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An open competition for the creation of the monument was officially announced on behalf of Emperor Nicholas I in 1829 with the wording in memory of “ unforgettable brother". Auguste Montferrand responded to this competition with a project for the erection of a grandiose granite obelisk. Taking into account the size of the square, Montferrand did not consider the options for the sculptural monument, realizing that, not having a colossal size, he would simply be lost in its ensemble.

A sketch of that project has been preserved and is currently in the library, it has no date, according to Nikitin, the project dates back to the first half of 1829. Montferrand proposed to erect a granite obelisk similar to the ancient Egyptian obelisks on a granite base. The total height of the monument was 33.78 meters. The obverse was supposed to be decorated with bas-reliefs depicting the events of the war of 1812 in photographs from the famous medallions by the medalist Count FP Tolstoy.

On the pedestal it was planned to make the inscription "Blessed - grateful Russia". On the pedestal, the architect placed bas-reliefs (the author of which was the same Tolstoy) depicting Alexander as a Roman soldier on a horse trampling a snake with his feet; a double-headed eagle flies in front of the rider, the goddess of victory follows the rider, crowning him with laurels; the horse is led by two symbolic female figures.

The sketch of the project indicates that the obelisk was supposed to surpass all known monoliths in the world with its height. The artistic part of the project is superbly executed with watercolor technique and testifies to Montferrand's high skill in various areas of visual arts. The project itself was also done "with great skill."

Trying to defend his project, the architect acted within the subordination, dedicating his work to Nicholas I “ Plans et details du monument consacré à la mémoire de l'Empereur Alexandre”, But the idea was still rejected and Montferrand was unequivocally pointed to the column as the desired shape of the monument.

Final project

The second project, which was later implemented, consisted in the installation of a column higher than Vendôme (erected in Paris in honor of Napoleon's victories). As sources for his project, Montferrand used the columns of Trajan and Antoninus in Rome, Pompey in Alexandria, and Vendôme.

The narrow scope of the project did not allow the architect to escape from the influence of world famous designs, and his new work was only a slight modification of the ideas of his predecessors. Montferrand refused to use additional decorations, like the bas-reliefs spirally wrapped around the core of Trajan's antique column, since, according to him, contemporary artists could not compete with the ancient masters, and settled on the option of a column with a smooth core made of a giant polished monolith of pink granite a height of 25.6 meters (12 fathoms). The bottom column diameter is 3.66 m (12 ft) and the top diameter is 3.19 m (10 ft 6 in.). He copied the pedestal and base almost unchanged from Trajan's column.

Together with the pedestal and the crowning sculpture, the height of the monument was 47.5 m - higher than all existing monolithic columns. In a new form, on September 24, 1829, the project without sculptural completion was approved by the emperor. A few days later, Montferrand was appointed as the column builder.

Construction was carried out from 1829 to 1834. Since 1831, Count Yu. P. Litta was appointed chairman of the Commission for the Construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral, which was also responsible for the installation of the column.

Preparatory work

The work was completed in October 1830.

Pedestal construction

After laying the foundation, a huge four-hundred-ton monolith was erected on it, hewn and removed from the Letzarma area, which is five versts from Puterlax, which serves as the base of the pedestal. To install the monolith on the foundation, a platform was built, onto which it was pumped using rollers along an inclined plane. The stone was piled on a pile of sand, previously poured next to the platform.

"At the same time, the earth shook so strongly that the bystanders - passers-by, who were on the square at that moment, felt like an underground blow."

After the supports were placed under the monolith, the workers raked out the sand and placed the rollers. The props were chopped off, and the lump fell onto the rollers. The stone was rolled onto the foundation and precisely set. The ropes, thrown over the blocks, were pulled with nine capstans and raised the stone to a height of about one meter. They took out the rollers and poured a layer of a slippery, very peculiar in its composition solution, on which the monolith was planted.

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

O. Montferrand

The setting of the upper parts of the pedestal was a much simpler task - despite the higher lifting height, the subsequent steps consisted of stones of much smaller sizes than the previous ones, and the workers gradually gained experience. The rest of the pedestal (hewn granite blocks) were installed on the plinth with mortar and fastened with steel brackets.

Column installation

The column was rolled along an inclined plane onto a special platform located at the foot of the scaffolding and wrapped with many rings of ropes, to which the blocks were attached;
Another block system was at the top of the forest;
A large number of ropes encircling the stone skirted the upper and lower blocks and, with their free ends, were wound on capstans placed in the square.

At the end of all the preparations, the day of the solemn ascent was appointed.

In parallel with the construction of the column, in September 1830, O. Montferrand worked on a statue that was supposed to be placed above it and, according to the wishes of Nicholas I, turned towards the Winter Palace. In the initial project, the column was completed by a cross, entwined with a snake to decorate the fasteners. In addition, the sculptors of the Academy of Arts proposed several options for compositions of figures of angels and virtues with a cross. There was a variant with the installation of the figure of St. Prince Alexander Nevsky.

As a result, the figure of an angel with a cross, made by the sculptor B. I. Orlovsky with expressive and understandable symbolism, was accepted for execution - “ Win with your sim!". These words are associated with the story of the acquisition of the life-giving cross:

The finishing and polishing of the monument took two years.

Opening of the monument

The opening of the monument took place on August 30 (September 11) of the year and marked the end of the work on the design of the Palace Square. The ceremony was attended by the sovereign, the royal family, the diplomatic corps, the one hundred thousandth Russian army and representatives of the Russian army. It was accompanied by a solemn service at the foot of the column, in which the kneeling troops and the emperor himself took part.
This open-air service drew a parallel with the historical prayer service of the Russian troops in Paris on the day of Orthodox Easter on March 29 (April 10) of the year.

It was impossible to look without deep emotional emotion at the sovereign, humbly kneeling in front of this numerous army, moved by his word to the foot of the colossus he had built. He prayed for his brother, and everything at that moment spoke of the earthly glory of this sovereign brother: the monument bearing his name, and the kneeling Russian army, and the people among whom he lived, complacent, accessible to all<…>How amazing at that moment was this opposition of worldly greatness, magnificent, but transient, with the greatness of death, gloomy but unchanging; and how eloquent was this angel in view of the one and the other, who, having nothing to do with everything that surrounded him, stood between earth and sky, belonging to one with his monumental granite, depicting something that is no longer there, and to the other with his radiant cross, a symbol of that always and forever

... no pen can describe the greatness of that minute when three cannon shots suddenly from all the streets, as if born out of the earth, in slender masses, with drumming thunder, to the sounds of the Paris march, the columns of the Russian army went ... For two hours this magnificent, unique the world is a spectacle ... In the evening, noisy crowds wandered the streets of the illuminated city for a long time, finally the lighting went out, the streets were empty, a majestic colossus was left on the deserted square with its sentry

In honor of this event, in the same year, a memorial ruble was knocked out in a circulation of 15 thousand.

Description of the monument

This monument supplemented the composition of the Arch of the General Staff, which was dedicated to the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812. The Alexander Column resembles samples of the triumphal structures of antiquity; the monument has an amazing clarity of proportions, laconic form, beauty of silhouette.
The text on the plaque of the monument:

ALEXANDER І mu
GRATEFUL RUSSIA

It is the tallest monument in the world, made of solid granite and the third tallest of all monumental columns - after the Column of the Great Army in Boulogne-sur-Mer and Trafalgar (Nelson's Column) in London; The Alexander Column above the Vendome Column in Paris, Trajan's Column in Rome and Pompey's Column in Alexandria.
The column trunk is the tallest and heaviest monolith ever installed in the form of a column or obelisk vertically, and one of the greatest (the fifth in history and the second - after the Thunder Stone - in modern times) monoliths displaced by man.

Specifications

The total height of the structure is 47.5 m
the height of the angel's figure - 4.26 m (2 fathoms)

cross height - 6.4 m (3 sazhens)

height of the top of the column with a cross ~ 12 m

barrel height (monolithic part of the column) - 25.6 m (12 fathoms)
column bottom diameter 3.66 m (12 ft), top diameter 3.15 m (10 ft 6 in.)

the height of the pedestal of a column of 8 granite blocks, laid in three rows - 4.25 m
the dimensions of the bas-reliefs - 5.24 × 3.1 m

the height of the monolithic granite base - 3.9 m
horizontal dimensions of the basement - 6.3 × 6.3 m

column height to the shaft ~ 10 m

Plinth and pedestal weight - 704 tons

The weight of the granite shaft of the column is 612 tons

Column top weight 37 tons

Fence dimensions 16.5 × 16.5 × 1.5 m

The column shaft stands on a granite base without additional supports only under the influence of gravity.

Pedestal

The pedestal of the column is decorated on four sides with bronze bas-reliefs cast at Ch. Byrd's factory in 1833-1834.
A large team of authors worked on the decoration of the pedestal: sketches were made by O. Montferrand, who proved to be an excellent draftsman here. His drawings for bas-reliefs and bronze decorations are distinguished by "clarity, confidence of lines and careful drawing of details."
The bas-reliefs on the pedestal of the column in allegorical form glorify the victory of Russian weapons and symbolize the courage of the Russian army. The bas-reliefs include images of Old Russian chain mail, shishaks and shields stored in the Armory in Moscow, including helmets attributed to Alexander Nevsky and Ermak, as well as the 17th century armor of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, and that, despite Montferrand's assertions, it is quite doubtful that the shield Oleg of the X century, nailed by him to the gates of Constantinople.
Based on Montferrand's drawings, the artists J.B. Scotti, V. Soloviev, Tverskoy, F. Brullo, Markov made life-size cardboards for bas-reliefs. Sculptors P.V. Svintsov and I. Leppe sculpted bas-reliefs for casting. Models of double-headed eagles were made by the sculptor I. Leppe, models of the base, garlands and other decorations were made by the ornamentalist E. Balin.
These images appeared on the work of the Frenchman Montferrand through the efforts of the then president of the Academy of Arts, a well-known lover of Russian antiquity, A. N. Olenin. However, the style of depicting military fittings most likely dates back to the Renaissance.
In addition to armor and allegories, allegorical figures are depicted on the pedestal on the northern (obverse) side: winged female figures are holding a rectangular board, on which the inscription in civilian script: "Alexander the First, grateful Russia." An exact copy of the armor samples from the armory is shown under the board.
Symmetrically located figures on the sides of the arms (on the left - a beautiful young woman leaning on an urn, from which water is poured out and on the right - an old Aquarius) personify the Vistula and Neman rivers, which were forced by the Russian army during the pursuit of Napoleon.
Other bas-reliefs depict Victory and Glory, recording the dates of memorable battles, and, in addition, the pedestal depicts the allegories Victory and Peace (the years 1812, 1813 and 1814 are inscribed on the shield of Victory), Justice and Mercy, Wisdom and Abundance ".
On the upper corners of the pedestal there are two-headed eagles holding oak garlands in their paws, lying on the ledge of the pedestal cornice. On the front side of the pedestal, above the garland, in the middle - in a circle bordered with an oak wreath, the All-Seeing Eye with the signature "1812".
On all the bas-reliefs, as decorative elements, weapons of a classic character are depicted, which

... does not belong to modern Europe and cannot hurt the pride of any people.

Column and sculpture of an angel

The stone pillar is a one-piece polished piece of pink granite. The column trunk has a conical shape with entasis (thickening of the trunk to eliminate the optical concavity of the trunk) from bottom to top.
The top of the column is crowned with a bronze Doric capital. Its base - a rectangular abacus - is made of brickwork with bronze cladding. A cylindrical bronze pedestal with a hemispherical top is installed on it, inside which the main support massif is enclosed, consisting of multilayer masonry: granite, brick and two more layers of granite.
The column itself is higher than Vendôme, and the figure of an angel is higher in height than the figure of Napoleon I in the latter. An angel tramples on a snake with a cross, which symbolizes the peace and tranquility that Russia brought to Europe by defeating the Napoleonic troops.
The sculptor gave the facial features of the angel a resemblance to the face of Alexander I. According to other sources, the figure of the angel is a sculptural portrait of the Petersburg poet Elisabeth Kuhlman.
The light figure of an angel, the falling folds of clothing, the clearly defined vertical of the cross, continuing the vertical of the monument, emphasize the slenderness of the column.
Montferrand transferred the pedestal and base of Trajan's column, as well as the lower diameter of the rod, equal to 12 feet (3.66 m), to his project without changes. The height of the rod of the Alexander Column was taken 3 feet less than Trajan's columns: 84 feet (25.58 m), and the top diameter was 10 feet 6 inches (3.19 m). The height of the column, as in the Roman Doric order, was eight of its upper diameters. The architect has developed his own system of thinning the column rod - an important element that affects the overall perception of the monument. Contrary to the classical system of thinning, Montferrand began it not from a height equal to one third of the rod, but immediately from the base, drawing a thinning curve using divisions of tangent lines drawn to the segments of the arc of the base section. In addition, he used more divisions than usual: twelve. As Nikitin notes, the thinning system of the Alexander Column is Montferrand's undoubted success.

Fence and surroundings of the monument

The Alexander Column was surrounded by a decorative bronze fence about 1.5 meters high, designed by Auguste Montferrand. The fence was decorated with 136 double-headed eagles and 12 captured cannons (4 in the corners and 2 are framed by double gates on four sides of the fence), which were crowned with three-headed eagles.
Between them were placed alternating spears and flagstaffs, crowned with guards' double-headed eagles. Locks were hung on the gate of the fence in accordance with the author's plan.
In addition, the project involved the installation of a candelabrum with copper lanterns and gas lighting.
The fence in its original form was installed in 1834, all elements were completely installed in 1836-1837. In the northeastern corner of the fence there was a sentry box, in which there was a disabled person who was on duty and dressed in full dress uniform, day and night guarding the monument and keeping order on the square.
An end pavement was laid out throughout the entire space of the Palace Square.

Stories and legends associated with the Alexander Column

Legends

Regarding this column, one can recall the proposal made to Emperor Nicholas by the skillful French architect Montferrand, who was present at its excision, transportation and staging, namely: he proposed to the emperor to drill a spiral staircase inside this column and required only two workers for this: a man and a boy with a hammer, a chisel and a basket in which the boy would carry out the fragments of granite as he drilled it; finally, two lanterns to illuminate the workers in their difficult work. In 10 years, he argued, the worker and the boy (the latter, of course, would grow a little) would have finished their spiral staircase; but the emperor, justly proud of the construction of this one-of-a-kind monument, feared, and perhaps thoroughly, that this drilling would not pierce the outer sides of the column, and therefore rejected this proposal.

Completion and restoration works

Two years after the installation of the monument, in 1836, white-gray spots began to appear on the polished surface of the stone under the bronze topping of the granite column, spoiling the appearance of the monument.
In 1841, Nicholas I ordered an examination of the flaws noticed on the column at that time, but the conclusion of the survey stated that even during the processing, the granite crystals partially crumbled in the form of small depressions, which are perceived as cracks.
In 1861, Alexander II established the "Committee for the Investigation of Damage to the Alexander Column", which included scientists and architects. Scaffolding was erected for inspection, as a result of which the committee came to the conclusion that, indeed, the column contains cracks originally characteristic of the monolith, but it was feared that an increase in their number and size "could cause the column to collapse."
Discussions were going on about the materials that should be used to seal these cavities. The Russian "grandfather of chemistry" A. A. Voskresensky proposed a composition "which was supposed to give the covering mass" and "thanks to which the crack in the Alexander column was stopped and closed with complete success" ( D. I. Mendeleev).
For regular inspection of the column, four chains were fixed on the abacus of the capitals - fasteners for lifting the cradle; in addition, the craftsmen had to periodically “climb” the monument to clean the stone from stains, which was not an easy task, given the great height of the column.
The decorative lanterns at the column were made 42 years after its opening - in 1876 by the architect K. K. Rachau.
From the moment of its opening until the end of the 20th century, the column has undergone five cosmetic restoration works.
After the events of 1917, the space around the monument was changed, and for the holidays the angel was covered with a red-painted canvas cap or masked with balloons launched from a hovering airship. In the 1930s, the fence was dismantled and melted down into cartridge cases [ ] .
The restoration was carried out in 1963 (foreman N. N. Reshetov, the work was supervised by the restorer I. G. Black).
In 1977, restoration work was carried out on Palace Square: historical lanterns were restored around the column, the asphalt pavement was replaced with granite and diabase paving stones.

Engineering and restoration work at the beginning of the XXI century

At the end of the 20th century, after a certain time had passed since the previous restoration, the need for serious restoration work and, first of all, a detailed study of the monument began to be felt more and more acutely. The prologue to the beginning of the work was the activities for the study of the column. They were forced to produce on the recommendation of specialists from the Museum of Urban Sculpture. The specialists were alarmed by large cracks at the top of the column, visible through binoculars. The inspection was carried out from helicopters and climbers, who in 1991, for the first time in the history of the St. Petersburg restoration school, landed a research "trooper" at the top of the column using a special fire hydrant "Magirus Deutz".
Having secured themselves at the top, the climbers took photographs and videos of the sculpture. The conclusion was made about the need for urgent restoration work.
The restoration was financed by the Moscow association Hazer International Rus. Intarsia was chosen to carry out works on the monument worth 19.5 million rubles; this choice was made due to the presence in the organization of personnel with extensive experience in such important facilities. L. Kakabadze, K. Efimov, A. Poshekhonov, P. Portuguese were involved in the work at the facility. The work was supervised by the restorer of the first category V.G. Sorin.
By the fall of 2002, the scaffolding was erected and the restorers carried out research on site. Almost all the bronze elements of the pommel were in disrepair: everything was covered with a "wild patina", the "bronze disease" began to develop fragmentarily, the cylinder on which the figure of the angel rested cracked and took a barrel-shaped shape. The internal cavities of the monument were examined using a flexible three-meter endoscope. As a result, the restorers also managed to establish what the overall structure of the monument looks like and to determine the differences between the original project and its real implementation.
One of the results of the study was the solution to the emerging spots in the upper part of the column: they turned out to be a product of the destruction of brickwork, flowing out.

Carrying out works

Years of rainy St. Petersburg weather resulted in the following destruction of the monument:

The brickwork of the abacus was completely destroyed; at the time of the study, the initial stage of its deformation was recorded.

Inside the cylindrical pedestal of the angel, up to 3 tons of water accumulated, which got inside through dozens of cracks and holes in the sculpture's shell. This water, seeping down into the pedestal and freezing in winter, tore apart the cylinder, giving it a barrel-shaped shape.

The restorers were given the following tasks: to remove water from the cavities of the pommel, to prevent water accumulation in the future, and to restore the structure of the abacus support. The work was carried out mainly in winter at high altitudes without dismantling the sculpture, both outside and inside the structure. Control over the work was carried out by both specialized and non-core structures, including the administration of St. Petersburg.
The restorers carried out work to create a drainage system for the monument: as a result, all cavities of the monument were connected, as a "chimney" used a cross cavity about 15.5 meters high. The created drainage system provides for the removal of all moisture, including condensation.
The brick surcharge of the tops of the abacus was replaced by granite, self-wedging structures without binding agents. Thus, the original plan of Montferrand was again realized. The bronze surfaces of the monument were protected by patinating.
In addition, more than 50 fragments left from the siege of Leningrad were recovered from the monument.
The forests were removed from the monument in March 2003.

Fence repair

... “jewelry work” was carried out and during the reconstruction of the fence “iconographic materials, old photographs were used”. "Palace Square received the finishing touch."

The fence was made according to a project carried out in 1993 by the Lenproektrestavratsiya Institute. The work was financed from the city budget, the costs amounted to 14 million 700 thousand rubles. The historical fence of the monument was restored by the specialists of Intarsia LLC. Installation of the fence began on November 18, and the grand opening took place on January 24, 2004.
Soon after the opening, part of the grating was stolen as a result of two "raids" of vandals - hunters for non-ferrous metals.
The theft was not prevented, despite the 24-hour video surveillance cameras on the Palace Square: they did not record anything in the dark. To monitor the area at night, you need to use special expensive cameras. The leadership of the Main Internal Affairs Directorate of St. Petersburg decided to establish a round-the-clock police post at the Alexander Column.

Roller around the column

At the end of March 2008, an examination of the condition of the column fence was carried out, a defective statement was drawn up for all losses of elements. It recorded:

53 places of deformation,

83 lost parts
loss of 24 small eagles and one large eagle,

partial loss of 31 parts.

28 eagles

26 peak.

The disappearance did not receive an explanation from the St. Petersburg officials and was not commented on by the organizers of the skating rink.
The skating rink organizers committed themselves to the city administration to restore the lost elements of the fence. The work was to begin after the May 2008 holidays.

References in art

The column is also depicted on the cover of the album "Lemur of the Nine" by the St. Petersburg group "Refawn".

Column in literature

"The Pillar of Alexandria" is mentioned in the famous poem by Alexander Pushkin "". The Alexandrian pillar of Pushkin is a complex image, it contains not only a monument to Alexander I, but also an allusion to the obelisks of Alexandria and Horace. At the first publication, the name "Alexandria" was replaced by VA Zhukovsky out of fear of censorship for "Napoleons" (meaning the Vendôme column).

In addition, contemporaries attributed the couplet to Pushkin:

Everything breathes with military craft in Russia
And the angel makes a cross on guard

Commemorative coin

On September 25, 2009, the Bank of Russia issued a commemorative 25-ruble coin dedicated to the 175th anniversary of the Alexander Column in St. Petersburg. The coin is made of 925 sterling silver with a circulation of 1000 copies and weighing 169.00 grams

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

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

Let's start with a brief history of its creation.

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

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

For the granite monolith - the main part of the column - a rock was used, which the sculptor had outlined in his previous trips to Finland. Extraction and preliminary processing were carried out in 1830-1832 in the Puterlak quarry, which was located in the Vyborg province (the modern city of Puterlahti, Finland).

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

After the masons, having examined the rock, confirmed the suitability of the material, a prism was cut off from it, which was much larger than the future column. Gigantic devices were used: huge levers and gates in order to move the block from its place and topple it onto a soft and resilient bed of spruce branches.

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

The monolith was duped on the spot and prepared for transportation. The ship's engineer, Colonel K.A. Glazyrin, who designed and built a special bot, named "Saint Nicholas", with a carrying capacity of up to 65 thousand poods (almost 1065 tons).

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

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

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

The central part of the column arrived in St. Petersburg on July 1, 1832. For all of the above work, the contractor, the merchant's son V.A.Yakovlev, was responsible.

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

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

The contract for the construction of the foundation was given to the merchant Vasily Yakovlev. By the end of 1829, the workers managed to dig a foundation pit. While strengthening the foundation for the Alexander Column, the workers stumbled upon piles, which had been used to strengthen the ground back in the 1760s. It so happened that Montferrand repeated after Rastrelli the decision on the place for the monument, hitting the same spot!

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

The foundation of the monument was built of half-meter thick stone granite blocks. It was brought out to the horizon of the square with plank masonry. In its center was laid a bronze box with 0 105 coins minted in honor of the victory of 1812. A platinum medal with the image of the Alexander Column and the date "1830", minted according to Montferrand's project, was also placed there, as well as a mortgage board with the following text:

"In the summer of Christmas 1831, the construction of a monument erected to Emperor Alexander by grateful Russia on a granite foundation, laid on the 19th day of November 1830, was begun. Count Y. Litta chaired the construction of this monument in St. Petersburg. Volkonsky, A. Olenin, Count P. Kutaisov, I. Gladkov, L. Carbonier, A. Vasilchikov. The construction was made according to the outline of the same architect Augustine de Montferand. "

The work was completed in October 1830.

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

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

"At the same time, the earth shook so strongly that bystanders - passers-by, who were on the square at that moment, felt like an underground blow." Then he was moved on skating rinks.

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

Album with drawings by Montferrand.

By July 1832, the monolith of the column was on its way, and the pedestal had already been completed. Now is the time to begin the most difficult task - placing the column on a pedestal.

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

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

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

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

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

After the column was installed, it remained to fix the bas-relief slabs and decorative elements on the pedestal, as well as to carry out the final processing and polishing of the column.

The column was crowned with a bronze Doric capital with a rectangular brickwork abacus with bronze cladding. A cylindrical bronze pedestal with a hemispherical top was installed on it.

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

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

Orlovsky had to redo the sculpture of the Angel several times before Nicholas I liked it. The Emperor wished that the face of the Angel was given a resemblance to Alexander I, and the snake's muzzle, trampled by the cross of the Angel, should certainly resemble the face of Napoleon. If he does, it is distantly.

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

The parade at the opening of the Alexander Column in 1834. From a painting by Ladurner.

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

A parade of troops marched in front of the tribune and the column.

I must say that now seemingly perfect, the monument sometimes aroused criticism from contemporaries. Montferrand, for example, was reproached with the fact that he allegedly spent the marble intended for the column on the construction of his own house, and used cheap granite for the monument. The figure of the Angel reminded the Petersburgers of a sentry and inspired the poet to write the following mocking lines:

"In Russia, everything breathes with military craft:
And the Angel makes a cross on guard. "

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

In honor of this event, a commemorative coin with a face value of 1 ruble and one and a half rubles was minted

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

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

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

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

Many tales and legends are associated with it)))

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

There is a legend that at that time, instead of an angel, it was seriously planned to erect a monument to Lenin. It would look something like this))) They did not put Lenin, because they could not decide in which direction to stretch out a hand to Ilyich ...

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

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

The very next day after the flight, at the feet of the angel crowning the Alexandrian pillar, a laconic inscription appeared: "Yuri Gagarin! Hurray!"

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

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

A pillar ... a pillar ... a pillar ...
(C) people

A Lexandrovsky pillar (Alexandrinsky) - a monument to Alexander I, the winner of Napoleon
in the war of 1812-1814. The column, erected according to the design of Auguste Montferrand, was installed on August 30, 1834. It is crowned with the figure of an Angel (similar in appearance to Emperor Alexander), made by the sculptor Boris Ivanovich Orlovsky.

The Pillar of Alexandria is not only an architectural masterpiece in the Empire style, but also an outstanding achievement in engineering. The tallest column in the world made of monolithic granite. Its weight is 704 tons. The height of the monument is 47.5 meters, the granite monolith is 25.88 meters. It is higher than the column of Pompey in Alexandria, in Rome and, what is especially pleasant, the Vendome column in Paris - a monument to Napoleon (it is)

I'll start with a brief history of its creation.

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

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

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

The central part of the column arrived in St. Petersburg on July 1, 1832. For all of the above work, the contractor, the merchant's son V.A.Yakovlev, was responsible.

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

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

"" In the summer of Christmas 1831, the construction of a monument erected to Emperor Alexander by grateful Russia on a granite foundation, laid on the 19th day of November 1830, began. In St. Petersburg, the construction of this monument was chaired by Count Yu. Litta. The meeting was held by Prince P. Volkonsky, A. Olenin, Count P. Kutaisov, I. Gladkov, L. Carbonier, A. Vasilchikov. The construction was made according to the outline of the same architect Augustine de Montferand ".".

The work was completed in October 1830.

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

"At the same time, the ground shook so strongly that eyewitnesses - passers-by who were on the square at that moment felt like an underground blow". Then he was moved on the rollers.