Monument to Peter the 1st Bronze Horseman where it is located. Monument to Peter I

Plot

In August 1782, he reared up over the cold bank of the Neva bronze horse with the bronze emperor in the saddle. Mother Catherine, who wanted to unobtrusively indicate her greatness, ordered to indicate on the pedestal: “Peter the First - Catherine the Second.” Read: from student to teacher.

Catherine II timed the opening of the Bronze Horseman to coincide with two anniversaries

Petra's clothes are simple and light. Instead of a rich saddle there is a skin, which, according to the idea, symbolizes a wild nation civilized by a sovereign. For the pedestal there was a huge rock in the shape of a wave, which, on the one hand, spoke of difficulties, on the other, of naval victories. The snake under the feet of the rearing horse represented “hostile forces.” The figure of Peter should, according to the plan, express a combination of thought and strength, the unity of movement and rest.

Catherine expected to see Peter with a staff or scepter in his hand, seated on a horse like a Roman emperor, not a legionnaire. Falconet had something completely different in mind: “My king does not hold any rod, he extends his beneficent right hand over the country he travels around. He climbs to the top of the rock, which serves as his pedestal.”

The idea of a monument to Peter was born in Catherine’s head under the influence of her friend, the philosopher Denis Diderot. He also advised Etienne Falconet: “He has an abyss of subtle taste, intelligence and delicacy, and at the same time he is uncouth, harsh, does not believe in anything... He does not know self-interest.”

To create the plaster model, Falconet posed for a guards officer who reared a horse. This went on for several hours a day. The horses for work were taken from the imperial stables: the horses Diamond and Caprice.

Plaster sketch of the head of the Bronze Horseman

The plaster model was sculpted by the whole world: the horse and rider - Etienne Falconet himself, the head - his student Marie Anne Collot, the snake - the Russian master Fyodor Gordeev. When the model was completed and approved, the question of casting arose. Falconet had never done anything like this before, so he insisted that specialists be called from France. They called. The French foundry worker Benoit Ersman and three apprentices came to St. Petersburg not only with their tools, but even with their sand and clay - you never know, maybe the right raw materials won’t be found in wild Russia. But this did not help him complete the order.

The situation was heating up, deadlines were running out, Falcone was nervous, Catherine was unhappy. We found Russian daredevils. The casting of the monument lasted almost 10 years. Falcone himself did not see the completion of the work - in 1778 he had to leave for his homeland. On Grand opening the sculptor was not invited.

Context

The pedestal represents a work no less powerful, although it was already made by nature. Nicknamed the thunder stone, it was found near the village of Konnaya Lakhta (now a district of St. Petersburg). The pit formed after the rock was removed from the ground became a pond that still exists today.

Petrovsky Pond, which arose after the removal of the thunder stone

The required sample - weighing 2 thousand tons, 13 m long, 8 m high and 6 m wide - was found by the state-owned peasant Semyon Vishnyakov, who supplied building stone to St. Petersburg. According to legend, the rock broke off from a granite rock after being struck by lightning, hence the name “thunder stone.”

The most difficult thing was to deliver the stone to Senate Square— the future pedestal had to cover almost 8 km. The operation was carried out throughout the winter of 1769/1770.

The stone was brought to the shore of the Gulf of Finland, where a special pier was built for its loading. A special ship, built according to unique drawings, was sunk and placed on pre-driven piles, after which the stone was moved from the shore to the ship. The same operation was repeated in reverse order on Senate Square. The whole of St. Petersburg, from young to old, watched the transportation. While the thunder-stone was being transported, it was hewn, giving it a “wild” appearance.

The action of a machine for transporting thunder stones. Engraving based on drawings by Yuri Felten. 1770

Soon after its installation, urban legends and horror stories began to multiply around the monument.

Pedestal of the Bronze Horseman - thunder stone

According to one of them, for now Bronze Horseman stands in its place, the city has nothing to fear. This came from a dream of a certain major during Patriotic War 1812. Nightmare The soldiers handed it over to Alexander I, who just gave the order to remove the monument to the Vologda province - to save it from the approaching French. But after such prophecies, of course, the order was canceled.

Paul I allegedly saw the ghost of the Bronze Horseman during one of his evening walks. Moreover, this happened even before the installation of the monument. The future emperor himself said that on Senate Square he saw a ghost with the face of Peter, who announced that they would soon meet again in the same place. After some time, the monument was unveiled.

For Etienne Falconet, the monument to Peter I became the main work of his life. Before him, he worked mainly on orders from Madame de Pompadour, the favorite of Louis XV. By the way, she also contributed to the appointment of the sculptor as director of the Sèvres porcelain manufactory. This was the decade of sculpting figurines depicting allegories and mythological characters.

Etienne Falconet

“Only nature, living, spiritual, passionate, should be embodied by a sculptor in marble, bronze or stone,” these words were Falcone’s motto. French aristocrats loved him for his ability to combine baroque theatricality with ancient severity. And Diderot wrote that he values in Falconet’s work, first of all, fidelity to nature.

After a rather intense period of work under the supervision of Catherine II, Falcone was no longer invited to Russia. For the last 10 years of his life, paralyzed, he was unable to work or create.

"The Bronze Horseman" - a monument to the first to the Russian Emperor Peter I, became 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 for this work Etienne-Maurice Falconet, who had long dreamed of creating 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 a pedestal in Russian and Latin languages an inscription was mounted: “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 holiday events traditionally on Senate Square.

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

Per day!

Bronze Horseman is a monument in St. Petersburg dedicated to the great reformer Peter the Great (the Great).

History of the monument to Peter the Great

The history of the monument began in the early 60s of the 18th century during the reign of Catherine II. Being very devoted to Peter's covenants, Catherine II came up with the idea of creating a monument. Her friend D. Diderot advises her to invite Etienne Falcon, a sculptor from France. After his arrival in St. Petersburg in the fall of 1766, painstaking work began on creating a monument to Peter.

The appearance of the future monument was imagined differently by both the empress and the sculptor. However, the latter managed to defend his vision and convince the ruler to listen to his version of the composition. The French sculptor's idea was for the monument to symbolize not only a grand strategist who managed to win many victories, but also a person who knew how to create reforms and laws.

Depicted as a horseman, Peter the Great is dressed in modest clothing, which is characteristic of all heroic persons. Instead of a saddle, the rearing horse has a bear skin. This is a symbol of the victory of the state over the barbarians and the formation of civilized Russia. The pedestal in the form of a rock testifies to the difficulties that had to be overcome on the path to success, and the snake underfoot is an image of enemies. It is known that while working on the figure of Peter, the sculptor was unable to create the head of the emperor. This task was brilliantly completed by one of his students. The creation of the snake also did not belong to Falcone - Russian sculptor Fyodor Gordeev worked on it.

The grandiose plan of Catherine the Second required an appropriate pedestal.

The search for a suitable stone continued for a long time. As a result, after appealing to the population with a request for help through a newspaper, it was found "Thunder Stone". It got its name from being repeatedly struck by lightning. Located just 15 km from St. Petersburg, the granite monolith weighing one and a half thousand tons required finding ways to transport it. Transportation began in the fall of 1769 and involved hundreds of people.

The Bronze Horseman was of such a grandiose scale that master Ersman, invited from France, refused to participate in the casting of the monument. This was not an easy task, since the sculptor had only three points of support. At the same time, it was important to create the front part as light as possible. Foundry worker Emelyan Khailov helped the sculptor in this work. Re-casting was carried out three years later. Despite the successful completion of the project, the sculptor left Russia without waiting for the installation of his creation. According to some sources, the reason was the tense relationship between Empress Catherine and Falcone.

Restorations of the monument took place in 1909 and 1976.

St. Petersburg residents immediately liked the monument. It received its current name after the appearance of Pushkin’s poetic work “The Bronze Horseman”.

Description of the monument to Peter “The Bronze Horseman”

“The Bronze Horseman” is located in the heart of the city of St. Petersburg - on Senate Square. This landmark is surrounded by the buildings of the Synod and the Senate; next to the monument you can see the Ameraltey and St. Isaac's Cathedral. Almost every tourist visiting the city considers it their duty to take a photo of the Bronze Horseman.

The monument to Peter the Bronze Horseman received its name thanks to poem of the same name A.S. Pushkin, although in fact the monument is made of bronze.

The pedestal has inscriptions on one side in Russian and on the other side in Latin:

“PETER THE FIRST KATHERINE, second summer 1782.”
"PETRO primo CATHARINA secunda MDCCLXXXII."

Characteristics of the monument to Peter

Characteristics of the "Bronze Horseman":

weight - 8 tons,
height - more than 5,
the weight of the thunder stone is about 1500 tons.

In 1782, the centenary of Peter I's accession to the Russian throne was celebrated in St. Petersburg with the opening of a monument to the Tsar by the sculptor Etienne Maurice Falconet. The monument began to be called the Bronze Horseman thanks to A.S. Pushkin.

The monument to Peter I (“Bronze Horseman”) is located in the center of Senate Square. The author of the sculpture is the French sculptor Etienne-Maurice Falconet.

The location of the monument to Peter I 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-Maurice Falconet, did his own thing by installing the “Bronze Horseman” closer to the Neva.

By order of Catherine II, Falconet was invited to St. Petersburg by Prince Golitsyn. Professors of the Paris Academy of Painting Diderot and Voltaire, whose taste Catherine II trusted, advised to turn to this master.

Falcone was already fifty years old. He worked at a porcelain factory, but dreamed of great and monumental art. When an invitation was received to erect a monument in Russia, Falcone, without hesitation, signed the contract on September 6, 1766. Its conditions determined: the monument to Peter should consist of “mainly equestrian statue of colossal size." The sculptor was offered a rather modest fee (200 thousand livres), other masters asked twice as much.

Falconet arrived in St. Petersburg with his seventeen-year-old assistant Marie-Anne Collot.

The vision of the monument to Peter I by the author of the sculpture was strikingly different from the desire of the empress and the majority of the Russian nobility. Catherine II expected to see Peter I with a rod or scepter in his hand, sitting on a horse like a Roman emperor. State Councilor Shtelin saw the figure of Peter surrounded by allegories of Prudence, Diligence, Justice and Victory. I.I. Betskoy, who supervised the construction of the monument, imagined it as a full-length figure, holding a commander’s staff in his hand. Falconet was advised to direct the emperor's right eye to the Admiralty, and his left to the building of the Twelve Colleges. Diderot, who visited St. Petersburg in 1773, conceived a monument in the form of a fountain decorated with allegorical figures.

Falcone had something completely different in mind. He turned out to be stubborn and persistent. The sculptor wrote:
“I will limit myself only to the statue of this hero, whom I do not interpret either as a great commander or as 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 needs to be shown to people. My king does not hold any rod, he extends his beneficent right hand over the country he travels around. He climbs to the top of the rock, which serves as his pedestal - this is an emblem of the difficulties he has overcome.”

Defending the right to his opinion regarding the appearance of the Falcone monument, I.I. wrote. Betsky:
“Could you imagine that the sculptor chosen to create such a significant monument would be deprived of the ability to think and that the movements of his hands would be controlled by someone else’s head, and not his own?”

Disputes also arose around the clothes of Peter I. The sculptor wrote to Diderot:
“You know that I will not dress him in Roman style, just as I would not dress Julius Caesar or Scipio in Russian.”

Falcone worked on a life-size model of the monument for three years. Work on the "Bronze Horseman" was carried out on the site of the former temporary Winter Palace Elizaveta Petrovna. In 1769, passersby could watch here as a guards officer took off on a horse onto a wooden platform and reared it. This went on for several hours a day. Falcone sat at the window in front of the platform and carefully sketched what he saw. The horses for work on the monument were taken from the imperial stables: the horses Brilliant and Caprice. The sculptor chose the Russian “Oryol” breed for the monument.

Falconet's student Marie-Anne Collot sculpted the head of the Bronze Horseman. The sculptor himself took on this work three times, but each time Catherine II advised to remake the model. Marie herself proposed her sketch, which was accepted by the empress. For her work, the girl was accepted as a member Russian Academy arts, Catherine II assigned her a lifelong pension of 10,000 livres.

The snake under the horse’s foot was sculpted by the Russian sculptor F.G. Gordeev.

Preparing the life-size plaster model of the monument took twelve years; it was ready by 1778. The model was open for public viewing in the workshop on the corner of Brick Lane and Bolshaya Morskaya Street. Various opinions were expressed. The Chief Prosecutor of the Synod resolutely did not accept the project. Diderot was pleased with what he saw. Catherine II turned out to be indifferent to the model of the monument - she did not like Falcone’s arbitrariness in choosing the appearance of the monument.

For a long time, no one wanted to take on the task of casting the statue. Foreign masters demanded too much a large amount, and local craftsmen were frightened by its size and complexity of work. According to the sculptor’s calculations, in order to maintain the balance of the monument, the front walls of the monument had to be made very thin - no more than a centimeter. Even a specially invited foundry worker from France refused such work. He called Falcone crazy and said that there was no such example of casting in the world, that it would not succeed.

Finally, a foundry worker was found - cannon master Emelyan Khailov. Together with him, Falcone selected the alloy and made samples. In three years, the sculptor mastered casting to perfection. They began casting the Bronze Horseman in 1774.

The technology was very complex. The thickness of the front walls had to be less than the thickness of the rear ones. At the same time, the back part became heavier, which gave stability to the statue, which rested on only three points of support.

Filling the statue alone was not enough. During the first, the pipe through which hot bronze was supplied to the mold burst. The upper part of the sculpture was damaged. I had to cut it down and prepare for the second filling for another three years. This time the job was a success. In memory of her, on one of the folds of Peter I’s cloak, the sculptor left the inscription “Sculpted and cast by Etienne Falconet, a Parisian in 1778.”

The St. Petersburg Gazette wrote about these events:
“On August 24, 1775, Falconet cast a statue of Peter the Great on horseback here. The casting was successful except in places two feet by two at the top. This regrettable failure occurred through an incident that was not at all foreseeable, and therefore impossible to prevent. The above-mentioned incident seemed so terrible that they feared that the entire building would catch fire, and, consequently, the whole business would fail. Khailov remained motionless and carried the molten metal into the mold, without losing his vigor in the least in the face of danger to his life. Falcone, touched by such courage at the end of the case, rushed to him and kissed him with all his heart and gave him money from himself.”

According to the sculptor’s plan, the base of the monument is a natural rock in the shape of a wave. The shape of the wave serves as a reminder that it was Peter I who led Russia to the sea. The Academy of Arts began searching for the monolith stone when the model of the monument was not yet ready. A stone was needed whose height would be 11.2 meters.

The granite monolith was found in the Lakhta region, twelve miles from St. Petersburg. Once upon a time, according to local legends, lightning struck the rock, forming a crack in it. Among local residents The rock was called "Thunder Stone". That’s what they later began to call it when they installed it on the banks of the Neva under the famous monument.

The initial weight of the monolith is about 2000 tons. Catherine II announced a reward of 7,000 rubles to the one who comes up with the most effective method deliver the rock to Senate Square. From many projects, the method proposed by a certain Carbury was chosen. There were rumors that he had bought this project from some Russian merchant.

A clearing was cut from the location of the stone to the shore of the bay and the soil was strengthened. The rock was freed from excess layers, and it immediately became lighter by 600 tons. The thunder-stone was hoisted with levers onto a wooden platform resting on copper balls. These balls moved on grooved wooden rails lined with copper. The clearing was winding. Work on transporting the rock continued in both cold and hot weather. Hundreds of people worked. Many St. Petersburg residents came to watch this action. Some of the observers collected fragments of stone and used them to make cane knobs or cufflinks. In honor of the extraordinary transport operation, Catherine II ordered the minting of a medal on which it was written “Like daring. January 20, 1770.”

The poet Vasily Rubin wrote in the same year:
The Russian Mountain, not made by hands, is here,
Hearing the voice of God from the lips of Catherine,
Came to the city of Petrov through the Neva abyss
And she fell under the feet of the Great Peter.

By the time the monument to Peter I was erected, the relationship between the sculptor and the imperial court had completely deteriorated. It got to the point that Falcone was credited with only a technical attitude towards the monument. The offended master did not wait for the opening of the monument; in September 1778, together with Marie-Anne Collot, he left for Paris.

The installation of the “Bronze Horseman” on the pedestal was supervised by the architect F.G. Gordeev.

The grand opening of the monument to Peter I took place on August 7, 1782 (old style). The sculpture was hidden from the eyes of observers by a canvas fence depicting mountain landscapes. It had been raining since the morning, but it did not stop a significant number of people from gathering on Senate Square. By noon the clouds had cleared. The guards entered the square. The military parade was led by Prince A.M. Golitsyn. At four o'clock, Empress Catherine II herself arrived on the boat. She climbed onto the balcony of the Senate building in a crown and purple and gave a sign for the opening of the monument. The fence fell, and to the beat of drums the regiments moved along the Neva embankment.

By order of Catherine II, the following is inscribed on the pedestal: “Catherine II to Peter I.” Thus, the Empress emphasized her commitment to Peter's reforms.

Immediately after the appearance of the Bronze Horseman on Senate Square, the square was named Petrovskaya.

A.S. called the sculpture “Bronze Horseman” in his poem of the same name. Pushkin. This expression has become so popular that it has become almost official. And the monument to Peter I itself became one of the symbols of St. Petersburg.

The weight of the “Bronze Horseman” is 8 tons, the height is more than 5 meters.

Legend of the Bronze Horseman

From the very day of its installation it became the subject of many myths and legends. Opponents of Peter himself and his reforms warned that the monument depicts the “horseman of the Apocalypse,” bringing death and suffering to the city and all of Russia. Peter's supporters said that the monument symbolizes greatness and glory Russian Empire, and that Russia will remain so until the rider leaves his pedestal.

By the way, there are also legends about the pedestal of the Bronze Horseman. According to the sculptor Falcone, it was supposed to be made in the shape of a wave. Suitable stone was found near the village of Lakhta: supposedly a local holy fool pointed out the stone. Some historians find it possible that this is precisely the stone that Peter climbed more than once during his Northern War, in order to better see the location of the troops.

The fame of the Bronze Horseman spread far beyond the borders of St. Petersburg. One of the remote settlements had its own version of the origin of the monument. The version was that one day Peter the Great amused himself by jumping on his horse from one bank of the Neva to the other. The first time he exclaimed: “Everything is God’s and mine!”, and jumped over the river. The second time he repeated: “Everything is God’s and mine!”, and again the jump was successful. However, the third time the emperor mixed up the words and said: “Everything is mine and God’s!” At that moment, God's punishment overtook him: he became petrified and forever remained a monument to himself.

The Legend of Major Baturin

During the Patriotic War of 1812, as a result of the retreat of Russian troops, there was a threat of the capture of St. Petersburg by French troops. Concerned about this prospect, Alexander I ordered particularly valuable works of art to be removed from the city. In particular, State Secretary Molchanov was instructed to take the monument to Peter I to the Vologda province, and several thousand rubles were allocated for this. At this time, a certain Major Baturin secured a meeting with the Tsar’s personal friend, Prince Golitsyn, and told him that he and Baturin were haunted by the same dream. He sees himself on Senate Square. Peter's face turns. The horseman rides off his cliff and heads along the streets of St. Petersburg to Kamenny Island, where Alexander I then lived. The horseman enters the courtyard of the Kamenoostrovsky Palace, from which the sovereign comes out to meet him. “Young man, what have you brought my Russia to,” Peter the Great tells him, “but as long as I’m in place, my city has nothing to fear!” Then the rider turns back, and the “heavy, ringing gallop” is heard again. Struck by Baturin’s story, Prince Golitsyn conveyed the dream to the sovereign. As a result, Alexander I reversed his decision to evacuate the monument. The monument remained in place.

There is an assumption that the legend of Major Baturin formed the basis of the plot of A. S. Pushkin’s poem “The Bronze Horseman”. There is also an assumption that the legend of Major Baturin was the reason that during the Great Patriotic War the monument remained in place and was not hidden, like other sculptures.

During the siege of Leningrad, the Bronze Horseman was covered with bags of earth and sand, lined with logs and boards.

Restorations of the monument took place in 1909 and 1976. During the last of them, the sculpture was studied using gamma rays. To do this, the space around the monument was fenced off with sandbags and concrete blocks. The cobalt gun was controlled from a nearby bus. Thanks to this research, it turned out that the frame of the monument can still serve long years. Inside the figure was a capsule with a note about the restoration and its participants, a newspaper dated September 3, 1976.

Currently, the Bronze Horseman is a popular place for newlyweds.

Etienne-Maurice Falconet conceived The Bronze Horseman without a fence. But it was still created and has not survived to this day. “Thanks to” the vandals who leave their autographs on the thunder stone and the sculpture itself, the idea of restoring the fence may soon be realized.

Most tourists who want to see all the sights of the Northern capital are interested in where exactly in St. Petersburg the legendary Bronze Horseman monument, depicting Peter 1, is located. This symbol of the city dates back more than two centuries and is covered in many legends and myths.

Find famous statue, to which the famous poem of the same name by A. S. Pushkin is dedicated, will not be difficult. The Bronze Horseman monument is located on one of the central squares of St. Petersburg - former square Decembrists (now Senate) - in an open park. It is very convenient to get to it through the Alexander Garden, passing through its western part.

The exact address of the Bronze Horseman in St. Petersburg: Senate Square, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, 190000.

Bronze Horseman history of the creation of the monument

The idea of creating a monument designed to perpetuate the memory of the outstanding monarch belongs to Empress Catherine II. She believed that such a responsible task could only be entrusted to a true master. In search of such a person, Prince Golitsyn - confidant empress - turned for help to the venerable representatives of French culture of that time, Diderot and Voltaire. The great philosophers advised their royal correspondent Etienne-Maurice Falconet, at that time the author of not very well-known sculptural compositions.

Falcone worked at a porcelain factory, but in the depths of his soul he had long dreamed of trying his hand at monumental art. In 1766, he signed a contract with representatives of Catherine II for the creation of a bronze monument, according to which his remuneration was only 200,000 livres.

It is interesting that Etienne-Maurice came to Russia together with a talented 17-year-old student, Marie-Anne Collot, who later married his son. Various rumors, and not always decent ones, circulated for a long time about the relationship between the sculptor and his young assistant.

Opinions about what the symbol of Russian autocracy should look like turned out to be very different:

The head of the Imperial Academy of Arts, Belsky, believed that Peter I should be depicted standing majestically at full height and with a scepter in his hand.
Empress Catherine II wanted to see her predecessor on horseback, but always with symbols of royal power in her hands.
The enlightener Diderot intended to create a large fountain with allegorical figures instead of a statue.
The modest official Shtelin sent a letter to the Academy of Arts in which he proposed to surround the statue of the emperor with images of virtues such as Honesty and Justice, trampling underfoot vices (Bragging, Deception, Laziness, etc.).

However, the author of the future Bronze Horseman monument had his own idea of what his creation should look like. Falcone abandoned the allegorical interpretation of the image of the emperor and intended to show him as a great legislator and guardian of the well-being of his country. According to plan sculptural composition, it was supposed to demonstrate the triumph of human will and reason over spontaneous natural forces.

Sculptor of the Bronze Horseman Etienne Maurice Falconet

Falcone approached the creation of the Bronze Horseman in St. Petersburg very responsibly. The model of the statue was created during 1768-1770 on the territory of the former summer residence of Empress Elizabeth. The prototype of the horse for the monument was two Oryol trotters, Brilliant and Caprice, which were considered an adornment of the royal stables. At the request of the sculptor, a platform was made, the height of which practically coincided with the future pedestal. One of the officers on horseback flew up to its edge and reared his horse, so that Falcone could sketch all the structural features of the horse’s body and muscles.

The emperor's head was sculpted by Maria Anna Collo, since her mentor’s options were not approved by Catherine II. The wide-opened facial features of Peter I reflected the main qualities of the sovereign: courage, strong will, high intelligence, justice. For this work, the Empress awarded the talented girl membership in the Imperial Academy of Arts and a lifelong pension.

The horse on which the sovereign sits tramples with its hooves a snake made by the Russian master Gordeev.

After making a plaster model, Falcone began casting the statue, but encountered a number of problems:

Due to the size of the monument, even foundries with a good reputation refused to cast because they could not vouch for the quality of the work.
When the sculptor finally found an assistant, the cannon maker Khailov, it turned out to be very difficult to choose the correct composition of the alloy. Since the monument had only 3 points of support, the walls of its front part should have been no thicker than 1 cm.
The first casting of the sculptural composition in 1775 was unsuccessful. While working in the workshop, a pipe through which molten bronze flowed burst. The catastrophic consequences were averted thanks to the courage of Khailov, who plugged the hole with his own clothes and sealed it with clay. For this reason, the upper part of the monument had to be refilled two years later.

The origin of the Bronze Horseman pedestal is surrounded by many legends. It is popularly known as the Thunder Stone. In alternative historical theories concerning the construction of St. Petersburg, it occupies a key place. Some researchers suggest that the official version, according to which the Thunder Stone was transported to the city from the vicinity of the small settlement of Konnaya Lakhta, is falsified.

However, historical documents and eyewitness accounts, including those of foreign origin, refute the assumption that the giant granite block for the Bronze Horseman monument was located on the territory of St. Petersburg before processing. Any attempts to connect it with the mythological civilization of the Atlanteans, who allegedly were the founders of the city in this place, are unfounded. The technologies of that time made it possible to transport even such a huge rock to the site of the monument.

The Thunder Stone weighed more than 1,600 tons and its height exceeded 11 meters, so it was delivered to the shores of the Gulf of Finland on a special platform. It moved along 2 gutters located strictly parallel to each other. They housed three dozen large balls made of copper alloy. Movement of the platform was possible only in winter time when the soil froze and better withstood heavy loads. Transporting this natural pedestal to the coast took about six months, after which it was transported by water to St. Petersburg and took its assigned place on the square in 1770. As a result of hewing, the size of the Thunder Stone was significantly reduced.

12 years after Falcone's arrival in Northern capital his relationship with the empress deteriorated significantly, so he was forced to leave the country. Felten supervised the completion of the statue, and its grand opening took place in 1782.

Symbolism and legends of the monument

Falconet depicted Peter I in simple and light attire, without excessive luxury befitting his status as emperor. By this, he sought to show the merits of the monarch as a person, and not as a great commander and winner. Instead of a saddle, the horse is covered with an animal skin, symbolizing the arrival of enlightenment and the benefits of civilization in the country thanks to Peter I.

The head of the statue is crowned Laurel wreath, and a sword is attached to the belt, which indicates the ruler’s readiness to come to the defense of the Fatherland at any moment. The rock represents the difficulties that Peter had to overcome during his reign. The pedestal is decorated with an inscription, which is a tribute of Empress Catherine II to her great predecessor, in Russian and Latin. Another inscription is hidden in the folds of the cloak, indicating the authorship of the monument. The weight of the monument is 8 tons, and the height is 5 meters.

There are many legends associated with the Bronze Horseman, one of which was reflected by Pushkin in his poem of the same name. According to some of them:

Allegedly, even before the installation of the sculptural composition, the ghost of Peter I met the future Emperor Paul I at the place where the monument is now located. The deceased monarch warned his heir of the danger that threatened him.
In 1812, the Bronze Horseman was about to be evacuated because the city was threatened by the French. However, the emperor appeared in a dream to Major Baturin and said that as long as he remained in place, nothing threatened St. Petersburg.
Some people believed that the monument was Peter I himself, who decided to jump the Neva on his favorite horse with the words “All is God and mine.” However, he got confused and said “Everything is mine and God’s”, for which he was punished higher powers and instantly petrified right on the square.

Where is the Bronze Horseman

The monument is available for free visits. You can listen to a fascinating story about the creation of the statue and the legends associated with it by taking part in sightseeing tours of St. Petersburg. Their cost ranges on average from 780 RUR per person to 2800 RUR - 8000 RUR per group (depending on the duration of the tour).

There are several ways to get to the monument:

From the Admiralteyskaya metro station, turn left to Malaya Morskaya Street, then turn left onto Dekabristov Avenue and then turn right to the banks of the Neva. The journey will take no more than 10 minutes.
From the Nevsky Prospekt metro station, walk along the Griboyedov Canal to the end of Nevsky Prospekt and walk towards the Alexander Garden.
Buses No. 27, 22 and 3, as well as trolleybus No. 5, also run to Senate Square.

The Bronze Horseman is the most popular attraction in St. Petersburg, without which it is impossible to get a complete picture of the city.