with bronze cladding is made of stainless steel. The pedestal, the figure of the king and the ship were assembled separately. Peter and the ship were installed last. Ship shrouds are also made of stainless steel.
All of them are securely fastened with thick cables. To reduce the weight of copper sails, they have a metal frame inside them. For the manufacture of the monument was taken bronze of the highest quality. First, it was sandblasted, then platinized. Then the bronze was covered with wax and a special varnish. They protect the source material from the weather.
The king holds a gilded scroll in his hands. St. Andrew's crosses are made in the same color. The flags on which they are located are made in the form of weather vanes. A staircase was built inside the monument, with the help of which the maintenance of the structure is carried out.
The artificial island on which "Peter 1" (a monument in Moscow) is installed is made of a reinforced concrete foundation. Around - fountains that create the feeling that the ship cuts through the waves.
It took almost a year to design and recreate Peter the Great. The layout was blown in the wind tunnel of Moscow State University. This helped to improve the characteristics of the monument. The installation was carried out by 120 specialized specialists, led by the leading surveyor V. Makhanov and foreman V. Maksimov.
The pedestal of the monument is decorated with rostra. Each is decorated with St. Andrew's flag. It turns out a contradiction that Peter the Great fought with his own fleet. The monument became the tenth in the list of the ugliest pedestals in the world. Such a rating was published on the Internet portal "Virtual Tourist" in 2008.
In July 1997, the place where the monument to Peter the Great was erected in Moscow became famous. The Revolutionary Military Council group tried to blow up the monument. According to one version, explosives have already been planted. But due to the fact that passers-by and surrounding buildings could suffer, the explosion was stopped by the group itself. According to another version, the blast broke due to an anonymous call. Since then, close access to the monument is no longer available.
According to information published in the Izvestia printed edition, at the Arch Moscow exhibition, which takes place annually, a project appeared, according to which the monument to Peter 1 (a monument in Moscow) should be enclosed in a glass “package”. And such that the masterpiece could not be seen through it.
It was in 2007. The author of the project, Boris Bernaskoni, proposed to build a monument to Peter the Great into a skyscraper. As a result, the monument would be hidden from human eyes. Even Tsereteli would be satisfied. The skyscraper would become a museum for Tsereteli's masterpiece, and Muscovites and guests of the city could enjoy the new observation deck, turning it into a place for cultural recreation.
In 2010, it got to the point that it was proposed to demolish the monument to Peter 1 altogether. This happened after the resignation of Luzhkov from the post of the capital's mayor. Monument to Peter1 in Moscow, where is it located? It is installed above the waters of the Moskva River, on Krymskaya Embankment, 10. Nearby are the Park Kultury and Oktyabrskaya metro stations.
In 2010, after the proposal to demolish "Petra", the acting mayor, Vladimir Resin, seriously thought about moving the monument from this place to another area. Information came from the Moscow City Duma commission that such a “moving” of the monument could cost the treasury 1 billion rubles.
Marat Gelman, who proposed to destroy the monument, was even going to find sponsors to carry out such a transfer. It turned out that the monument is not so bad, since many (and not only Russian) cities wanted to take it with them with pleasure: Arkhangelsk, Tiraspol, Berdyansk, etc.
The stormy debate ended in 2011, when the prefect of Moscow S. Baidakov "put an end" right at a press conference. He announced that the monument would remain where it currently stands. In his opinion, everything created by the ancestors is worthy of respect. As a result, Peter 1 (a monument in Moscow) remained in the same place and still towers on the Krymskaya embankment.
One of the most famous monuments of St. Petersburg and all of Russia is the Monument to Peter I by Etienne Falcone, also known as the Bronze Horseman. The monument was erected by the decision of Catherine II. It says “To Peter the Great Catherine the Second. Summer 1782."
The history of the sculpture "The Bronze Horseman"
The sculpture was installed on Senate Square near the building of the Constitutional Court, not far from St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Admiralty.
The French sculptor Falcone was invited to work on the monument. The contract with him was signed by the Russian envoy in Paris, Dmitry Golitsyn, in August 1766. Work on the monument went on for quite a long time. The model of the equestrian statue was made in 1768-1770.
Only in 1775 did the first casting of the sculpture take place.
In 1777, parts that did not turn out during the first casting were cast.
In 1778 the sculptor Falcone left Russia.
The architect Yu. M. Felten is completing the work.
The work on the preparation of the pedestal for the monument was also large-scale.
A suitable stone was found in the vicinity of the village of Konnaya Lakhta.
The giant "Thunder-Stone" had to be dragged 7855 meters along the ground, then loaded onto a specially built vessel, transported along the Gulf of Finland, and unloaded on the left bank of the Neva.
This whole journey took almost a year.
The pedestal of the monument was intended to symbolize nature, barbarism, and the equestrian statue of Peter was supposed to depict the victory of civilization, reason, human will over wild nature. Therefore, according to the idea of the Empress, the stone had to be unhewn.
However, the sculptor and architect thought differently. As a result, the Thunder Stone was polished and somewhat lost in size.
The grand opening of the monument took place on August 7 (August 18), 1782.
The height of the monument was 10.4 meters.
However, in 1812 he could do it. Then there was a risk of the capture of the city by Napoleon and the monument was planned to be evacuated from the capital so that it would not go to the enemy.
True, they later decided that while the founder of the city was in the center of St. Petersburg, the enemy would not take him. And the monument was not moved.
In Pushkin's work "The Bronze Horseman" (which gave the popular name to the monument, despite the fact that it is made of bronze), the monument descends from the pedestal and is chased by the official Eugene, who decided that the Emperor is to blame for his troubles because he founded the city not there.
During the Great Patriotic War and the blockade of Leningrad, a special protective device was built for the monument so that it would not suffer from shelling and bombing.
Monument to Peter the Great - the main attraction of St. Petersburg
It is impossible to imagine modern Petersburg without a monument to Peter I. This is one of the main attractions of the city, which must be seen when visiting the northern capital.
But the main monument to Peter I is the city of St. Petersburg itself and the new borders of the country, which turned into the Russian Empire during his reign.
