Mosrazborstroy against the Arc de Triomphe. New triumphal gates

Narva Triumphal Gates is an architectural monument of the Empire style in St. Petersburg. They are located on Stachek Square near the Narvskaya metro station.

The Narva Triumphal Gate was built in 1814 by the great Italian architect G. Quarenghi behind the Obvodny Canal on the Peterhof road in honor of Russia's victory in the Russian-French war and was intended for a solemn meeting of the Russian troops. These gates were a kind of Quarenghi's refusal to obey Napoleon, who during the Patriotic War of 1812 urged all Italians to leave Russia and return to their homeland.

Giacomo Quarenghi arrived in Russia under Catherine II and worked here under Paul I and Alexander I. This architect made a huge contribution to the development of the architecture of St. Petersburg: in addition to the Narva Gate, Alexander Palace, Smolny Institute, Horse Guards Manege, English palace in Peterhof.
His creations are distinguished by the elegance of the Italian style, undeniable taste and harmony of proportions.

The twelve-column arch is crowned with the Chariot of Glory with six horses. On the attic of the gate - eight winged Geniuses of Glory and Victory, at the foot - four statues of Russian knights

Narva Triumphal Gates

On April 14, 1814, news of the entry of Russian troops into Paris arrived in St. Petersburg by courier. With this event, Russia victoriously ended the war with France. Immediately after that, at the suggestion of the commander-in-chief, General SK Vyazmitinov, an emergency meeting of the Senate was held to develop a "ceremony of solemn meeting" of the winners. Among all the planned activities was the installation of a solemn triumphal gate on the Peterhof road, along which troops were to arrive in St. Petersburg.

Donations for construction began to be collected in St. Petersburg and other Russian cities. The design of the triumphal arch was started by the architect Vasily Petrovich Stasov.
But build memorial Complex until the arrival of the troops proved to be impossible. Therefore, the construction of the monument was entrusted to Giacomo Quarenghi, who proposed a simpler option.
It was decided to decorate the already existing entrance stone gates at the Kalinkin Bridge, as well as the bridge itself, with paintings and sculptures.

Triumphal gates

In just one month, by the end of July 1814, the wooden triumphal Narva Gate was built in the form of a single-span arch, crowned with a chariot of Glory-Victory with six horses. The sculptural decoration of the monument was created by I.I.Terebenev.
This name was given to the monument due to its location at the beginning of the road to Narva.

Four spectator stands were built on either side of the arch. For members royal family special galleries were built. A place was left along the road for the townspeople meeting the troops.

Narva Gate in St. Petersburg. Main facade with part of the stands

The solemn procession of the First Guards Infantry Division consisting of the Preobrazhensky, Semyonovsky, Izmailovsky and Jaegersky regiments took place on July 30, 1814.
On September 6, the Life Guards Pavlovsky and Finland regiments marched under the arch, on October 18 - the cavalry guard regiments, cavalry guards, on October 25 - the Life Guards Cossack regiment.

Ten years later, the wooden Narva Gate became dilapidated and became dangerous for passers-by. They decided to disassemble them.
But a participant in the war, Governor-General M.A.Miloradovich, rose to their defense. He was able to achieve the decision of the tsar "The Triumphal Gates on the Peterhof road, at one time hastily built from wood and alabaster, to build from marble, granite and copper."

It was decided to install the new Narva Triumphal Gates on the Peterhof road, not far from the bridge over the Tarakanovka river. For their construction, a committee was created under the chairmanship of M.A.Miloradovich. The committee also included the president of the Academy of Arts A. N. Olenin. In his memo, he proposed to keep the gate created by Quarenghi as a model for the construction of the new monument.

Project of the Narva Triumphal Works

On August 5, 1827, at a distance of 20 meters from the bank of Tarakanovka, a foundation pit began to be dug.

The solemn laying of the Narva Gate took place on August 26, 1827. The author of the project of the monument was Vasily Petrovich Stasov. The architect increased the width of the gate and changed it decoration... The newspaper "Severnaya Pchela" described these events as follows:
"On Friday, August 26, the day of the battle of Borodinsky, unforgettable in the military annals of Russia, the laying of a new triumphal gate in honor of the Guards Corps took place here in St. Petersburg, behind the Narva Outpost. All the generals and officers serving in the Guards Corps were gathered there. and the lower ranks, having medals for 1812 and for the capture of Paris, also Kulm crosses, more than 9000 people in total. "

Vasily Petrovich Stasov, Narva Gate

During the ceremony, Stasov presented engraved stones to members of the royal family (Nicholas I, Alexandra Fedorovna, Tsarevich, Grand Dukes and Princesses) on a gold platter, which they, in turn, handed over to be laid at the bottom of the pit.
The first to lay the stone on this bottom was Archpriest Nikolai Muzovsky, the last - V.P. Stasov.
In addition to them, General N.V. Golenishchev-Kutuzov was honored to lay a stone in the foundation of the Narva Gate, privy councilor V. I. Nelidov, A. N. Olenin, adjutant general P. I. Neidgard, major general Balabin, engineer Truzson, mayor of Kusov.

Eleven foundation stones were laid in the shape of a cross. On the stones laid by members of the royal family, their names were engraved in gold. Stasov's name is silver.
A stone and a medal were also placed at the bottom of the pit in memory of the general from the cavalry Fyodor Petrovich Uvarov, who bequeathed 400,000 rubles for the monument to the war of 1812.

Narva Gate in St. Petersburg. Main facade

After laying the stones, Stasov brought out gold coins on a gold platter, which they laid out on the stones. The last of them was laid by the architect himself. Then St. George and Kulm crosses and medals were placed on the bottom. Coins and medals were placed in a depression between the foundation slabs and covered with a commemorative plaque. The ceremony ended with a march of guards around the place where the Narva Gate was laid.

In September 1827, 1,076 piles were driven into the foundation. The length of each of them was more than eight meters, and the thickness was up to half a meter. Stone slabs were laid between the piles, and on them - a layer of granite slabs up to half a meter thick. A 1.5-meter layer of Tosno slabs was also laid on top, then the same layer of granite.

After the completion of the foundation work, the construction of the Narva Gate was stopped for three years.
It took a long time to decide the choice of material for the monument. One of the options under consideration involved the use of Siberian and Olonets marbles left over from the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral.
The foundry of Dmitry Shepelev offered the construction of a gate from cast iron, for which he asked for 532,000 rubles. Nicholas I initially accepted this very proposal and even signed an estimate for the use of cast iron. But Stasov insisted that the Narva Gate should be built of bricks, which would be faced with copper.
In a letter to the emperor, he wrote: "The strength of such copper clothing can be considered superior to any strong stone, which in the local climate is inevitably exposed by its nature to impressions more or less perceptible and therefore changing its appearance during frosts and thaws" ... Copper "is more resistant to old age , cold and I know ... and from a long time it is covered with natural paint of a pleasant color. "

Stasov could not immediately convince the tsar that he was right. On April 22, 1830, Nicholas I ordered to build the Narva Gate from granite. Stasov's project was rejected. But thanks to further attempts by the architect to bring his own version to life, Nicholas I nevertheless made a decision in his favor.
On May 10, it was decided "to build the Triumphal Gates according to the latest proposal of the Committee from bricks with copper clothing." A.N. Olenin wrote about this:
"The erected triumphal gates in honor of the Guards Corps will only differ from many famous ancient and modern buildings of this kind in that they generally have to be clad in copper sheets, which has never happened before; therefore, they will be the first and only of their kind."

The construction of the Narva Gate was resumed in August 1830. At the same time, the wooden triumphal gates of Quarenghi were demolished.

From the very beginning, over 2,600 workers worked on the construction site. During the construction of the Narva Gate, more than 500,000 bricks were laid.

In 1831, the Alexandrovsky iron foundry began to produce copper sheets for facing the Narva Gate. Their thickness was 4-5 millimeters. Copper, more than 5,500 pounds, was taken from stocks Mint.
All the sculptures were also made at the plant, the inscriptions were made in gilded relief letters. On December 19, 1831, samples of details of the copper decoration of the Narva Gate were delivered to the Winter Palace for inspection.

The Narva Gate was built quickly. During the first week of July, the right pylon was built to a height of 6 meters, and the left one - to 2 meters. By the fall, the brick base was already ready.
But the fire on January 2, 1832 noticeably delayed the completion of the work. To continue the cladding in winter, a large wooden tent was erected over the gate. A smithy and heating furnaces worked under it. Careless handling of fire led to a fire. All wooden service buildings, a protective tent, and scaffolding were burnt down. Trying to extinguish the fire, workers watered a red-hot granite base cold water, due to which many cracks appeared in it.
The Alexandrovsky Foundry was found guilty of the incident and was fined 20,000 rubles (the cost of a granite base and repairs to defects caused by fire).
At the same time, Olenin noted that "every cloud has a silver lining ... the fire dried the brickwork much sooner than might have been expected."

It was possible to liquidate the consequences of the fire only by the spring of 1832. On September 26, 1833, Stasov reported on the completion of construction work and suggested that the "general presence" evaluate what had been done. The official commission that received the monument expressed delight and surprise at the high quality of what they saw.

The total height of the gate is 30 meters, the width is 28 meters, the width of the arch is 8 meters, and the height of the vault is 15 meters. The silhouette of the arch is described by the columns of the Corinthian order, between which are installed four statues of ancient Russian soldiers, created by the sculptors S. S. Pimenov and V. I. Demut-Malinovsky. Collaboration two graduates of the Academy of Arts made a huge contribution to the decoration of the city, reviving such architectural monuments like the Kazan Cathedral, the Admiralty, Main Headquarters, Alexandria theater, Elagin Palace.
The skill of the sculptors was also manifested in the creation of a chariot with the goddess of victory Nika, crowning the arch of the Narva Gate. Together with P.K.Klodt, who created the six bronze horses harnessed to a chariot, the sculptors managed to make a monument unique in its unity and organicity.

Above the columns of the Narva Gate are the works of architects M. G. Krylov and N. A. Tokarev - eight figures of the Geniuses of Victory with spears, wreaths, palm branches and trumpets.
In the tympans there are flying figures of winged Glories by the sculptor I. Leppe.
All sculptures are full of expression, expressiveness and liveliness and fit perfectly into the ensemble of the Narva Gate.

The sculptures to decorate the Narva Gate were originally planned to be made of marble and bought in Italy. A.N. Olenin opposed this:
"... there is no shortage of good sculptors here ... therefore: will it be decent and profitable to order in Italy what can be done here both better and cheaper."

On the pylons of the gate were listed the guards regiments that had distinguished themselves during the war. An inscription in Russian was placed on the attic and Latin:
"Victorious Russian Imperial Guard. A grateful fatherland in August 17, 1834"
On the eastern facade there is a list of battle places: Borodino, Tarutino, M. Yaroslavets, Krasnoe, on the west - the path of the Russian guard from Moscow to Paris: Kulm, Leipzig, F. Champenoise, Paris. The inscriptions over the figures of the soldiers give the names of the guards regiments that participated in the battles: Dragunsky, Gusarsky, Ulansky, Cossack, Cavalry, Equestrian, Cuirassier, Lithuanian, Grenadier, Pavlovsky, Finnish, Marine crew, Preobrazhensky, Semenovsky, Izmailovsky, Egersky Brigade.
Two more inscriptions read: "By the command of Alexander I" and "Built with significant financial participation of General Uvarov, who commanded the Guards Corps."

The equestrian group crowning the Narva Gate was performed by Pyotr Karlovich Klodt (six horses), Stepan Pimenov (Victory statue) and Vasily Demut-Malinovsky (chariot). The group is a chariot driven by the goddess of victory, Nick. In her hands is a palm branch and Laurel wreath- symbols of peace and glory.

In the niches between the columns of the Narva Gate are sculptures of ancient Russian soldiers, made according to the models of Pimenov and Demut-Malinovsky. The knights' clothes were made according to the drawings of the artist F.P. Solntsev, made by him in the Kremlin Armory from original samples. The sculptor I. Leppe created winged female figures personifying Glory.

The sculptors' works were personally approved by Nicholas I. He approved the statues of Klodt and Demut-Malinovsky, and rejected the models of Pimenov, Tokarev and Krylov. Noting that the models of statues presented by them have a "thin figure", the emperor ordered to replace the sculptors. BI Orlovsky and SI Galberg, invited to take their places, showed solidarity with their colleagues and refused to work. At the same time, the models had to be submitted to the factory for the casting of the sculptures as soon as possible. This forced the former sculptors to remain in the project, and the emperor "did not notice" the failure to comply with his orders.

On the western facade of the Narva Gate, a list of the Guards cavalry regiments of the Russian army that participated in the war of 1812 was compiled in gold letters. The names of the infantry regiments were listed on the eastern façade. Along the edge of the pediment is a list of the main battles.

The opening of the Narva Gate was timed to coincide with the 21st anniversary of the Battle of Kulm. August 17, 1834 at solemn ceremony many townspeople were present. Guards regiments marked on the monument marched under the arch.

The solemn return of the Guards on July 31, 1814 to St. Petersburg and the solemn passage through the Narva Gate.

Immediately after the completion of construction, the area around the Narva Gate was covered with sand and leveled. Stasov categorically insisted that the area from the monument gradually decrease, thus showing its dominant position. The height of the site was calculated in advance so that the Narva Gate would not suffer from floods. The required level was set according to the height of the rise of water during the flood of 1824.
The area around the Narva Gate (Stachek Square) is also Stasov's idea. It arose "in order to give a decent distance for vision, necessary for all buildings, and especially for noble monuments."

In 1839, the historian I. Pushkarev wrote:
"The entrance to St. Petersburg from the Narva tract is quite worthy of the capital ... your eyes, gliding through the various houses, finally stop at the square of the triumphal gates. Your attention is attracted by these colossal knights, the solemn chariot carrying the goddess of victory, you try to read the inscription and do not feel, how the barrier fell and you found yourself already in the city itself ... "

When drawing up a technical report and a description of the Narva Gate, Stasov noted the cost of all the work carried out - 1,110,000 rubles.

During the creation of the triumphal arch, the architect had an idea to include in it the Museum of the Patriotic War of 1812. This idea was not supported. The gate houses the barracks of the guard service of the Narva outpost.

Already in 1877-1880, the first repair of the monument was carried out. Some of the copper sheets had to be replaced with sheet iron - the strength of the copper left much to be desired. Thus, it turned out that when choosing the material for the gate, Nicholas I was right, not Stasov. Copper corrodes rapidly in the Petersburg climate. This process accelerated even more after combining different metals (copper and iron) in the cladding.

Narva Gate, 1910s

Narva Gate. 1929

The lengthy and ineffective renovation of the Narva Gate began in 1925. It was interrupted with the outbreak of the war in 1941. During the hostilities, the Narva Gate received more than 2,000 shrapnel damage. The monument was located near the edge of the defense of Leningrad.

In 1945, when the victorious warriors returned to the city, the Narva Gate again played the role of a triumphal arch.

The restoration of the monument continued in 1949-1952. The project was designed by the architect I. N. Benois. Copper roofing, cast iron spiral staircases and floor slabs were replaced. The lost decorative elements (the spokes of the wheel of the triumphal chariot, the ornament on the body of the chariot) were recreated, the damaged parts of the monument (the wings of Glory-Victory, horses, triumphal wreaths and parts of weapons) were repaired.

The Narva Gate underwent another renovation in 1978-1980. At the same time, a site was laid out around the monument, engineering communications were shifted. The gate was fenced off with a granite curb, and an underground passage was built under it.

Inside the Narva Gate there are three floors and a basement, which from the second half of the 19th century were used as a city archive. After several restorations, in 1987, an exposition of the Museum of Urban Sculpture was opened in the building of the gate, containing materials on the history of the Patriotic War of 1812 and the history of the construction of the Narva Triumphal Gate.
A century and a half later, the idea of ​​the author of the monument was realized.

Last overhaul the monument was made on the eve of the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg. The copper sheets have been repaired and cleaned out. Some of them have been replaced, as well as some details of the ornament. When cleaning the surface of the monument, a non-contact method was used, which allows not to damage the metal. Failed to restore the distorted face of the Goddess of Glory. It is assumed that her appearance was distorted by vibration from the traffic passing around the Narva Gate. The capitals and the base of the columns, two spiral staircases inside the gate were restored. All engineering communications were replaced again and the roof was moved. When clearing the Narva Gate, their original color was established, which was given to the monument.

***

Saint Petersburg and suburbs

Since the time of Peter the Great, the brightest victories of the Russian people have been marked by some kind of majestic construction that will remind of the country's feat. It is precisely such a monument that is Triumphal Arch or the Moscow Triumphal Gate, erected in the early thirties of the XIX century in honor of the victory of 1812 over Napoleon Bonaparte.

The history of the monument

The history of the monument goes back to the first half of XIX centuries to the distant Tverskaya Zastava, where it was originally erected, but not from stone, but from wooden materials. Crowned architectural structure the chariot of glory, the cornice towered on monumental columns, which were the majestic gates decorated with statues of liberators and images of the departure of enemy troops. But, since the monument quickly deteriorated and fell into disrepair, they soon decided to replace the wooden arch with a stone one in order to preserve it for a longer period.

Nicholas I and the Arc de Triomphe

Initially, the idea of ​​creating the Arc de Triomphe belonged to the Russian Emperor Nicholas I, who was inspired by the projects being built at that time in St. Petersburg, and wished to build a similar one in Moscow. The project was entrusted to the most famous at that time Osip Ivanovich Bove. But the lack of finances and the lack of assistance from the authorities were a centuries-old scourge of Russia, so the construction was stretched out for several years.

More than a century legendary monument great victory Fatherland existed on the Tverskaya Zastava, and only in 1936, in connection with the reconstruction and expansion of Moscow streets and squares, it was decided to move the famous gate.

Transfer of the Arc de Triomphe

The arch was carefully dismantled, the architects of the museum made careful measurements for subsequent restoration work, and the details were deposited in the museum. It was not restored immediately, but only thirty years later. One can only imagine how complex and painstaking work fell to the lot of architects and engineers of that time.

Based on the remaining drawings, drawings and old photographs, it was necessary to restore the monument in its original form, completing those details that had irrevocably disappeared. On the cornice of the arch alone, it was necessary to place more than a thousand independent parts!

Huge team worked on the reconstruction of the lost fragments: the forms of parts of military armor and the coats of arms of ancient cities were re-cast from plaster casts. The panorama of the Battle of Borodino helped a lot in this process, from the pictures of which some compositions were also used.

There was also a lot of controversy over the choice of location. Undoubtedly, when the arch was originally erected in the 19th century, it looked majestic anywhere in Moscow, since the nearby houses did not differ in their height, and after a century the capital changed beyond recognition, and it was difficult to keep the original idea of ​​the architect among the high-rises and highways.

The Arch was installed on Kutuzovsky Prospekt not far from Victory Park, where it fits perfectly into the bustle of Moscow life, reminding people of the great feat of the Russian people, who have been guarding the Fatherland from time immemorial.

Triumphal Arch- this is one of the most significant monuments of the Patriotic War of 1812, which silently recalls those great events, sung by many writers of the past.

Elena Viktorovna Kharitonova

From the collection of the Central Archive of Electronic and Audiovisual Documents of Moscow

In the summer of 1814, Moscow was preparing to meet the Russian army returning from Paris after the victory over the French troops. On this occasion, the Triumphal Gate was built on the square of Tverskaya Zastava, through which the procession, led by Emperor Alexander I, was to proceed to the city. The celebrations ended, died down holiday fireworks, and the monument to the glory of Russian weapons remained at the beginning of the Petersburg highway. The wooden structure was rapidly deteriorating, and after 12 years it was decided to replace it with a stone one. The drafting of the project was entrusted to the "chief architect" of Moscow, O. I. Bove.

Initially, it was about a simple replacement of wooden gates with stone ones. They were to be combined with the guardhouses of the Tverskaya Zastava - wooden buildings where sentries and officials were stationed who checked the documents of travelers. The final version of the layout of the square at the main entrance to Moscow from St. Petersburg was adopted in April 1829. According to him, the Triumphal Gates were built exactly on the axis of Bolshaya Tverskaya-Yamskaya Street, and the section of the Petersburg Highway, adjacent to the outpost, was straightened and improved. The gate was combined with two new stone buildings of the guardhouse, which supplemented the main structure and, connected with it with cast-iron gratings, formed a square - one of the most beautiful in Moscow at that time.

On August 17, 1829, the laying ceremony of the Triumphal Gate took place. A bronze foundation plate and a handful of silver rubles minted in 1829 - "for good luck" lay in the foundation. The inscription on the slab read that "these Triumphal Gates were laid in commemoration of the triumph of the Russian soldiers in 1814 and the renewal of the construction of magnificent monuments and buildings of the first capital city of Moscow, destroyed in 1812 by the invasion of Gauls and with them twelve languages" 1. The construction took five years. Brick gates were erected and faced with the so-called white Tatar stone - rare and valuable, mined in quarries near the village of Tatarovo near Moscow.

OI Bove designed the Triumphal Gates as a synthesis of architecture and sculpture. While the construction of the main structure was in progress, graduates of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts I.P. Vitali and I.T. Timofeev took up the creation of their sculptural design. Powerful figures of ancient warriors in plate armor and pointed helmets are located on high pedestals between each of the six pairs of columns. The walls above the figures were decorated with reliefs "The Expulsion of the French" and "The Liberation of Moscow". The vertical structure of the columns was completed by the allegorical figures of Firmness and Courage. On the magnificently ornamented frieze were placed images of the coats of arms of thirty-six provinces of Russia, whose residents participated in Patriotic War 1812, as well as medallions with the initials of Nicholas I. Six horses harnessed to the chariot of Glory, in which the winged goddess of Victory proudly stood, crowned the gate. The inscription on the pediment, approved by Nicholas I, read: "To the blessed memory of Alexander I, who erected from the ashes and adorned with many monuments of paternal care this first city, during the invasion of the Gauls and with them twenty languages, in the summer of 1812, devoted to fire, 1826". From the side of the city, the inscription was made in Russian, and from the opposite side - in Latin.

All cast-iron parts of the gate were cast at the Aleksinsky plant in the Tula province. Decorative casting was heavy and bulky - from 7 to 14 tons of casting. I had to wait for the sled route to deliver all these medallions with coats of arms, multi-figured reliefs, cast-iron boards with the image of military armor. O. I. Bove did not live for several months before the grand opening of the Triumphal Gates, which took place on September 20, 1834, - he was finishing the construction of his monument younger brother Michael.

At the striped gate and guardhouse crowned with low flat domes, day and night there was a liveliness: stagecoaches, landlord dorms, state troikas. Everything changed in the 1850s, when regular rail links between Moscow and St. Petersburg began. Tverskaya Zastava lost its former significance, and soon the barrier also disappeared. V.A.Gilyarovsky described the area of ​​the Tverskaya Zastava in this way in late XIX century: “In the houses of the guardhouse, when I was already there were city sweepers, then police guards, then venerable invalids, who rubbed snuff on the porch, under Doric columns, in pots for snuff lovers. Then the city ambulance station was accommodated in one of the houses, and in the other there was a duty room for the paramedic and the attendants. Around the house, with right side gates, under a light iron staircase attached to the roof from time immemorial, there were "cold shoemakers" who came to Moscow from the Tver province with an "iron foot", on which shoes were repaired quickly, cheaply and well. There were always a dozen of them working here, and their clients stood at the wall on one leg, lifting the other, barefoot, waiting for a fix ”2.

In 1872, a horse tram line was laid under the gate: small two-story carriages pulled by a pair of horses carried passengers from Voskresenskaya Square to Tverskaya Zastava. The route of the first tram in Moscow also ran under the arches - Strastnaya Square and Petrovsky Park were its final stops.

On the eve of the centenary of the Battle of Borodino, the Triumphal Gates were slightly renovated and redecorated. On the day of the anniversary, the city delegation laid a wreath at their foot.

1935 adopted General plan reconstruction of Moscow. Among other things, it provided for the expansion of streets and squares, especially in the central part of the city. This plan decided the fate of the Triumphal Gates. At the beginning of July 1936, reports about their demolition appeared on the pages of Moscow newspapers.

Strictly speaking, the gate, which stood for 102 years and became one of the symbols of Moskva, was not planned to be demolished, but to be dismantled so that later they could be restored in a new place. The completion of the work entrusted to the Mosrazborstroy trust and carried out under the supervision of representatives of the Museum of Architecture3 was scheduled for early August 1936. By this time, it was supposed to complete not only the dismantling of the gates themselves, but also the improvement of the area of ​​the Belorussky railway station, where they were located. In parallel with the dismantling of the structures, the museum specialists made measurements, made drawings of the facades, plans for all six tiers, and photographed the structure from all angles. Some of the main structures, sculptures, high reliefs and other decorations were transported to the territory of the former Donskoy Monastery - a branch of the museum. Large design elements were disassembled into parts and transported in this form. The craftsmen who created them left the keys in the "Chariot of Glory", with the help of which the disassembly took place. Before exhibiting the brought sculptures, they had to be restored: cleaned, covered with special drying oil, rubbed with graphite, and so on. In 1939, the restoration was completed.

Since the restoration of the gates was not planned in the near future, the elements of their design were installed on the territory of the museum thoroughly. The high reliefs were placed in the niches of the monastery wall, the figures of the soldiers took their places on the pedestals along the central alley, the "Chariot of Glory" was erected on a pedestal specially created for it.

For almost three decades, the Moscow authorities did not remember the creation of OI Bove. In 1966, the Moscow City Council decided to recreate the Triumphal Gates. From several places of their possible placement, we chose Victory Square on Kutuzovsky Prospekt. Nearby there was a museum "Kutuzovskaya hut", which in 1962 became a branch of the opened Museum of panorama "Borodino battle". Thus, the Triumphal Gate was to complete the memorial ensemble dedicated to the events of the war of 1812.

The main architectural and planning department of Moscow was instructed to develop a project and draw up the documentation necessary for the reconstruction of the monument. This was attended by specialists from workshop No. 7 of Mosproekt-3 and workshop No. 4 of Mos-project-1. The work itself was carried out by SU No. 37 of the Trust for the construction of embankments and bridges. The Triumphal Gates at the Tverskaya Zastava stood on wooden piles. And at Kutuzovskoye they decided to put them on piles, but only on steel, and not on oak. The brick vault of the arch was replaced with reinforced concrete, the basement and walls were made of monolithic concrete instead of bricks. Limestone mined in the Bodrakskoye deposit (Crimea) was used for facing. The most difficult thing was to restore the cast-iron decor to its original form. During the dismantling of the gate, some figures were damaged, and some design details were lost. They had to be made anew at the Mytishchi art casting plant. Twelve-meter cast iron columns were cast at the Stankolit plant in Moscow.

November 6, 1968 took place Grand opening Triumphal gate. Outwardly, they looked the same as they did a century and a half ago, only the inscriptions on the boards have changed: one reproduces the text from the mortgage board placed at the base of the gate in 1829, the other - the lines of military orders: “A glorious year has passed. But your high-profile deeds and deeds will not pass and will not cease, your offspring will keep them in their memory. You saved the Fatherland with your blood. Brave and victorious troops! .. Each of you is the savior of the Fatherland! Russia greets you with this name ”.

Moscow Triumphal Gates - triumphal arch in Moscow, built in honor of the victory of the Russian people in the Patriotic War of 1812. As a rule, Muscovites do not use the full name of the monument and simply call it the Arc de Triomphe.

Triumphal Arch - restored monument: it was originally erected in 1829-1834 according to the project Osipa Bove on Tverskaya Zastava Square, then dismantled in 1936 during the reconstruction of the square and rebuilt in 1966-1968 on Kutuzovsky Prospekt near Poklonnaya mountain.

Triumphal arch at Tverskaya Zastava

In 1814, when Russian and allied troops entered Paris and peace was achieved, Russian cities began to prepare for a meeting of troops returning from France. On their way, triumphal gates were erected in the cities, and Moscow was no exception: near the Tverskaya Zastava, where the emperor was traditionally greeted with honors, they began to erect a temporary triumphal arch made of wood.

In 1826, Emperor Nicholas I ordered the construction of the Triumphal Gates in Moscow as a monument to the victory of Russian arms, similar to the Narva Triumphal Gates, which were being built at that time in St. Petersburg. The development of the project was entrusted to a prominent Russian architect Osip Bove; the master developed it in the same year, but the need to redevelop the area slowed down the process, and the project required changes.

The Triumphal Gate was built according to a new project by Beauvais in 1829-1834, laying in the foundation a bronze mortgage plate and a handful of silver rubles "for luck" - which, by the way, did not help at all: the construction was delayed for 5 years due to lack of funds. The sculptural decoration of the arch was made by sculptors Ivan Vitali and Ivan Timofeev, worked on the drawings of Beauvais. The columns and sculptures were cast from cast iron, and the gates themselves were erected from white stone from the village of Tartarovo ("Tartar marble") and stone from the dismantled Samotechny canal.

On the attic of the gate was an inscription (in Russian and Latin from different sides):

In 1899, the first electric tram line in Moscow ran right under the arch, and in 1912 and in the 1920s they were even cleaned and restored.

Unfortunately, in 1936, according to the General Plan for the reconstruction of Moscow, the gates were dismantled for the reconstruction of the square. Initially, it was planned to restore them near the previous place, therefore, during dismantling, they carried out careful measurements and preserved some sculptural and architectural elements, but in the end they did not restore the gate.

Triumphal Arch on Kutuzovsky Prospect

In the 1960s, taking into account the artistic value and historical significance of the gate, it was decided to return to the idea of ​​their restoration, and in 1966-1968 a copy of them was built on Kutuzovsky Prospekt near Poklonnaya Gora and the Borodino Battle Museum-Panorama.

The project was carried out under the direction of the architect-restorer Vladimir Libson by a group of architects (I. Ruben, G. Vasilyeva, D. Kulchinsky). During the construction, the drawings and measurements made during the dismantling of the gate were used, as well as the author's model of the structure provided by the Museum of Architecture.

Generally Triumphal Arch on Kutuzovsky Prospect it is an external copy of its predecessor, but with a number of structural changes: instead of brick, reinforced concrete was used in the structures of walls, arches and basement, white stone was replaced with Crimean limestone, and the guardrooms and gratings were decided not to be restored. The surviving sculptures and decoration details were not used, and everything was cast from cast iron anew. In addition, the texts on the attic were changed - instead of the words about Emperor Alexander I, there appeared lines from the order of Mikhail Kutuzov to the Russian soldiers and an excerpt from the inscription on the mortgage board of 1829:

In 2012, the Arc de Triomphe was restored in preparation for the celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of the Victory of Russia in the Patriotic War of 1812.

The Arc de Triomphe was located in a public garden, divided between the oncoming traffic lanes of Kutuzovsky Prospekt. In 1975, in honor of the 30th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, this park became known as Victory Square.

Today Triumphal Arch became one of the recognizable symbols of Moscow: the views of the monument are decorated with popular postcards and calendars, the arch is depicted in the paintings of artists and produced a large number of souvenir products with her image.

You can get to the Arc de Triomphe on foot from the metro station "Victory Park" Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line.

Triumphal Arch or Triumphal Gates in Moscow – an object cultural heritage located on Kutuzovsky prospect. The monument was erected to commemorate the victory of the Russian people over the French in 1812. The attraction belongs to the most famous triumphal gates and arches in the world.

History

The Arc de Triomphe was built in the middle of 1814 and was originally wooden. The construction at the Tverskaya Zastava turned out to be short-lived, so in 1826 the question arose about the construction of a stone arch. The project was developed by the architect O.I. Bove, known for the reconstruction of Moscow after the fire in 1812.

The ceremonial laying of the arch took place in August 1829. A bronze plaque was installed in the monument with an inscription about the exaltation of the Russian people.

Construction lasted for five years and was completed in 1834. And two years later, during the reconstruction of the square near the Belorussky railway station, the Moscow Triumphal Gates were dismantled, the decoration was transferred to the Museum of Architecture. Thirty years later, it was decided to restore the building.

The new address of the Triumphal Arch in Moscow is Kutuzovsky Prospekt. The restorers were tasked with recreating the original appearance of the arch. They have created over 150 models - exact copies all decorative elements.

Fragments of the only remaining column were used to cast 12 cast-iron columns of 12 meters. According to the plan for the reconstruction of Kutuzovsky Avenue, the arch was inaugurated on November 6, 1968. Today the arch is located on Victory Square not far from the Park Pobedy metro station. Poklonnaya Gora is also nearby.

Description

The Triumphal Arch on Kutuzovsky Prospekt in Moscow is a single-span arch with two arched pylons. There are twelve columns around them. The front side of the building faces the entrance to Moscow.

There are niches between the columns - in them, on high pedestals, cast figures of warriors dressed in ancient Russian armor were placed. Along the perimeter of the cornice, there are the coats of arms of the country's administrative regions, whose inhabitants took part in the fight against the conquerors.

There were also medallions with the initials of Nicholas I. Above - sitting statues of the goddesses of Victory with scepters and wreaths in their hands. War trophies are collected at their feet.

The arch is crowned with six horses and a chariot with the winged goddess of Victory. In her right hand is a laurel wreath in honor of the winners. On the main facade there is a cast-iron plate with a text about the victories of the Russian people.

Sculptures

The two main sculptures of the Arc de Triomphe are "Expulsion of the French" and "Liberated Moscow". The first depicts hand-to-hand combat, against the background of which the Kremlin jagged wall is visible. Russian soldiers are unstoppably advancing on the enemy, who runs under their onslaught, throwing down their weapons.

Warrior on foreground holds a round shield with the emblem of Russia. In his right hand is a sword raised above defeated enemy... The high relief embodies all the power of the Russian people, who rose up against the conqueror. The figure of a slain enemy with a bare chest is very expressively executed.

Due to the spatial depth of the structure, the movement seems especially impressive. The figures in the foreground and background vary in size, while the nearest ones are almost independent sculptures.

Another high relief - "Liberated Moscow" looks more relaxed. A reclining woman is leaning on a shield with the image of the ancient Moscow coat of arms. It shows Saint George the Victorious slaying the dragon. She personifies Moscow. The figure is dressed in a sarafan and a robe, with a small crown on his head. Right hand reaches for Emperor Alexander I. Around - images of Minerva, Hercules with a club on the right shoulder of a woman, an old man and a youth. All of them are located against the background of the battlements of the Moscow Kremlin.

Restoration

In February 2012, the restoration of the Arc de Triomphe was carried out in Moscow, timed to coincide with the 200th anniversary of Russia's victory in the Patriotic War of 1812. Before the start of work, the mayor said that the monument was in disrepair. When carrying out repair work, the main part of the cladding was replaced, which had fallen into disrepair, cleaning was carried out sculptural groups and stone walls, as well as restoration work on metal elements. At the same time, it was necessary to remove the chariot, crowning the gate, and the sculpture of the goddess Nike. They were subsequently reinstalled.

The grand opening of the Arc de Triomphe after restoration took place in September 2012. In the near future, the construction at the gates of the observation deck.

• The Moscow Metropolitan refused to consecrate the monument due to the fact that there are sculptural images of mythological gods installed on it.
• Triumphal Arch - main character Filevsky bus and trolleybus park.
• White stone for facing the walls of the arch was mined near the village of Tatarovo near Moscow.
• Not far from the arch is a skating rink with artificial ice- the most popular place among children and youth in Moscow.