Alexander Column

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Alexander Column

The Alexander Column (Aleksandrovskaya Kolonna) also known as Alexandrian Column (Aleksandriyskaya Kolonna), is the focal point of Palace Square

Palace Square

Palace Square , connecting Nevsky Prospekt with Palace Bridge leading to Vasilievsky Island, is the central city square of St Petersburg and of the former Russian Empire....
in Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a types of inhabited localities in Russia and a federal subjects of Russia of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea....
, Russia

Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
. The monument was erected after the Russian victory in the war with Napoleon's France

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
.

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The Alexander Column (Aleksandrovskaya Kolonna) also known as Alexandrian Column (Aleksandriyskaya Kolonna), is the focal point of Palace Square

Palace Square

Palace Square , connecting Nevsky Prospekt with Palace Bridge leading to Vasilievsky Island, is the central city square of St Petersburg and of the former Russian Empire....
in Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Russia

France

Alexander I of Russia

Alexander I of Russia , also known as Alexander the Blessed served as Tsar of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and Ruler of Poland from 1815 to 1825, as well as the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland....
, who ruled Russia between 1801 and 1825, the column is an interesting piece of architecture and engineering.

Column

The Alexander Column was designed by the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand, built between 1830 and 1834, and unveiled on August 30, 1834. The monument — the tallest of its kind in the world — is 47.5 m (155 ft 8 in) tall and is topped with a statue of an angel

Ángel

?ngel is the third single from Belinda Peregr?n's debut album: Belinda. It was a massive hit in Mexico and an international hit for Belinda....
holding a cross. The statue of the angel was designed by the Russian sculptor Boris Orlovsky

Boris Orlovsky

Boris Ivanovich Orlovsky , , was a Russian sculptor.Born into a peasant family in Tula, Russia, his artistic talent led to him being freed by his master and sent to the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg....
. The face of the angel bears great similarity to the face of Emperor Alexander I.

The column is a single piece of red granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of Intrusion , felsic, igneous rock rock . Granite has a medium to coarse texture, occasionally with some individual crystals larger than the groundmass forming a rock known as Porphyry ....
, 25.45 m (83 ft 6 in) long and about 3.5 m (11 ft 5 in) in diameter. The granite monolith was obtained from Virolahti

Virolahti

Virolahti is the southeastern-most municipalities of Finland of Finland on the border of the Russian Federation. It is located in the provinces of Finland of Southern Finland and is part of the Kymenlaakso regions of Finland....
, Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland , is a Nordic countries situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland....
and in 1832 transported by sea to Saint Petersburg, on a barge specially designed for this purpose, where it underwent further working. Without the aid of modern cranes and engineering machines, the column, weighing 600 tonne

Tonne

A tonne or metric ton , also referred to as a metric tonne, is a measurement of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms, or 2204.6226 pounds....
s (661 tons

Short ton

The short ton is a unit of weight equal to 2,000 Pound . In the United States it is often called simply ton without distinguishing it from the metric ton or the long ton ; rather, the other two are specifically noted....
), was erected by 3,000 men under the guidance of William Handyside

William Handyside

William Handyside was a Scottish engineer who was involved in several important construction projects in St. Petersburg.Born in Edinburgh on 25 July 1793, to merchant Hugh Handyside and his wife Margaret, he was the eldest brother of Andrew Handyside and nephew of Charles Baird ....
in less than 2 hours. It is set so neatly that no attachment to the base is needed.

Pedestal

The pedestal of the Alexander Column is decorated with symbols of military glory, sculpted by Giovanni Battista Scotti.

On the side of the pedestal facing the Winter Palace

Winter Palace

The Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia, was, from 1732 to 1917, the official residence of the Russian Tsars. Situated between the Palace Embankment and the Palace Square, adjacent to the site of Peter I of Russia's original Winter Palace, the present and fourth Winter Palace was built and altered almost continuously between the late...
is a bas-relief depicting winged figures holding up a plaque bearing the words "To Alexander I from a grateful Russia". The composition includes figures representing the Neman

Neman River

Neman or Nemunas is a major Eastern European river rising in Belarus and flowing through Lithuania before draining into the Curonian Lagoon and then into the Baltic Sea at Klaipeda....
and Vistula

Vistula

The Vistula , is the longest river in Poland at 1,047 km in length. It drains an area of 194,424 km? , of which 168,699 km? lies within Poland ....
rivers that were associated with the events of the Patriotic War. Flanking these figures are depictions of old Russian armour - the shield of Prince Oleg of Novgorod

Oleg of Novgorod

Oleg of Novgorod was a Varangian prince who ruled all or part of the Rus during the early tenth century. He is credited with moving the capital of Kievan Rus' from Novgorod the Great to Kiev and, in doing so, laid the foundation for the powerful state of Kievan Rus....
, the helmet of Alexander Nevsky

Alexander Nevsky

Saint Alexander Nevsky was the Grand Prince of Novgorod and Vladimir-Suzdal during some of the most trying times in the country's history. Commonly regarded as the key figure of medieval Russia, Alexander was the grandson of Vsevolod the Big Nest and rose to legendary status on account of his military victories over the German invaders whi...
, the breastplate

Breastplate

A breastplate is a device worn over the torso either to protect the torso from injury, or as an item of religious significance, or as an item of status....
of Emperor Alexander I, the chainmail

Chainmail

Mail is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh.The word chainmail is of relatively recent coinage, having been in use only since the 1700s; prior to this it was referred to simply as mail....
of Yermak Timofeyevich

Yermak Timofeyevich

Yermak Timofeyevich , Cossack leader and explorer of Siberia. His exploration of Siberia marked the beginning of the expansion of Russia towards this region and its colonization....
and other pieces recalling heroes whose martial feats brought glory to Russia. The other three sides are decorated with bas-reliefs featuring allegorical figures of Wisdom and Abundance, Justice and Mercy, Peace and Victory, the last holding a shield bearing the dates 1812, 1813 and 1814. These compositions are enhanced by depictions of Ancient Roman military symbols and Russian armour.

The sketches for the bas-reliefs were produced by Auguste de Montferrand. He coordinated the scale of their compositions with the monumental forms of the monument. The panels were designed to the planned size by the artist Giovanni Battista Scotti. The models were produced by the sculptors Piotr Svintsov and Ivan Lepee, the ornamental embellishments by sculptor Yevgeny Balin. The casting of the bronze was done at Charles Baird

Charles Baird (engineer)

Charles Baird was a Scottish engineer who played an important part in the industrial and business life of 19th century St. Petersburg. His company specialised in steam-driven machinery and was responsible for Russia's first steamboat....
's works in Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a types of inhabited localities in Russia and a federal subjects of Russia of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea....
.

Later years

In 1952, according to some recent reports, the authorities of the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
secretly planned to replace the statue of the angel with a statue of Joseph Stalin

Joseph Stalin

Joseph Stalin was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1922 until his death in 1953....
. A historic iron fencing around the column was demolished during the Soviet period. The fencing was restored in 2002.

Alexander Column

Column

Pedestal

Later years

Further reading