Monument to Alexander 1 on the palace square. VI

Central monument of Palace Square; monument in, erected in honor of the victory over Napoleon. The total height of this column is 47.5 meters. The Empire style gives the monument special charm. It is included in the version of our website.

Palace Square all year round visited by tourists from different countries and visitors from other cities of Russia. The first thing that catches your eye is, of course, the Alexander Column. It organically complements architectural ensemble Hermitage. It is noteworthy that this monument is the tallest free-standing triumphal column in the world.

In my own way appearance The Alexandria Pillar (as it is also called after A. S. Pushkin’s poem “Monument”) resembles triumphal structures of antiquity, in particular Trajan’s Column in Rome. The author of the project was Auguste Montferrand, an architect of French origin who designed St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Construction of the column lasted 5 years, starting in 1829.

It was originally planned that the column would be crowned by a horseman surrounded by allegorical figures. Then a statue of an angel with a cross raised into the sky was chosen. One of the main differences between the Alexander Column and the Trajan Column was the solid granite monolith of the column. Surface natural stone left smooth to emphasize its power and beauty.

The ceremonial raising of the column took place at the end of the summer of 1834. More than 2,000 soldiers and 400 workers were involved. The royal family was present at the opening of the triumphal monument.

The Alexander Column is located a few minutes walk from the Admiralteyskaya metro station.

Photo attraction: Alexander Column

View of the Alexander Column from the General Staff Arch

St. Petersburg, Palace Square, metro: Nevsky Prospekt, Gostiny Dvor.

Alexandria Pillar was erected on August 30, 1834 in the center of Palace Square in St. Petersburg by the architect Auguste Richard Montfern by order of Emperor Nicholas I in memory of the victory of his elder brother, Emperor Alexander I over Napoleon.

Montferand's original project to create a granite obelisk was rejected by Nicholas, and, as a result, Montferand created the monument, which is a huge column of pink granite standing on a square pedestal.

The column is crowned with a sculpture by Orlovsky, depicting a gilded angel with the facial features of Emperor Alexander I. The angel holds a cross in his left hand, and raises his right hand to the sky.

The height of the Pillar together with the statue is 47.5 m (it is taller than all similar monuments in the world: the Vendome Column in Paris, Trajan's Column in Rome and Pompey's Column in Alexandria). The diameter of the Pillar is 3.66 m.

The pedestal of the column is decorated on four sides with bronze bas-reliefs with ornaments of military armor, as well as allegorical images of the victories of Russian weapons. Individual bas-reliefs depict ancient Russian chain mail, cones and shields, stored in the Armory Chamber in Moscow, as well as the helmets of Alexander Nevsky and Ermak.

The granite monolith, which served as the basis for the creation of the column, was mined in one of the quarries near Vyborg and transported in 1832 on a barge specially designed for this purpose to St. Petersburg, where it was further processed.

To install the column vertically in the square, 2,000 soldiers and 400 workers were recruited. They installed it on the pedestal in just 1 hour and 45 minutes. 1,250 pine piles were driven under the base of the column.

The Pillar of Alexandria is a marvel of engineering - for more than 150 years it has stood unsecured, held upright solely by its own weight of 600 tons.

In the first years after its construction, St. Petersburg residents experienced some fears - what if the column would one day fall. In order to dissuade them, Montferand made himself the habit of starting every day with a walk under the column, and did it almost until his death.

The column is clearly visible through the arch of the General Staff building from Herzen Street and from the embankment of the Moika River.

In 1841, cracks appeared on the column. By 1861 they had become so prominent that Alexander II established a committee to study them. The committee concluded that the cracks in the granite were present initially, but were sealed with mastic. In 1862, the cracks were repaired with Portland cement.

In 1925, it was decided that the presence of an angel figure on the main square of Leningrad was inappropriate. An attempt was made to cover it with a cap, which attracted enough attention to Palace Square. a large number of passers-by Hanging over the column balloon, however, when he flew up to her at the required distance, the wind immediately blew and drove the ball away. By evening, attempts to hide the angel stopped. A little later, a plan emerged to replace the angel with the figure of V.I. Lenin. However, this was not implemented either.

Alexandria Pillar (Alexandrovsky, Alexandrinsky) - a monument to Alexander I, the winner of Napoleon in the war of 1812-1814. The column, designed by Auguste Montferrand, was installed on August 30, 1834. It is crowned with the figure of an Angel, made by the sculptor Boris Ivanovich Orlovsky.

A The lexandrine pillar is not only an architectural masterpiece in the Empire style, but also outstanding achievement engineering thought. The tallest column in the world, made of monolithic granite. Its weight is 704 tons. The height of the monument is 47.5 meters, the granite monolith is 25.88 meters. It is taller than Pompey's Column in Alexandria, Trajan's Column in Rome and, what is especially nice, the Vendôme Column in Paris - a monument to Napoleon.

Let's start with brief history its creation

The idea of building the monument was proposed by the famous architect Carl Rossi. When planning the space of Palace Square, he believed that a monument should be placed in the center of the square. From the side, the installation point of the column looks like the exact center of Palace Square. But in fact, it is located 100 meters from the Winter Palace and almost 140 meters from the arch of the General Staff building.

The construction of the monument was entrusted to Montferrand. He himself saw it a little differently, with a group of cavalry below and with many architectural details, but he was corrected)))

For the granite monolith - the main part of the column - the rock that the sculptor outlined during his previous trips to Finland was used. Mining and preliminary processing were carried out in 1830-1832 in the Pyuterlak quarry, which was located in the Vyborg province ( modern city Pyterlahti, Finland).

These works were carried out according to the method of S.K. Sukhanov, the production was supervised by masters S.V. Kolodkin and V.A. Yakovlev. It took half a year to trim the monolith. 250 people worked on this every day. Montferrand appointed stone mason Eugene Pascal to lead the work.

After the stonemasons examined the rock and confirmed the suitability of the material, a prism was cut off from it, which was significantly larger in size than the future column. Giant devices were used: huge levers and gates to move the block from its place and tip it onto a soft and elastic bedding of spruce branches.

After separating the workpiece, huge stones were cut from the same rock for the foundation of the monument, the largest of which weighed about 25 thousand poods (more than 400 tons). Their delivery to St. Petersburg was carried out by water, for this purpose a barge of a special design was used.

The monolith was duped on site and prepared for transportation. Transportation issues were dealt with by naval engineer Colonel K.A. Glazyrin, who designed and built a special boat, named “Saint Nicholas”, with a carrying capacity of up to 65 thousand poods (almost 1065 tons).

During loading, an accident occurred - the weight of the column could not be supported by the beams along which it was supposed to roll onto the ship, and it almost collapsed into the water. The monolith was loaded by 600 soldiers, who completed a forced march of 36 miles from a neighboring fortress in four hours.

To carry out loading operations, a special pier was built. Loading was carried out from a wooden platform at its end, which coincided in height with the side of the vessel.

Having overcome all difficulties, the column was loaded on board, and the monolith went to Kronstadt on a barge towed by two steamships, from there to go to the Palace Embankment of St. Petersburg.

The arrival of the central part of the column in St. Petersburg took place on July 1, 1832. The contractor, merchant son V. A. Yakovlev, was responsible for all of the above work.

Since 1829, work began on the preparation and construction of the foundation and pedestal of the column on Palace Square in St. Petersburg. The work was supervised by O. Montferrand.

First, a geological survey of the area was carried out, which resulted in the discovery of a suitable sandy continent near the center of the area at a depth of 17 feet (5.2 m).

The contract for the construction of the foundation was given to the merchant Vasily Yakovlev. By the end of 1829, the workers managed to dig a foundation pit. While strengthening the foundation for the Alexander Column, workers came across piles that had strengthened the ground back in the 1760s. It turned out that Montferrand repeated, after Rastrelli, the decision about the location for the monument, landing on the same point!

In December 1829, the location for the column was approved, and 1,250 six-meter pine piles were driven under the base. Then the piles were cut to fit the spirit level, forming a platform for the foundation, according to the original method: the bottom of the pit was filled with water, and the piles were cut to the level of the water table, which ensured that the site was horizontal. Previously, using a similar technology, the foundation of St. Isaac's Cathedral was laid.

The foundation of the monument was built from stone granite blocks half a meter thick. It was extended to the horizon of the square using planked masonry. In its center was placed a bronze box with 0 105 coins minted in honor of the victory of 1812. A platinum medal minted according to Montferrand’s design with the image of the Alexander Column and the date “1830” was also placed there, as well as a mortgage plaque with the following text:

“In the summer of Christ 1831, the construction of a monument began, erected to Emperor Alexander by grateful Russia on a granite foundation laid on the 19th day of November 1830. In St. Petersburg, the construction of this monument was presided over by Count Yu. Litta. Volkonsky, A. Olenin, Count P. Kutaisov, I. Gladkov, L. Carbonier, A. Vasilchikov. The construction was carried out according to the drawings of the same architect Augustine de Montferand.

The work was completed in October 1830.

After laying the foundation, a huge four-hundred-ton monolith, brought from the Pyuterlak quarry, was erected on it, which serves as the base of the pedestal.

The engineering problem of installing such a large monolith was solved by O. Montferrand as follows: the monolith was rolled on rollers through an inclined plane onto a platform built close to the foundation. And the stone was dumped on a pile of sand, previously poured next to the platform.

“At the same time, the earth shook so much that eyewitnesses - passers-by who were in the square at that moment, felt something like an underground shock.” Then it was moved on rollers.

Later O. Montferrand recalled; “Since the work was carried out in winter, I ordered cement and vodka to be mixed and a tenth of soap added. Due to the fact that the stone initially sat incorrectly, it had to be moved several times, which was done with the help of only two capstans and with particular ease, of course , thanks to the soap that I ordered to be mixed into the solution..."

Album with drawings by Montferrand.

By July 1832, the monolith of the column was on its way, and the pedestal had already been completed. It's time to begin the most difficult task - installing the column on the pedestal.

Based on the developments of Lieutenant General A. A. Betancourt for the installation of columns of St. Isaac's Cathedral in December 1830, an original lifting system was designed. It included: scaffolding 22 fathoms (47 meters) high, 60 capstans and a system of blocks.

On August 30, 1832, masses of people gathered to watch this event: they occupied the entire square, and besides this, the windows and roof of the General Staff Building were occupied by spectators. The sovereign and the entire imperial family came to the raising.

To bring the column into a vertical position on Palace Square, it was necessary to attract the forces of 2,000 soldiers and 400 workers, who installed the monolith in 1 hour and 45 minutes.

After installation, people shouted "Hurray!" And the delighted emperor said: “Montferrand, you have immortalized yourself!”

The granite pillar and the bronze angel standing on it are held together solely by their own weight. If you come very close to the column and, raising your head, look up, it will take your breath away - the column is swaying.

After installing the column, all that remained was to attach the bas-relief slabs and decorative elements to the pedestal, as well as to complete the final processing and polishing of the column.

The column was surmounted by a bronze capital of the Doric order with a rectangular abacus made of brickwork with bronze facing. A bronze cylindrical pedestal with a hemispherical top was installed on it.

In parallel with the construction of the column, in September 1830, O. Montferrand worked on a statue intended to be placed above it and, according to the wishes of Nicholas I, facing Winter Palace. In the original design, the column was completed with a cross entwined with a snake to decorate the fasteners. In addition, the sculptors of the Academy of Arts proposed several options for compositions of figures of angels and virtues with a cross. There was an option to install the figure of Saint Prince Alexander Nevsky, but the first option that was approved was a cross on a ball without an angel, in this form the column is even present in some old engravings..

But in the end, the figure of an angel with a cross was accepted for execution, made by the sculptor B.I. Orlovsky with expressive and understandable symbolism - “By this victory!”

Orlovsky had to redo the sculpture of the Angel several times before Nicholas I liked it. The Emperor wanted the Angel’s face to be given a resemblance to Alexander I, and the face of the snake trampled by the Angel’s cross must certainly resemble Napoleon’s face. If he does sweat, it is only remotely.

Initially, the Alexander Column was framed by a temporary wooden fence with lamps in the form of antique tripods and plaster lion masks. The carpentry work for the fence was carried out by “carved master” Vasily Zakharov. Instead of a temporary fence, at the end of 1834 it was decided to install a permanent metal one “with three-headed eagles under the lanterns,” the design of which was drawn up by Montferrand in advance.

Parade at the opening of the Alexander Column in 1834. From a painting by Ladurneur.

To accommodate the guests of honor, Montferrand built a special grandstand in front of the Winter Palace in the form of a three-span arch. It was decorated in such a way as to architecturally connect with the Winter Palace.

A parade of troops took place in front of the podium and the column.

It must be said that the monument, which now seems perfect, sometimes aroused criticism from contemporaries. Montferrand, for example, was reproached for allegedly using the marble intended for the column to build his own house, and using cheap granite for the monument. The figure of the Angel reminded the people of St. Petersburg of a sentry and inspired the poet to write the following mocking lines:

“In Russia everything breathes military craft:
And the Angel puts a cross on guard.”

But the rumor did not spare the emperor himself. Imitating his grandmother, Catherine II, who inscribed on the pedestal Bronze Horseman“Peter I - Catherine II,” Nikolai Pavlovich called in official papers new monument“Pillar of Nicholas I to Alexander I,” which immediately gave birth to the pun: “Pillar of pillar to pillar.”

In honor of this event, a commemorative coin was minted in denominations of 1 ruble and one and a half rubles

The grandiose structure inspired admiration and awe in St. Petersburg residents from the moment of its foundation, but our ancestors were seriously afraid that the Alexander Column would collapse and tried to avoid it.

To dispel philistine fears, the architect Auguste Montferrand, fortunately living nearby, on the Moika, began to exercise daily around his brainchild, demonstrating complete confidence in his own safety and the correctness of his calculations. Years have passed, wars and revolutions have passed, the column still stands, the architect was not mistaken.

December 15, 1889 happened almost mystical story- Foreign Minister Lamsdorf reported in his diary that at nightfall, when the lanterns are lit, a luminous letter “N” appears on the monument.

Rumors began to spread around St. Petersburg that this was an omen of a new reign in the new year, but the next day the count figured out the reasons for the phenomenon. The name of their manufacturer was etched on the glass of the lanterns: "Simens". When the lamps were working from the side of St. Isaac's Cathedral, this letter was reflected on the column.

There are many tales and legends associated with it)))

In 1925, it was decided that the presence of an angel figure on the main square of Leningrad was inappropriate. An attempt was made to cover it with a cap, which attracted a fairly large number of passers-by to Palace Square. A hot air balloon hung above the column. However, when he flew up to the required distance, the wind immediately blew and drove the ball away. By evening, attempts to hide the angel stopped.

There is a legend that at that time, instead of the angel, they seriously planned to erect a monument to Lenin. It would have looked something like this))) Lenin was not appointed because they could not decide in which direction to extend their hand to Ilyich...

The column is beautiful both in winter and summer. And it fits perfectly into Palace Square.

There's another one interesting legend. This happened on April 12, 1961, after a solemn TASS message about the launch of the first manned spacecraft was heard on the radio. spaceship. There is general rejoicing on the streets, real euphoria on a national scale!

The very next day after the flight, a laconic inscription appeared at the feet of the angel crowning the Alexandria Pillar: “Yuri Gagarin! Hurray!”

Which vandal was able to express his admiration for the first cosmonaut in this way and how he managed to climb to such a dizzying height will remain a mystery.

In the evening and at night the column is no less beautiful.

The center of the composition of the Palace Square ensemble is the famous Alexander Column-monument, dedicated to the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812.

The victory was won during the reign of Alexander I, the monument was created in his honor and bears the name of the emperor.

The construction of the column was preceded by an official design competition. The French architect Auguste Montferrand, who at the same time supervised the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg, proposed two projects.

The first project, a sketch of which is kept today in the library of the Institute of Railway Engineers, was rejected by Emperor Nicholas I.

Emperor Nicholas I

In accordance with it, it was planned to erect a monumental granite obelisk 25.6 meters high. The front side was to be decorated with bas-reliefs depicting the events of the War of 1812. On a pedestal with the inscription “To the Blessed is Grateful Russia,” it was planned to install a sculptural group of a rider on a horse trampling a snake with his feet. The horse is led by two allegorical female figures, the goddess of Victory follows the rider, and in front of the rider is a flying double-headed eagle.

Auguste (August Augustovich) Montferrand

O. Montferrand's second project, which was approved by the emperor on September 24, 1829, provided for the installation of a monumental triumphal column.

Alexander Column and Main Headquarters. Lithograph by L. J. Arnoux. 1840s

The Alexander Column reproduces the type of triumphal structure of Antiquity ( Famous column Troyan in Rome), but it is the largest structure of its kind in the world.

Comparison of Alexander's Column, Trajan's Column, Napoleon's Column, Marcus Aurelius' Column, and the so-called "Pompey's Column"

The monument on Palace Square became the tallest column made from a monolithic block of granite.

A huge monolith for making the column trunk was broken out in the Pyuterlak quarry near Vyborg. Mining and preliminary processing were carried out in 1830-1832.

The cut granite prism was significantly larger in size than the future column; it was cleared of soil and moss and the required shape was outlined with chalk.

With the help of special devices - giant levers and gates, the block was tipped onto a bed of spruce branches. After the monolith was processed and acquired the necessary shape, it was loaded onto the boat "St. Nicholas", built according to the design of the naval engineer Colonel Glasin.

The monolith was delivered to the capital by water on July 1, 1832. Huge stones for the foundation of the future monument were cut from the same rock, some of them weighed more than 400 tons. The stones were delivered to St. Petersburg by water on a specially designed barge.

In the meantime, a suitable foundation was prepared for the future column. After the location for the column was approved in December 1829, 1,250 pine piles were driven under the foundation. In the center of the foundation, consisting of granite blocks, they laid a bronze box with coins minted in honor of the victory of 1812.

A 400-ton monolith was installed on the foundation, which served as the base of the pedestal. The next, no less difficult stage was the installation of the column on a stone pedestal. This required a special scaffolding system, special lifting devices, the labor of two thousand soldiers and four hundred workers and only 1 hour and 45 minutes of time.

After installing the column, it was finally processed and polished, and bas-reliefs and decorative elements were attached to the pedestal.

The height of the column together with the sculptural completion is 47.5 meters. The column has a Doric capital with a rectangular abacus made of brickwork with bronze facing.

Above, on a cylindrical pedestal, there is a figure of an angel with a cross trampling on a snake. This allegory of Russia's victory in the Patriotic War was created by sculptor B.I. Orlovsky.

Bronze high reliefs of the pedestal were made by sculptors P.V. Svintsov and I. Leppe according to sketches by D. Scotti.

On the high relief from the side of the General Staff building there is a figure of Victory, entering into the Book of History memorable dates: "1812, 1813, 1814."

From the side of the Winter Palace there are two winged figures with the inscription: “Grateful Russia to Alexander I.” On the other two sides, the high reliefs depict figures of Justice, Wisdom, Mercy and Abundance.

High relief from the Winter Palace

The finishing of the monument lasted 2 years. Grand opening took place on the day of St. Alexander Nevsky - August 30, 1834. The opening ceremony was attended by the royal family, the diplomatic corps, representatives of the Russian army and a hundred thousand army.

For the passage of troops to Palace Square, according to the design of O. Montferrand, the Yellow (Singing) Bridge was built across the sink.

Also, according to the design of O. Montferrand, a decorative bronze one and a half meter fence was created that surrounded the Alexander Column.

The fence was decorated with double- and three-headed eagles, captured cannons, spears and flag poles. The work on the design of the fence was completed in 1837. In the corner of the fence there was a guard booth, where a disabled person dressed in a full guards uniform kept a 24-hour watch.

The monument fits perfectly into the ensemble of Palace Square, thanks to its absolute proportions and size.

From the windows of the Winter Palace, the Alexander Column and the Arch of the General Staff appear as a solemn “duet”.

During the Great Patriotic War the monument was covered only two-thirds and a fragmentary trace remained on one of the angel’s wings. More than 110 traces of shell fragments were found on the reliefs of the pedestal.

Complete restoration of the monument using scaffolding was carried out in 1963 and by the 300th summer anniversary St. Petersburg in the period from 2001 to 2003.

Compiler of the article: Parshina Elena Aleksandrovna.

References:
Lisovsky V.G. Architecture of St. Petersburg, Three centuries of history. Slavia., St. Petersburg, 2004
Pilyavsky V.I., Tits A.A., Ushakov Y.S. History of Russian architecture - Architecture_S., M., 2004,
Novopolsky P., Ivin M. Walks around Leningrad - State publishing house for children's literature of the RSFSR, Leningrad, 1959

The Alexandria Pillar (Alexandrovsky, Alexandrinsky) is a monument to Alexander I, the winner of Napoleon in the war of 1812-1814. The column, designed by Auguste Montferrand, was installed on August 30, 1834. It is crowned with the figure of an Angel, made by the sculptor Boris Ivanovich Orlovsky.

The Alexandria Pillar is not only an architectural masterpiece in the Empire style, but also an outstanding achievement of engineering. The tallest column in the world, made of monolithic granite. Its weight is 704 tons. The height of the monument is 47.5 meters, the granite monolith is 25.88 meters. It is taller than Pompey's Column in Alexandria, Trajan's Column in Rome and, what is especially nice, the Vendôme Column in Paris - a monument to Napoleon.

Let's start with a brief history of its creation

The construction of the monument was entrusted to Montferrand. He himself saw it a little differently, with a group of cavalry below and with many architectural details, but he was corrected)))

To carry out loading operations, a special pier was built. Loading was carried out from a wooden platform at its end, which coincided in height with the side of the vessel.

Having overcome all difficulties, the column was loaded on board, and the monolith went to Kronstadt on a barge towed by two steamships, from there to go to the Palace Embankment of St. Petersburg.

The arrival of the central part of the column in St. Petersburg took place on July 1, 1832. The contractor, merchant son V. A. Yakovlev, was responsible for all of the above work.

Since 1829, work began on the preparation and construction of the foundation and pedestal of the column on Palace Square in St. Petersburg. The work was supervised by O. Montferrand.

First, a geological survey of the area was carried out, which resulted in the discovery of a suitable sandy continent near the center of the area at a depth of 17 feet (5.2 m).

The work was completed in October 1830.

After laying the foundation, a huge four-hundred-ton monolith, brought from the Pyuterlak quarry, was erected on it, which serves as the base of the pedestal.

“At the same time, the earth shook so much that eyewitnesses - passers-by who were in the square at that moment, felt something like an underground shock.” Then it was moved on rollers.

To bring the column into a vertical position on Palace Square, it was necessary to attract the forces of 2,000 soldiers and 400 workers, who installed the monolith in 1 hour and 45 minutes.

After installation, people shouted "Hurray!" And the delighted emperor said: “Montferrand, you have immortalized yourself!”

After installing the column, all that remained was to attach the bas-relief slabs and decorative elements to the pedestal, as well as to complete the final processing and polishing of the column.

In parallel with the construction of the column, in September 1830, O. Montferrand worked on a statue intended to be placed above it and, according to the wishes of Nicholas I, facing the Winter Palace. In the original design, the column was completed with a cross entwined with a snake to decorate the fasteners. In addition, the sculptors of the Academy of Arts proposed several options for compositions of figures of angels and virtues with a cross. There was an option to install the figure of Saint Prince Alexander Nevsky, but the first option that was approved was a cross on a ball without an angel, in this form the column is even present in some old engravings..

But in the end, the figure of an angel with a cross was accepted for execution, made by the sculptor B.I. Orlovsky with expressive and understandable symbolism - “By this victory!”

“In Russia everything breathes military craft:
And the Angel puts a cross on guard.”

But the rumor did not spare the emperor himself. Imitating his grandmother, Catherine II, who inscribed “Peter I - Catherine II” on the pedestal of the Bronze Horseman, Nikolai Pavlovich in official papers called the new monument “Pillar of Nicholas I to Alexander I,” which immediately gave birth to the pun: “Pillar of a pillar of a pillar.”

In honor of this event, a commemorative coin was minted in denominations of 1 ruble and one and a half rubles

On December 15, 1889, an almost mystical story happened - Foreign Minister Lamsdorff reported in his diary that at nightfall, when the lanterns were lit, a luminous letter “N” appeared on the monument.

There are many tales and legends associated with it)))

The column is beautiful both in winter and summer. And it fits perfectly into Palace Square.

There is another interesting legend. This happened on April 12, 1961, after a solemn TASS message about the launch of the first manned spacecraft was heard on the radio. There is general rejoicing on the streets, real euphoria on a national scale!

The very next day after the flight, a laconic inscription appeared at the feet of the angel crowning the Alexandria Pillar: “Yuri Gagarin! Hurray!”

Which vandal was able to express his admiration for the first cosmonaut in this way and how he managed to climb to such a dizzying height will remain a mystery.

In the evening and at night the column is no less beautiful.