Where is the monument to Peter I “The Bronze Horseman” located? Monument to Peter I on Senate Square (Bronze Horseman) Creator of the monument to Peter 1 Bronze Horseman

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. The sculptor was not invited to the grand opening.

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 the dream of a certain major during the Patriotic War of 1812. The warriors conveyed the nightmare 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.

The ghost of the Bronze Horseman was allegedly seen by Paul I during one of his evening walks. Moreover, this happened even before the installation of the monument. Future Emperor he 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 Falconet’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.

Among the many sculptures decorating the city on the Neva, the monument to the founder attracts special attention Northern capital– Peter I.

The Bronze Horseman is the calling card of St. Petersburg. Erected by the will of Catherine II, it has been decorating Senate Square for more than 200 years.

Monument to Peter I, called the Bronze Horseman light hand Alexander Pushkina is one of the symbols of St. Petersburg and one of the most famous attractions of the cultural capital.

This Monument to Peter I is located in an open park on Senate Square and is a unique work of Russian and world culture. The Bronze Horseman is surrounded by famous landmarks: the Senate and Synod buildings are located to the west, the Admiralty to the east, and St. Isaac's Cathedral to the south.

Newlyweds and numerous tourists come to Senate Square to admire the main symbol of St. Petersburg.

History of the creation of the Bronze Horseman monument:

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.

These famous masters Etienne-Maurice Falconet, who at that time worked as the chief sculptor at a porcelain factory, was recommended for this work. “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,” Diderot wrote about Falcon.

Catherine summoned to Russia the sculptor Etienne-Maurice Falconet, the author of “The Threatening Cupid,” which is now kept in the Louvre, and others famous sculptures. By that time the artist had already turned 50 years old, he had a rich track record, but he had never completed such monumental orders.

Etienne-Maurice Falconet always dreamed of monumental art, and having received an offer to create an equestrian statue of colossal size, he agreed without hesitation. The 50-year-old master came to Russia with his 17-year-old assistant Marie-Anne Collot. On September 6, 1766, he signed a contract, in which the reward for his work was 200 thousand livres. This was a fairly modest amount; other masters valued this work much more.

Falcone felt that this work of his should go down in history, and did not hesitate to argue with the empress. For example, she demanded that Peter sit on a horse with a rod or scepter in his hand, like a Roman emperor. The project manager and Catherine’s right hand, Ivan Betskoy, advised placing a figure in full height with a commander's staff in his hand. And Denis Diderot even proposed a monument in the form of a fountain with allegorical figures. It got to such subtleties that “Peter’s right eye should be directed at the Admiralty, and his left eye at the building of the Twelve Colleges.” But Falcone stood his ground. The contract he signed stated that the monument should consist "primarily of an equestrian statue of colossal size."

Falconet created a model of the sculpture on the territory of the former temporary Winter Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna from 1768 to 1770. Two horses of the Oryol breed, Caprice and Brilliant, were taken from the imperial stables. Falcone made sketches, watching how the guards officer flew up on his horse onto the platform and reared it.

Falconet reworked the model of the head of Peter I several times, but never achieved the approval of Catherine II, and as a result, the head of the Bronze Horseman was successfully sculpted by Marie-Anne Collot. The face of Peter I turned out to be courageous and strong-willed, with a wide with open eyes and illuminated by deep thought. For this work, the girl was accepted as a member of the Russian Academy of Arts and Catherine II assigned her a lifelong pension of 10,000 livres. The snake under the horse’s feet was created by Russian sculptor Fyodor Gordeev.

The plaster model of the Bronze Horseman was made by 1778 and opinions about the work were mixed. While Diderot was pleased, Catherine II did not like the arbitrarily chosen appearance of the monument.

The location of the monument is perhaps the only thing that was hardly discussed during its creation. Catherine ordered the monument to be placed on Senate Square, since the Admiralty founded by Peter I and the main legislative institution of Russia at that time, the Senate, are located nearby. True, the queen wanted to see the monument in the center of the square, but the sculptor had his own way and moved the pedestal closer to the Neva.

Its pedestal, perhaps the only one in the history of monumental sculpture, has given name- Thunder stone. Falcone wanted to use a monolithic rock as a metaphorical “rock,” but finding a stone of the appropriate size was difficult. Then an advertisement appeared in the newspaper “St. Petersburg Vedomosti” addressed to all private individuals who are ready to break out a piece of rock somewhere and bring it to St. Petersburg.

A certain peasant Semyon Vishnyakov, who was supplying building stone to St. Petersburg, responded. He had long had his eye on a block in the Lakhta area, but he just didn’t have the tools to split it. Where exactly the Thunder Stone lay is not known for certain. Possibly near the village of Lisiy Nos. The documents contain information that the path of the stone to the city took eight miles, that is, about 8.5 kilometers.

To transport the rock, according to the recommendations of Ivan Betsky, a special machine was developed; thousands of people took part in the transportation. The stone weighed 2,400 tons; it was transported in winter so that the soil beneath it would not sag. The relocation operation lasted from November 15, 1769 to March 27, 1770, after which the stone was loaded onto a ship on the shores of the Gulf of Finland and brought to Senate Square on September 26.

Casting of the statue began in 1774 using a complex technology, which, by distributing the weight, made it possible to maintain the balance of the figure on only three points of support. But the first attempt was unsuccessful - the pipe with the hot bronze burst, and the upper part of the sculpture was damaged. It took three years to prepare for the second attempt. Constant troubles and missed deadlines spoiled the relationship between Falcone and Catherine, and in September 1778 the sculptor left the city without waiting for the completion of work on the monument. The Bronze Horseman turned out to be last work in his life. By the way, on one of the folds of Peter I’s cloak you can find the inscription “Modeled and cast by Etienne Falconet, a Parisian in 1778.”

The installation of the Bronze Horseman on the pedestal was supervised by the architect Fyodor Gordeev. By order of Catherine, “Catherine II to Peter I” was written on the pedestal. Grand opening The monument took place on August 7, 1782. In honor of this event, the Empress issued a manifesto on a general amnesty, and also ordered the minting of silver and gold medals with his image. Catherine II sent one gold and one silver medal to Falcone, who received them from the hands of Prince Golitsyn in 1783.

The Bronze Horseman “passed” through three wars without damage, although it is located in a place convenient for shelling. It was not damaged during the Patriotic War of 1812. First World War also did not affect the majestic Peter, and during the Great Patriotic War, during the siege of Leningrad, the Bronze Horseman was sheathed with logs and boards, the monument was covered with bags of sand and earth. Other large monuments did the same, and there was no way to hide or evacuate them.

Legends and Myths about the Bronze Horseman:

*There is a legend that Peter I, being in a cheerful mood, decided to cross the Neva on his favorite horse Lisette. He exclaimed: “Everything is God’s and mine” and jumped over the river. The second time he shouted the same words and was also on the other side. And for the third time he decided to jump over the Neva, but he misspoke and said: “Everything is mine and God’s” and was immediately punished - he was petrified on Senate Square, in the place where the Bronze Horseman now stands

*They say that Peter I, who was ill, lay in a fever, and it seemed to him that the Swedes were advancing. He jumped on his horse and wanted to rush to the Neva towards the enemy, but then a snake crawled out and wrapped itself around the horse’s legs and stopped him, preventing Peter I from jumping into the water and dying. So the Bronze Horseman stands in this place - a monument.

* A legend is associated with the Patriotic War of 1812, which says that Alexander I ordered the evacuation of the monument to the Vologda province when there was a threat of the capture of St. Petersburg by French troops. A certain Major Baturin obtained an audience with Prince Golitsyn and told him about the dream that haunted him. Allegedly, he sees Peter on Senate Square sliding down from the pedestal and galloping to the Tsar’s residence on Kamenny Island. “Young man, what have you brought my Russia to,” Peter tells him, “but as long as I’m in place, my city has nothing to fear!” As the legend goes, Golitsyn retold the dream to the sovereign, and he canceled the order to evacuate the monument.

*Peter I points with his hand towards Sweden, and in the center of Stockholm there is a monument to Charles XII, Peter’s opponent in Northern War, left hand which is directed towards Russia.

Interesting facts about the Bronze Horseman monument:

1) Falconet depicted the figure of Peter I in dynamics, on a rearing horse, and thereby wanted to show not a commander and winner, but first of all a creator and legislator.

2) The Emperor is depicted in simple clothes, and instead of a rich saddle there is an animal skin. Only the laurel wreath crowning the head and the sword at the belt speak of the winner and the commander.

3) The location of the monument on the top of the rock indicates the difficulties Peter overcame, and the snake is a symbol of evil forces.

4) The monument is unique in that it has only three support points.

5) On the pedestal there is an inscription “PETER the first EKATHERINE second summer 1782”, and on the other side the same text is indicated in Latin.

6) The weight of the Bronze Horseman is eight tons, and the height is five meters.

7) Falconet conceived a monument without a fence, although the fence was still installed, but has not survived to this day. 8) Now there are people who leave inscriptions on the monument and damage the pedestal. It is possible that a fence will soon be installed around the Bronze Horseman.

9) In 1909 and 1976, restoration of the Bronze Horseman was carried out.

10) A capsule with a note about the restoration and a newspaper dated September 3, 1976 was placed inside the monument.

11) The latest examination, carried out using gamma rays, showed that the sculpture's frame is in good condition.

12) The name “Bronze Horseman” is artistic technique Pushkin, in fact, the figure is bronze.

photo from the Internet

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. About these myths, stories and ritual activities associated with equestrian statue autocrat, the monument to the Bronze Horseman, dedicated to Peter I, will tell you.

History of creation

Order for the creation of an official monumental monument the founder of the capital on the Neva and “the opener of the window to Europe,” Peter I, matured in his portrayal 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 included one thing: 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 - how official symbol victory over strong enemy 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 practical problem the author, because the monument needed reliable support for the rider. 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, one must go around the pedestal. That is, this is not just an enemy, but a hidden enemy, and he is more dangerous.

Interesting stories from contemporaries have become a city legend in St. Petersburg. 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 the death mask of Peter, but added a special subtlety to it - stylized hearts were used in place of the pupils of the Bronze Horseman.

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 foundry worker 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. It is officially located in the Peter and Paul Fortress of the 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.

It all started when the Senate Russian Empire decided to erect a monument in honor of the reigning Empress Catherine II. However, far-sighted and understanding political situation and the mood of the people, Catherine refused this honor, declaring that it was inappropriate to erect a monument to her before her great predecessor Peter I was immortalized. Today, the history of the creation of this masterpiece is remembered not only in St. Petersburg, but also wherever there are monuments to Peter I.

Catherine II set out to create something grandiose, and she succeeded. The monument to Peter 1 “The Bronze Horseman” is a masterpiece, and the story of its creation is similar to an adventure novel.

Where to find an architect

Ekaterina approached the issue of choosing a suitable master very seriously. In the end, on the recommendation of the Paris Academy professor Denis Diderot, with whom she regularly corresponded, and his colleague Voltaire, the master was invited to St. Petersburg. The monument to Peter 1 was to be created by Etienne Maurice Falconet, a French architect who enjoyed the patronage of the Marquise de Pompadour herself, who was the legalized favorite of the French king.

A long-awaited opportunity

Falcone dreamed all his life of creating something monumental, but he had to work with sculptures of ordinary sizes. Therefore, the future author of the monument to Peter 1 happily signed a contract, despite the small amount of the fee.

He, in fact, began working on it back in Paris. The sculptor comes to Russia with a ready-made sketch and a fully formed idea of ​​what the monument should look like.

Heated debate

However, the problem was that literally everyone who had any influence on the final decision on the composition of the statue imagined it differently. The history of the Bronze Horseman monument has preserved some of these proposals.

Catherine herself wanted to see a statue of the emperor, made in the ancient Roman style. He had to be dressed in a Roman toga, hold a scepter in his hands and radiate the greatness of a victorious warrior with his entire appearance.

Representative of the Russian Academy of Sciences, actual state councilor Yakov Yakovlevich Shtelin gravitated towards allegories. He persistently proposed depicting the king surrounded by other statues, which, according to his plan, were supposed to personify victory, prudence and hard work.

Catherine II's personal secretary, Ivan Ivanovich Betskoy, who was the president of the Imperial Academy of Arts, wanted the statue to be made in the classic pose of a man standing at full height.

He who recommended hiring Falcone also contributed to the boiling cup of contention by proposing to make the monument in the form of a fountain. So there was a possibility that where the monument to Peter 1 is located today, there could be an elegant pond.

And some very creative advisers suggested that one eye of the emperor should be directed to and the other to the Twelve Colleges. It’s scary to imagine what the expression on that face must have been like.

However, Falcone was not going to back down. He wanted the first monument to reflect the real personal qualities of the emperor, and not turn into a three-dimensional visualization of a collage of flattering epithets for the sovereign. And the master managed to defend his position.

Creating a model

The sculptor spent the next three years creating a plaster model. He worked together with a young assistant - his student Marie Anne Colot, who came with him from France. Falcone devoted a lot of time to studying the personality and character of the emperor. I examined plaster busts and masks of Peter I, made during his lifetime.

The sculptor turned to General Melissino, who was similar in height and figure to the king, and he agreed to pose for him. But the sculptor couldn’t manage to create the face of Peter I. So he entrusted this job to his 20-year-old assistant, Marie Anne.

For her valuable contribution to the creation of the monument, Catherine II ordered Marie Anne Colot to be accepted as a member of the Russian Academy of Arts and awarded a very substantial lifelong pension.

Working with a horse

And again the sculptor had to withstand the opposition of the courtiers. This time, the cause of the dispute was the breed of horse on which Peter I was supposed to sit. Representatives of the nobility insisted that this figure should be sculpted in the likeness of horses, which had long been accepted in ancient art.

But the master did not intend to create a calm and solemnly marching draft horse. The monument to Peter 1 on horseback was supposed to be unique. Etienne Maurice Falconet set himself a daunting task- depict a rider on a rearing animal. To bring this idea to life, a wooden platform was built, onto which the rider had to fly, raising the horse on its hind legs.

From royal stables Two magnificent trotters of the Oryol breed were chosen. History has even preserved their nicknames - Caprice and Diamond. The riders (this is the name of a specialist who teaches horse riding and trains horses) Afanasy Telechnikov, Khailov and others literally took off along the platform hundreds of times a day and noble animals, obedient to the will of the rider, each time reared up, freezing for a moment.

It was this very moment that Etienne Maurice tried to capture. He himself froze on his haunches, peering at the quivering muscles on the horse’s legs, examining the curve of his neck and the proud look of his huge eyes. The sculptor immediately sketched everything he saw so that later he would be able to calmly work with the model.

First he sketched pictures. The monument to Peter 1 was depicted on them with different angles. Then he transferred his ideas to paper. And only after that he began working on a three-dimensional model of the sculpture.

The exercises of the bereitors continued for several years. During this time, several people managed to change positions in this position. But the efforts were not wasted. The monument to Peter 1 “The Bronze Horseman” has no analogues in the world.

Thunder stone

Meanwhile, another equally ambitious project was being implemented in parallel.

The height of the monument to Peter 1 is 10.4 meters. It was necessary to select a footstool to match it. Etienne Maurice assumed that it should be a block made in the form of a wave. It was supposed to symbolize that Peter I opened access to the sea for Russia.

However, they could not find anything suitable. The option of making a pedestal from several pieces of granite has already been considered. And then someone suggested announcing a competition for search and delivery suitable stone. The corresponding announcement was immediately published in the St. Petersburg Gazette.

Not much time passed before a peasant from the village of Lakhty appeared. He said that in their forests there is a stone that meets all the described requirements. In addition, the peasants claimed that Emperor Peter I himself climbed this stone more than once to survey the surrounding area.

This assertion, by the way, is not without some basis. After all, the estate of Peter the Great was located near the village of Lakhta. However, it does not matter whether the emperor once climbed there or not, but an expedition was sent to the stone, authorized to decide whether it was suitable for its intended purpose.

Local peasants called it Thunder Stone. According to legend, a long time ago lightning struck the rock and broke off this piece.

Transportation difficulties

The Thunder Stone was considered suitable to serve as a pedestal, but its size created serious difficulties for transportation. Imagine a block 8 meters high (like a three-story house), 13 meters long (like 3-4 standard entrances) and 6 meters wide. Of course, there was no question of any heavy equipment then, and the distance to Senate Square in St. Petersburg (the place where the monument to Peter 1 stands today) was quite decent.

Part of the journey was supposed to be done by water, but to the point of loading onto the ship, the boulder had to be dragged over rough terrain over a distance of 8.5 kilometers.

Ivan Ivanovich Betskoy found a way out. At his suggestion, special wooden rails in the form of gutters were designed. They were covered with sheets of copper and 32 bronze balls of suitable diameter were prepared. The mechanism was supposed to work on the principle of a bearing.

First, a smaller model was tried. The original should have been ten times larger. After successfully passing the tests, we began manufacturing a full-size mobile mechanism.

Ground part of the route

Meanwhile, the first thing they began to do was remove the stuck earth and other deposits from the stone. This operation made it possible to lighten it by 600 tons. Five hundred soldiers and peasants were employed daily in the clearing work.

After this, they began to clear the area directly around the Thunder Stone, surround it with scaffolding and prepare the ground for laying the rails. This work took four months.

Along the entire route, it was necessary to first clear a road 20 meters wide, strengthen it with thick piles, and then lay some of the dismountable rails on top of this. After the stone was moved, the rails were removed from the traversed path and moved forward.

The whole of Europe followed the progress of work on transporting the giant stone. This was an unprecedented event. Never before had such a huge monolith been moved such a long distance.

Not an easy road

Using levers, the Thunder Stone was placed on a special platform, which was installed on rails. This operation required a lot of time and incredible effort, but in the end a piece of rock that had lain in damp earth for more than one century, was torn from its place. Thus began his long journey to the capital, where the monument to Peter 1 “The Bronze Horseman” was to be erected on him.

Thirty copper balls were installed in the rail grooves at a distance of about half a meter from each other. To ensure that none of these balls stopped and came close to the neighboring one, people specially appointed for this had to be monitored. They had iron poles with which, if necessary, they could push or slow down the spherical part.

During the first jerk, the structure, loaded with stone, was moved by half a meter. During the next one I managed to overcome a few more meters. And it was about nine kilometers to the bay, where the Thunder Stone was to be loaded onto a special barge...

In order not to waste time, 46 stonemasons began to process the Thunder Stone right there on the road. Their task was to give the rock the shape conceived by Etienne Falconet. At this stage, the sculptor again had to endure an exhausting ideological battle, since all the courtiers unanimously declared that the stone should be left as is and nothing should be changed in it.

However, this time the master managed to insist on his own. And although opponents tried to present this as a desecration of a foreigner over the beauty of Russian nature, Catherine gave permission to process the pedestal.

Some sources indicate that on the road the boulder cracked and split into two parts. Whether this happened as a result of the work being done on the stone or for some other reason, history is silent. We also know nothing about the reaction of the people involved in the transportation to this incident. Whether they perceived this as a disaster or, on the contrary, as a blessing, we will no longer know.

The fallen part of the Thunder Stone was left lying in the clearing, where it can still be seen today, and the team continued their journey to the Gulf of Finland.

Preparation for transportation by water

Meanwhile, a pier and a special vessel for transporting the huge stone were built on the shore of the Gulf of Finland. No barge existing at that time could have withstood the weight of this cargo. Therefore, the talented shipwright Grigory Korchebnikov began to develop drawings according to which they were supposed to build a pram - a flat-bottomed vessel that could keep a significant weight afloat.

Rams were intended for moving heavy artillery. In essence, these were compact mobile fortresses equipped with cannons along the entire perimeter. Moreover, the number of guns could reach 38 units. Add to this the weight of the cannonballs, gunpowder and the men who operated the cannons, and you can get a rough idea of ​​the lifting capacity of the frame.

However, even this was not enough. I had to design a more powerful vessel. In order to be able to immerse the Thunder Stone, the frame was sunk by filling it with water. When the stone was placed on the ship, the water was drawn out, and the journey along the sea section of the route began. The voyage went well, and on September 26, 1770, the stone was delivered to where the monument to Peter 1 is located today.

The last stages of work on the monument

During this entire transportation epic, Etienne Falconet did not stop working on the sculpture. The height of the monument to Peter 1 amazed the imagination of the townspeople. In truth, many simply did not understand why such a huge thing was being built. We should not forget that at that time there was not a single monument to anyone in the country. And the plaster model, made in full size, which everyone could freely view in the workshop courtyard, caused a lot of gossip.

But the bewilderment of ordinary citizens could not be compared with the reaction of the masters. When the time came to start casting the statue, no one agreed to take on this work.

Falconet invited to cast a bronze monument to Peter 1, a description of which he gave only in general outline, one skilled French master. However, when he arrived and saw the scale of the work, and also became familiar with the sculptor’s requirements, he simply called Etienne crazy and went home.

In the end, Etienne Falconet managed to find a foundry worker who agreed to take on a truly daring project. When preparations were underway for transportation of the Thunder Stone, parts for the mechanisms by which transportation was carried out were cast by cannon maker Emelyan Khailov. Even then, Falcone noted his diligence and accuracy. And now he invited him to cooperate in casting the monument itself.

The work was difficult. Moreover, it was not just a matter of gigantic size. The design of the monument itself created unprecedented problems. If you look at the monument to Peter 1 in St. Petersburg, you will see that it has only three points of support - the horse’s hind legs and tail. Maintaining the necessary balance is not an easy task. But there was no opportunity to train. The masters had only one attempt.

To ensure the stability of the sculpture, Falcone resorted to several original solutions. Firstly, he introduced into the composition a snake that is being trampled by a horse, secondly, according to his plan, the walls of the front part of the statue were disproportionately thinner than the thickness of the rest of the monument, and thirdly, four tons of iron were additionally added to the horse’s croup so that keep her balance. Thus, Peter 1 on horseback had to be securely installed.

Casting disaster

Preparatory work for the casting of the statue continued for three years. Finally everything was ready, and the craftsmen got to work. The shape of the monument was in a special pit. A little higher up was a smelting furnace, from which pipes ran at an angle. Through these pipes, the hot metal was supposed to flow into the mold, filling it evenly.

To prevent these pipes from bursting, a fire was lit under each of them and they were continuously heated. But during the casting process, one of the fires went out. This went unnoticed, and the cooled pipe cracked, through which molten metal began to flow. And this, in turn, led to a fire.

People rushed out of the workshop, Falcone fainted, and only Khailov was not taken aback. He quickly put out the incipient fire, filled up the crack in the pipe with fresh clay, tore off his clothes, wet them and wrapped them around the cracked pipe.

This was a real feat. And not only because Khailov managed to keep his cool in an emergency situation. Fighting the fire was not easy. The foundry worker suffered numerous serious burns and lost an eye. But thanks to him, most of the statue was saved.

Monument to Peter 1 “Bronze Horseman” today

A lot of historical events I had a chance to see the bronze Peter I, seated on an eternally rearing horse. Business card The Bronze Horseman monument remains for visitors to St. Petersburg. Tourists rush to take photos against its background, feverishly clicking camera shutters. And native St. Petersburg residents traditionally come here to conduct part of the wedding ceremony.

You might want to see the Bronze Horseman monument (St. Petersburg) in person. As you view this work by the great master, do not allow the rush and bustle to which we are so accustomed to deprive you of the pleasure of carefully contemplating this beautiful sculpture. Try to walk around it and look at the details from different angles. You will notice the depth and richness of the design in this seemingly simple monument.

Pay attention to the details: instead of a saddle on the horse’s back, you will see an animal skin, and the clothes in which the emperor is dressed, in fact, did not exist in any historical period. The sculptor tried to combine the original Russian attire with elements of the vestments of the ancient Romans. And it must be admitted that he managed to do this very organically.

Having examined the Bronze Horseman monument, the photo of which is so popular among tourists, without haste, you will take away from the ancient capital not just another photograph of a famous landmark, but you will be able to truly touch the historical past of a great country.

The sculpture appeared on this site more than two hundred years ago, but the interest in it is so lively and enduring, as if the legendary statesman embodied in this creation had recently become part of our history. However, this should not be surprising: modern Russia is experiencing such a rise and at the same time is facing such global challenges that many often compare the present time with the era of Peter the Great.

The Bronze Horseman also has his own history - full of events and facts, myths and legends. The search for foundries, the skepticism of many craftsmen that such a monument is even possible to create, the difficulties with delivering a huge stone as a pedestal and other points leave no doubt - it was erected, so to speak, in vanity and difficulties. However, Peter the Great, cast in metal, adequately overcame them, reaching our days in its original form, symbolizing the greatness and power of the Fatherland.

Instead of a monument to Catherine II

The Bronze Horseman monument might not have seen the light of day if not for the good will of Empress Catherine II. More precisely, her wise and far-sighted calculation.

For Sophia Augusta Frederica of Anhalt-Zerbst, the great predecessor on the Russian throne was the unconditional authority in everything. Initiating various reforms or inviting the most talented writers, artists and sculptors to St. Petersburg, the autocrat imitated Peter I. She was a progressive person and readily absorbed everything new in science and philosophy. It is not for nothing that the era of Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna entered into national history called “the age of enlightened absolutism”, and also as “the union of philosophers and monarchs”.

Merits great empress were appreciated during his lifetime. Contemporaries even started talking about erecting a monument in her honor. The idea of ​​being immortalized in bronze or any other metal, of course, flattered the former Prussian princess who became the head largest country peace. But in the end, she decided to immortalize for posterity not herself, but Peter, who went down in history as the reforming king. Thus, she intended to consolidate public consciousness the idea that her transformations are a continuation of Peter’s reforms, and that she is a worthy successor of them. The calendar also spoke in favor of this decision: the 100th anniversary of Peter I’s accession to the throne was just approaching, and a better date for the implementation of this idea could not be found.

Having suppressed the self-indulgent dreams of her own monument, Catherine the Great ordered the casting of a monument to her predecessor. The task was entrusted to the Russian sculptor, architect and artist Bartolomeo Rastrelli, but the empress did not like the version he prepared. What to do? They came to the rescue French philosophers Voltaire and Denis Diderot, with whom the enlightened queen maintained an active correspondence, and whose opinion was especially valuable to her. They advised us to turn to the services of the famous French sculptor Etienne-Maurice Falconet. In 1766, Dmitry Alekseevich Golitsyn, who served as minister plenipotentiary at the court of Louis XV, presented the 50-year-old Master with an official invitation to Russia.

Falcone was known as an intelligent, delicate, sophisticated and selfless man, who dreamed all his life of showing his talent in monumental art. He understood that he might not have such a chance again and therefore unconditionally accepted the offer of the Russian diplomat, who promised only 200 thousand livres for the work - the reward for such a grandiose project is more than modest. In August 1766, all formalities were settled: they signed a contract in which they discussed general form and the size of the monument, the amount of the fee and the timing of the order, as well as the sculptor’s obligation not to be distracted by other orders while he is working on the monument to Peter the Great.

How the Bronze Horseman was created

Suggestions about what an emperor cast in metal should look like were varied. Ivan Ivanovich Belskoy, who headed the Russian Academy of Arts, proposed sculpting him with a staff in his hand and at full height. State Councilor Shtelin saw Peter surrounded by other statues, allegorically depicting Victory, Justice, Prudence and Diligence, and which with their feet would support the worst human qualities - Deception, Envy, Laziness and Ignorance. Catherine II also submitted her idea: she believed that Peter must certainly have a staff and a scepter and sit on a horse.

Falconet did not want to embody in the monument either the image of a victorious monarch or images of allegories. He believed that his work should show Peter I, first of all, how outstanding personality- the personality of a benefactor and creator of his country. He worked on a plaster model of the Bronze Horseman on the territory of the former temporary Winter Palace Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, located on the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and the Moika embankment (the residence has not survived to this day). A guards officer, as well as Brilliant and Caprice, two stately horses of the Oryol breed, “posed” for the master. The Frenchman carefully watched as the guard literally took off on one of them onto the platform, rearing his horse, and made numerous sketches along the way. The Empress was especially picky about the model of the head of Peter I, which is why the sculptor remade it several times.

17-year-old Marie-Anne Collot, Falconet’s student, whom he brought with him to Russia as an apprentice, also proposed her design for the head. This solved the problem: Catherine liked the sketch. And so much so that for the work done, the girl was given a lifetime salary of 10 thousand livres and accepted into Russian Academy arts In her performance, the emperor’s face, illuminated by deep thought, with eyes wide open, expressed courage and will. But the Russian sculptor Fyodor Gordeev worked on the snake that is under the horse’s feet.

So, the plaster model of the Bronze Horseman was made by 1769, not without difficulties and heated debate. It would seem that all the difficulties are behind us. But new challenges lay ahead. Firstly, the empress did not like the model as a whole, since the Frenchman did not listen to her suggestions and arbitrarily chose the appearance of the monument. Secondly, the monument had to be cast in bronze. Falcone calculated that it would maintain balance only if its front walls were made very thin, no more than a centimeter. Domestic foundry workers did not agree with such calculations. They also did not want to take on the work because of the colossal size of the sculpture. Foreign craftsmen were not afraid of anything, but they demanded quite a lot of money for their services.

After some time, the foundry worker was finally found. It turned out to be Emelyan Khailov, a cannon master. Together with a French sculptor, he selected the alloy of the required composition and made tests. The actual casting of the monument began in 1774 and was carried out using incredibly complex technology. It was necessary to ensure that the front walls were necessarily inferior in thickness to the rear ones, which would give the composition the necessary stability. But here’s the bad luck: the pipe through which the molten bronze entered the mold suddenly burst, ruining the upper part of the monument. It had to be removed and another three years spent preparing for the second filling. This time fortune smiled on them, and everything was ready on time and without incident.

In memory of the successful completion of the work, Falcone wrote on the fold of Peter’s cloak that it was he who “sculpted and cast” this sculpture in 1788. At the same time, his relationship with Catherine II completely went wrong, and the sculptor was forced to leave Russia along with his student. From that moment on, the work to complete the monument was led by Academician Yuri Matveevich Felten. It was according to his drawings that the machine that delighted everyone was made, with the help of which the “Thunder Stone” was transported, which formed the basis of the pedestal of the Bronze Horseman.

By the way, about the “Thunder Stone”. He was found in the vicinity of the village of Konnaya Lakhta by the peasant Semyon Vishnyakov, who responded to an appeal in the St. Petersburg Gazette. The megalith weighed 1,600 tons and when it was pulled out of the ground, it left behind a huge pit. It filled with water and a reservoir was formed, called the Petrovsky Pond, which has survived to this day. To deliver the stone to the loading site, it was necessary to cover almost 8 kilometers. But how? We decided to wait until winter so that the frozen soil would not sag under its weight. Transportation began on November 15, 1769 and ended on March 27, 1770 (old style) on the shores of the Gulf of Finland. By that time, a pier for shipping the giant had been built here. In order not to waste precious time, they began to cut the stone as they moved. However, the Empress forbade touching it: the future pedestal must arrive in the capital in its natural form! “Thunder Stone” acquired its current appearance already on Senate Square, having significantly “lost weight” after processing.

The Bronze Horseman monument, the main symbol of Northern Palmyra, immortalizing Peter the Great on a rearing horse, was opened on August 7, 1782. In honor of the long-awaited event, a military parade was held, led by Prince Alexander Golitsyn. Catherine II arrived for the celebrations in a boat along the Neva. Climbing onto the balcony of the Senate building, she put on a crown and dressed in purple and gave a sign that the holiday could begin. In a bitter irony of fate, Falcone himself was not even deigned to be invited to this event.

The monumental creation of the French sculptor impressed those present at the ceremony with its majesty and amazing completeness of the image. It seems that even the empress herself, who ordered the inscription “Catherine II to Peter I” to be left on the pedestal, managed to forget that she initially saw the monument as completely different. And even more so, it never occurred to anyone that the Bronze Horseman would be followed by a trail of myths and legends, not to mention facts that simply deserve attention. And almost from the day of installation.

If supporters of the reformer tsar said that the monument embodies the power and greatness of the Russian Empire, and not a single enemy, while the horseman is on his pedestal, will be able to crush it, then Peter’s opponents adhered to the opposite point of view. They did not fail to declare that the monument is very reminiscent of the horseman of the Apocalypse predicted in the Bible, and that its appearance in the very heart of the capital is a harbinger of suffering and death throughout the country.

Glory about amazing monument soon spread far beyond the borders of St. Petersburg. In the outback even their own version of his appearance arose. Allegedly, Tsar Peter somehow came up with some entertainment for himself: he sat on a horse and jumped on it from one bank of the river to the other. “Everything is God’s and mine!” – he exclaimed before the first jump. He said the same phrase before the second, also successful. For the third time, the sovereign, mixing up the words, said: “Everything is mine and God’s!” For such “insolence,” the Almighty punished him by turning him to stone, and he forever remained a monument to himself.

And here is another legend - about a certain Major Baturin. It was a matter of Patriotic War 1812, when our troops were forced to retreat and the French were about to capture the capital. To prevent the enemy from getting the most valuable works of art, Emperor Alexander I ordered their removal from the city. The Bronze Horseman monument was also subject to transportation. But then it becomes known that Major Baturin is having the same dream, in which he sees himself on Senate Square, next to the monument. Peter I allegedly rides off the pedestal on a horse and heads to Kamenny Island, where the residence of the sovereign was located. During the meeting, he scolded Alexander: “What have you, young man, brought my Russia to? But while I’m here, my city has nothing to fear!” ABOUT unusual dream First they reported it to the tsar’s friend, Prince Golitsyn, and he relayed it to the emperor. The evacuation was canceled and the monument remained in place. There is an opinion - however, not confirmed by anything - that A. S. Pushkin based the plot of the poem “The Bronze Horseman” on this very legend. The same motive can be traced in F. M. Dostoevsky’s novel “The Teenager”.

The myth about the ghost of Peter the Great, which was seen by Catherine II’s son Paul I, was also widespread in local folklore while he was not yet emperor. The Crown Prince, together with his friend Prince Kurakin, was walking in the very place where the monument is now located. And then they saw a man wrapped in a wide cloak, as if waiting for them. Having spoken to them, the ghost headed to the middle of the square, pointed to the place of the future Bronze Horseman and said that he would be seen here again. Saying goodbye, he raised his hat, and the young people were almost speechless with horror: the mysterious stranger was none other than Peter I.

The Bronze Horseman points his hand in the direction of Sweden. It is interesting that in the center of Stockholm, the capital of this Scandinavian monarchy, there is a monument to Peter’s opponent in the Northern War - King Charles XII, whose left hand is a coincidence? – points towards Russia. More interesting fact, as if confirming the dream of the mentioned Major Baturin. The monument remained in its place not only during the Patriotic War of 1812, but also during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. IN scary days During the siege of Leningrad, it was lined with boards and logs and covered with sandbags. Our country, as you know, survived both of these wars...

During its entire existence, the bronze emperor and his horse were restored only twice - in 1909 and 1976. At the same time, an analysis was carried out using gamma rays to determine the condition of the frame. sculptural composition. He showed that everything was fine. A capsule was even placed inside the monument: it contains a message about the restoration carried out and a newspaper dated September 3, 1976. In Soviet times (1988), the State Bank issued a commemorative 5-ruble coin made of copper-nickel alloy, on which the Bronze Horseman was depicted. It weighed 19.8 grams, the total circulation of the banknote was 2 million copies. Two years later, another commemorative coin saw the light, this time with a denomination of 100 rubles and gold, 900-carat - from the historical series on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the unified Russian state. An image of the monument to Peter I was also placed on it.

How to get there

You can get to the Bronze Horseman by metro. Get off at the Admiralteyskaya station and, once on Malaya Morskaya Street, turn left and walk past St. Isaac's Cathedral. Then turn right from it and go to the Alexander Garden. Senate Square with the monument installed on it is located behind the garden.

Another option: take the metro to one of two stations - Nevsky Prospekt or Gostiny Dvor, get off at the Admiralty and Palace Square and, having passed by, you find yourself on Admiralteysky Prospekt. Turning left, reach Senate Square.

Or, if you don’t want to walk, at the exit at the Nevsky Prospekt station, change to a trolleybus (route numbers: 1, 5, 10, 11 and 22), get off at the Pochtamtsky Lane stop and return back to Konnogvardeisky Boulevard, crossing on foot running about 500 meters.