Monument to Peter I. “The Bronze Horseman”

"The Bronze Horseman" - a monument to the first to the Russian Emperor Peter I, became one of the symbols of St. Petersburg. His Grand opening, dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the reign of Empress Catherine II, took place on August 18 (August 7, old style) 1782 on Senate Square.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Observation of the progress of work on the construction of the monument after departure French sculptor The architect Yuri Felten led the project from 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 taming a horse on steep top rocks, the unity of movement and rest is perfectly 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 laurel wreath, personifying resistance to the elements and 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, the building of the main legislative body founded by the emperor. Tsarist Russia- 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

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The Bronze Horseman on Senate Square is not the only monument to Peter I 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 monument to Peter received its popular name thanks to Pushkin’s poem of the same name.

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 staff and scepter in his hands. However, the French sculptor Etienne Falconet, invited to work on the monument, dared to argue with the crowned persons and showed the world a different 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 installed in the city square. Peter confidently sits on a rearing horse, covered with a bear skin. The animal represents the rebellious, ignorant people who submitted to the emperor. Crushed by the horse's hooves huge snake, symbolizing opponents of reforms, and also serving as an additional support for the structure. The figure of the king himself expresses strength, desire and steadfastness. On the granite block, by order of Catherine the Great, a dedication was carved in two languages, Russian and Latin: “To Peter I Catherine II in 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 in the summer of 1782.”

An interesting story is connected with the stone on which the monument is erected. It was found by the peasant Semyon Vishnyakov at a distance of about 9 km from the square. The Thunder Stone was delivered to the installation site of the monument using 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 Falcone's design, it was hewn and given the shape of a wave, personifying the power of Russia as a maritime power.

History of the creation of the monument

And many more stories and tales still circulate around the emperor’s gesture. Peter's right hand is imperiously extended forward; with his left he firmly holds the reins. Some say the hand points down to the place where “the city will be founded.” Others believe that Peter is looking towards Sweden, the country with which he fought 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 facing the Neva. He points his left elbow 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 have a trial in the Senate. It was a very corrupt institution in those days.

Address: Senate Square, metro station "Nevsky Prospekt", "Admiralteyskaya".

The equestrian monument to Peter 1 in St. Petersburg, during its creation and enduring life, acquired so many legends, poems, tales, rituals and secrets that it still excites the unstable consciousness and imagination of tourists, graduates, city residents and foundry sculpture masters. The monument to the Bronze Horseman dedicated to Peter I will tell about these myths, stories and ritual actions associated with the equestrian statue of the autocrat.

History of creation

The order for the creation of an official monument to the founder of the capital on the Neva and “the opener of the window to Europe” Peter I was ripened in the image of Catherine the Great. It is no secret that in the minds of European philosophers - the architects of future social reforms of that time - she was known as an enlightened monarch. Catherine corresponded and consulted with many of them. The great Voltaire and Diderot advised the Empress to depict the works of a widely unknown creator - the not yet great author Etienne-Maurice Falconet, then he was still creating monumental figures at a porcelain factory in France. But undoubted talent the enlighteners were able to discern.

The Bronze Horseman against the backdrop of the Constitutional Court of Russia

It was not according to the rank of the mistress herself to invite the artist; this was done officially by Prince Golitsyn. Falcone was delighted with the invitation; he had only dreamed of such a level. The task given to the sculptor had one important condition - the equestrian monument to Peter I had to be grandiose in size and amaze any imagination. The second condition was vision Great Catherine The second place of the monument to Peter I is only in the center of Senate Square, so it will be the same and official. The author fulfilled the first condition, abandoned the second and placed Peter in the Bronze Horseman closer to the Neva embankment ( artistic meaning and there was more meaning in this).

For reference! No one cut off the sculptor’s head, and time has proven the creator’s justice. Perhaps the hoarding of financial officials played a role; the pre-agreed cost of payment to the sculptor for the monument to the Bronze Horseman was reduced by half.

The embodiment of the monument model

The idea of ​​Great Catherine II was that the emperor should proudly sit on a horse and raise his scepter to the heavens, demonstrating absolute power to everyone and belittling the audience in front of this power of grandiose facts. The author Falcone managed to promote his concept, where the hand of the monument to Peter I is of a pointing nature, and it is directed towards Sweden and the Baltic. Sweden - as the official symbol of victory over the strong enemy of Russia, the Baltic - the European choice for the development of the horseman of history.

Who is depicted on the monument to the Bronze Horseman according to official data? In addition to Peter himself, there are two more characters - his horse and the snake he tramples. The prototype of the horse was the stallions of the Oryol breed, which take their roots from Arabian horses. And the Arabian breed has always been distinguished by its slenderness and quick legs, which significantly complicated the author’s practical task, because the rider needed reliable support for the monument. Then an additional fulcrum was used - the horse's tail.

Peter shows the way

The snake represents symbolism, traditionally and officially it is the enemy. According to the plan of the participants in the monument project, this is a victory over inertia, outdated dogmas, and conservatism of thinking, which Peter so impressively brought to life. The artist’s special trick was that the dying snake under the Bronze Horseman is almost invisible to the viewer in the pediment; to see it, you need to go around the pedestal. That is, this is not just an enemy, but a hidden enemy, and he is more dangerous.

Became a city legend in St. Petersburg interesting stories contemporaries. Allegedly, in order to feel the spirit of the ruler, the author stayed overnight in the royal chambers.

Interesting! According to one of the myths, Tsar Peter appeared before the frightened creator on short time and forced him to answer his questions. But the author Falcone passed the exam and received the highest blessing from the autocrat Peter I to create a monument to the horseman of the future.

Falcone's assistant became his student and future wife Marie-Anna Collot. According to history, it was she who managed to embody the head of Peter I on a model. The images of the autocrat's face presented by Falconet were categorically not liked by Empress Catherine II. The author used death mask Peter, but introduced a special subtlety into it - in place of the pupils of the Bronze Horseman, stylized hearts were used.

The powerful female ruler’s feelings floated, and she gave her consent to this option.

Practical difficulties

Another open mystery was the material used to cast the sculpture. This is not only the copper component of the statue, as many people think. It's bronze! The used allegory “The Bronze Horseman” officially belongs to the authorship of A.S. Pushkin in his poem of the same name. Moreover, bronze is heterogeneous in its composition; heavier metals were used at the bottom of the casting, respectively lighter ones - at the top of the Bronze Horseman. This made it possible to shift the center of gravity down and increase the stability of the monument.

Coming up with the concept of an official monument to Peter I, creating it in miniature and using non-durable materials one to one is one thing, but casting a statue of a horseman in metal is another. The author and artist did not possess such competencies, and no one in Russia had ever encountered a task of this level. The process of finding a master was delayed...

Hearts in place of pupils

The Russian master agreed to help the unfortunate Frenchman. Only the author and foundryman of cannons, Emelyan Khailov, agreed to do this. The first casting of the Bronze Horseman failed, the metal filling pipe burst, and a huge fire almost broke out. It was the author Khailov who saved everyone present by throwing his sheepskin coat over the breakthrough, quickly coated in clay, but this did not save the hero himself from burns. The next attempt took place only three years later, and it was successful.

But for a long time they could not find material for the foundation. An official competition was even announced to find him. This was dealt with by the supplier of building stone to the capital, the peasant Semyon Vishnyakov. He found it in Lakhta near St. Petersburg, on the shore of a swamp. By that time, the stone itself already had a self-name - Thunder Stone. According to one version, it was split during a thunderstorm; according to another story, the ancient wise men performed their rituals here to summon Perun and rain.

They also say that even Peter I himself examined his enemies, the Swedes, from it. Whatever the versions, the epic with its delivery began, in which about 500 people participated. The hinged principles of rolling and buoyancy of bodies on water were used. They built something like a huge raft. The journey of the boulder to the pedestal took a year and a half, only then did it begin to be processed on site. For the feat of delivering the stone for the pedestal of the Bronze Horseman, Great Catherine II even established an official medal “Like daring!”

Inscription on the Bronze Horseman

There are two such inscriptions on the monument:

• The first one, in Russian, on the side of the monument reads: “Peter I - Catherine II.”
• The second is in Latin from the other side: Petro Prima - Katarina Secunda.

The path of the stone pedestal for the monument

With the Russian language, everything makes sense - the monument is a gift from an admiring follower. With the inscription in Latin, everything is much more confusing; in meaning and content it turns out that “Peter the First is Catherine the Second.” Be that as it may, Catherine arranged her identity with the great reformer and winner very subtly, in a feminine way.

It is worth noting! The author Falcone himself offered the empress another option: “Peter the Great was erected by Catherine the Second.” But by the time the monument to the Bronze Horseman was commissioned in 1782, the artist was no longer in Russia; he was falsely accused of embezzling government money, and he, offended, left for his homeland.

It is unknown who exactly fulfilled Catherine’s official plan; the completion of the building was supervised by the Russian sculptor and architecture expert Fyodor Gordeev. But the kinship of the glory of Peter I and the Great Catherine II was announced to the whole world, and this happened at the moment when the shields enclosing the monument to the Bronze Horseman fell.

Where is the Bronze Horseman in St. Petersburg

Evil tongues in the 19th century claimed that Peter I, pointing out right hand on the Neva, and with his left elbow on the Senate, the Tsar says to his descendants: “It is better to drown yourself in the Neva than to have a trial in the Senate.” Then the Senate was a symbol of official litigiousness, the dominance of officials and corruption.

Opening of the monument

How many monuments to Peter 1 are there in St. Petersburg

He was the founder of the city, so it is not surprising that the number of figures of the king-reformer here is significant. The most famous and official are six:

• The most popular and famous is the one described above, author - Maurice Falconet.
• Monument with difficult fate, by Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli. The model was made in 1724, cast in 1747, placed on a pedestal and officially opened in 1800. It is notable for the fact that Rastrelli made a model using the king’s wax mask, taken during his lifetime. Therefore, the face is distinguished by portrait accuracy and attracts many viewers. Located at: St. Petersburg, st. Sadovaya, 2 (engineering castle).
• Tsar Carpenter Peter I. Everyone knows the descriptions and apprenticeship of the young autocrat in Holland, according to history - the basics of shipbuilding. Author Leopold Bernstam, in memory of these times, presented a model of the monument at the Paris Exhibition of 1907. Nicholas II liked it, two bronze copies were cast, one was sent to the city of Saardam, where the young tsar studied. The second one is installed in Summer Garden city ​​of St. Petersburg. After the 1917 revolution, the domestic version was melted down. In 1996, the Prince of Orange delivered a copy of the monument to Peter 1 to the St. Petersburg district, it was solemnly and officially installed in its original place - in the city Summer Garden.
• The author Zurab Tsereteli, prone to gigantomania, noted the figures of Peter I not only in Moscow, but also in St. Petersburg. The six-meter sculpture officially greets guests of the city from the sea. Address: St. Petersburg, Nakhimova street, near the Park Inn by Radisson hotel, near the Primorskaya metro station.
• The most controversial monument, around which so many copies were broken that wood became in short supply, belongs to the work of the author Mikhail Shemyakin. Body proportions historical Peter I were intentionally changed, which is what the whole dispute about artistic value was about. Officially located in Peter and Paul Fortress city ​​of St. Petersburg, and it is easy to find on the map.

Strange king

In the Lower Park of Peterhof there is a bronze Peter I by the author, sculptor and architect Mark Antokolsky. Characterized by solemnity military uniform Preobrazhensky Regiment and the awards received by the Tsar in the history of the country. It is surrounded by green plantings and was officially opened in 1884.

The residents of St. Petersburg themselves consider the Bronze Horseman to be the guardian of their city; they did not remove him even during the moments of the most brutal shelling and bombing in the history of the Second Patriotic War. They just covered it with a sand glass. And Napoleon did not go here during the First World War, but got to Moscow, this also says a lot. Let him continue to protect the city, everyone will be calmer.

In 1782, the centenary of the entry into Russian throne Peter I was celebrated in St. Petersburg with the opening of a monument to the Tsar by 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 for porcelain factory, but dreamed big 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 an 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, passers-by 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. Of the 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 along grooved wooden rails lined with copper. The clearing was winding. Work on transporting 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 with the image 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. A 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 the 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.

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 continued for a long time suitable stone. 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 poetic work Pushkin "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 Ameralty and Saint 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 the poem of the same name by 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.