Alexander Column. Alexander Column or Alexandria Column, Alexandria Lighthouse - Seven Wonders of the World Where does the Alexander Column stand?
One of the most impressive architectural ensembles of St. Petersburg is Palace Square, in the center of which is the Alexandrian Pillar, or Alexander Column.
It symbolizes the victory of Russia over Napoleonic France in the Patriotic War of 1812.
The idea of installing a monument on Palace Square was put forward by Karl Rossi, who, assessing its architectural ensemble, felt that such a huge space needed bright compositional accents.
The main requirement of the competition announced by Emperor Nicholas I is formulated in a few words - to create a monument in memory of the “unforgettable brother.”
The Alexander Column had another background.
It is known that back in 1814, Auguste Montferrand presented to Alexander I in Paris “An Album of Various Architectural Projects Dedicated to His Majesty the Emperor of All Russia Alexander I.”
The album contained drawings of a triumphal arch, an equestrian statue, and a huge obelisk. All drawings were accompanied by brief descriptions and even an indication of the cost of the work.
Alexander I drew attention to the talented young man, which was followed by an official invitation to Russia.
In his second homeland, Auguste Montferrand achieved enormous success. When the competition was announced in 1829, he was busy building St. Isaac's Cathedral. Nevertheless, Montferrand nominated two projects at once to participate in the competition.
The first option involved the installation of a granite obelisk with bas-reliefs on the theme of the Patriotic War and an allegorical image of Alexander I as a Roman warrior.
This project was rejected, but the architect was told that the option with a column was the most preferable. Montferrand proposed installing a triumphal column, focusing on the examples of the Vendôme Column in Paris and the Column of Trajan in Rome and Pompey in Alexandria. Nicholas I liked this proposal - it is its embodiment in granite that is today on Palace Square.
The monument became a semantic addition to the triumphal Arch of the General Staff, also dedicated to the victory of Russian weapons over the Napoleonic army.
The Alexander Column serves as the final visual accent of the Palace Square ensemble.
The Alexandria Pillar surprises with its simplicity of appearance and monumentality.
Getting to know the technological solutions and architectural features of the column surprises you even more and makes you look at it with new eyes.
The granite monument of this kind is the largest in the world and weighs 600 tons.
Due to the mass and precise calculations, the Alexander Pillar has been in its place since its erection, not secured by anything and devoid of any external support.
There was no need to search for material for the column for a long time. Montferrand knew well the granite from the quarry in Pueterlax, which was used for the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral.
Over the course of two years, 250 workers, led by Samson Sukhanov, hewed out the blanks of the column itself and the pedestal from the rock monolith found here.
At each stage of the work it was necessary to solve complex technical problems.
The finished granite block was given the required shape on site. Then, using a complex system of rollers, it was moved to a special pier and loaded onto the barge “St. Nicholas” built for this purpose, which was towed through Kronstadt to St. Petersburg.
Since 1829, preparatory work was simultaneously underway on Palace Square, almost in the center of which, during geological exploration, a suitable site was found.
1,250 six-meter piles were driven into the prepared pit, on which granite blocks 50 centimeters thick were laid. A monolithic granite pedestal weighing 400 tons was installed on top.
The operations of installing the pedestal and lifting the Pillar of Alexandria to the place prepared for it were carried out using a system developed by Augustine Betancourt. It consisted of scaffolding, capstans, many lifting blocks, winches and ropes.
This method has already been tested and showed excellent results when installing the columns of St. Isaac's Cathedral, although the Alexandria Pillar significantly exceeded them in mass.
All mechanisms were put into action by 2,000 soldiers and 400 workers. According to eyewitnesses who gathered in large numbers in the square, the entire installation of the column took about one hundred minutes, that is, less than two hours.
Nicholas I, who was present, congratulated the architect and said the words: “Montferrand, you have immortalized yourself!”
The column installed in its intended place still needed to be processed, polished, and slabs with bas-reliefs and decorative elements mounted.
And most importantly, at the initial stage of discussion of the project, Montferrand had not yet imagined the final form of the monument; in particular, there was no sculpture crowning the column.
Several options were discussed: a cross entwined with a snake, figures of angels with a cross, a sculpture of Alexander Nevsky. As a result, they settled on a figure of an angel more than six meters high, which was made by the sculptor Boris Orlovsky.
The angel is installed on a cylindrical pedestal, he tramples on a snake, symbolizing evil, his right hand rises to the sky, and his left holds a cross.
The monument was inaugurated on August 30, 1834. The ceremony was not only solemn, but also grandiose.
In the presence of the royal family, foreign representatives and numerous guests, Nicholas I took part in the service directly at the base of the Alexandria Pillar along with the kneeling troops.
The celebrations ended with a military parade, in which regiments that glorified themselves in the Patriotic War took part. For two hours, an army of one hundred thousand marched in orderly rows to the beat of drums in front of those gathered.
The architectural form of a triumphal column has certain canons that are difficult to deviate from. However, Montferrand managed, while remaining within the framework of tradition, not to repeat the details of famous monuments: he abandoned bas-reliefs, spiral decorations and other details.
The architect developed his own original system for thinning the column core, which determines its visual perception.
As a result, Montferrand gave his creation classical purity of lines, laconicism, proportionality of all parts, proportions and symbolic sound, surpassing existing examples in height.
The height of the granite part of the column is 25.6 meters; together with the pedestal and the figure of an angel, the Alexandrian Pillar rises to a height of 47.5 meters. There is no taller monument in the world made of solid granite.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, restoration work was carried out, which was mainly cosmetic in nature. However, careful studies carried out at the beginning of the 21st century showed the need for serious restoration work.
In addition to eliminating the damage caused by time, several dozen fragments that fell into it during the siege of Leningrad were removed from the monument.
An original drainage system has been developed to protect the monument from the rainy St. Petersburg weather. The restoration was completed in 2003, and today the Alexander Column again appears in the solemn form that it had at the time of its opening.
Arches of the General Staff, which was dedicated to the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812.
The idea of building the monument was proposed by 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. An open competition was officially announced on behalf of Emperor Nicholas I in 1829 with the wording in memory of the “unforgettable brother”. Auguste Montferrand responded to this challenge with a project to erect a grandiose granite obelisk, but this option was rejected by the emperor.
In honor of the 175th anniversary of the installation of the Alexander Column on Palace Square in St. Petersburg, a solemn ceremony was held, and the Day of the Alexander Column was established in the Hermitage.
On September 25, 2009, the Bank of Russia issued a commemorative coin with a face value of 25 rubles dedicated to the 175th anniversary of the Alexander Column in St. Petersburg. The coin is made of 925 silver, with a circulation of 1000 copies and weighing 169.00 grams.
The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources
The Alexandria Pillar (Alexandrovsky, Alexandrinsky) is a monument to Alexander I, the winner of Napoleon in the war of 1812-1814. The column, designed by Auguste Montferrand, was installed on August 30, 1834. It is crowned with the figure of an Angel, made by the sculptor Boris Ivanovich Orlovsky.
The Alexandria Pillar is not only an architectural masterpiece in the Empire style, but also an outstanding achievement of 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 taller than Pompey's Column in Alexandria, Trajan's Column in Rome and, what is especially nice, the Vendôme Column in Paris - a monument to Napoleon.
Let's start with a brief history of its creation
The idea of building the monument was proposed by 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. From the side, the installation point of the column looks like the exact center of 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 a group of cavalry below and with many architectural details, but he was corrected)))
For the granite monolith - the main part of the column - the rock that the sculptor outlined during his previous trips to Finland was used. Mining and preliminary processing were carried out in 1830-1832 in the Pyuterlak quarry, which was located in the Vyborg province (the modern city of Pyterlahti, Finland).
These works were carried out according to the method of S.K. Sukhanov, the production was supervised by masters S.V. Kolodkin and V.A. Yakovlev. It took half a year to trim the monolith. 250 people worked on this every day. Montferrand appointed mason master Eugene Pascal to lead the work.
After the stonemasons examined the rock and confirmed the suitability of the material, a prism was cut off from it, which was significantly larger in size than the future column. Giant devices were used: huge levers and gates to move the block from its place and tip it onto a soft and elastic bedding of spruce branches.
After separating the workpiece, huge stones were cut from 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 purpose a barge of a special design was used.
The monolith was duped on site and prepared for transportation. Transportation issues were dealt with by naval engineer Colonel K.A. Glazyrin, who designed and built a special boat, 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 be supported by the beams along which it was supposed to roll onto the ship, and it almost collapsed into the water. The monolith was loaded by 600 soldiers, who completed a forced march of 36 miles from a neighboring fortress in four hours.
To carry out loading operations, a special pier was built. Loading was carried out from a wooden platform at its end, which coincided in height with the side of the ship.
Having overcome all difficulties, the column was loaded on board, and the monolith went to Kronstadt on a barge towed by two steamships, from there to go to the Palace Embankment of St. Petersburg.
The arrival of the central part of the column in St. Petersburg took place on July 1, 1832. The contractor, merchant son V. A. Yakovlev, was responsible for all of the above work.
Since 1829, work began on the preparation and construction of the foundation and pedestal of the column on Palace Square in St. Petersburg. The work was supervised by O. Montferrand.
First, a geological survey of the area was carried out, which resulted in the discovery of a suitable sandy continent 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, workers came across piles that had strengthened the ground back in the 1760s. It turned out that Montferrand repeated, after Rastrelli, the decision about the location for the monument, landing on the same point!
In December 1829, the location for the column was approved, and 1,250 six-meter pine piles were driven under the base. Then the piles were cut to fit 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 to the level of the water table, which ensured that the site was horizontal. Previously, using a similar technology, the foundation of St. Isaac's Cathedral was laid.
The foundation of the monument was built from stone granite blocks half a meter thick. It was extended to the horizon of the square using planked masonry. In its center was placed a bronze box with 0 105 coins minted in honor of the victory of 1812. A platinum medal minted according to Montferrand’s design with the image of the Alexander Column and the date “1830” was also placed there, as well as a mortgage plaque with the following text:
“In the summer of Christ 1831, the construction of a monument began, erected to Emperor Alexander by grateful Russia on a granite foundation laid on the 19th day of November 1830. In St. Petersburg, the construction of this monument was presided over by Count Yu. Litta. ". Volkonsky, A. Olenin, Count P. Kutaisov, I. Gladkov, L. Carboniere, A. Vasilchikov. The construction was carried out according to the drawings of the same architect Augustine de Montferande."
The work was completed in October 1830.
After laying the foundation, a huge four-hundred-ton monolith, brought from the Pyuterlak quarry, was erected on it, 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 close to the foundation. And the stone was dumped on a pile of sand, previously poured next to the platform.
“At the same time, the earth shook so much that eyewitnesses - passers-by who were in the square at that moment, felt something like an underground shock.” Then it was moved on rollers.
Later O. Montferrand recalled; “Since the work was carried out in winter, I ordered cement and vodka to be mixed and a tenth of soap added. Due to the fact that the stone initially sat 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 be mixed into the solution..."
Based on the developments of Lieutenant General A. A. Betancourt for the installation of columns of St. Isaac's Cathedral in December 1830, an original lifting system was designed. It included: scaffolding 22 fathoms (47 meters) high, 60 capstans and a system of blocks.
On August 30, 1832, masses of people gathered to watch this event: they occupied the entire square, and besides this, the windows and roof of the General Staff Building were occupied by spectators. The sovereign and the entire imperial family came to the raising.
To bring the column into 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, people shouted "Hurray!" And the delighted emperor said: “Montferrand, you have immortalized yourself!”
The granite pillar and the bronze angel standing on it are held together solely by their own weight. If you come very close to the column and, raising your head, look up, it will take your breath away - the column is swaying.
After installing the column, all that remained was to attach the bas-relief slabs and decorative elements to the pedestal, as well as to complete the final processing and polishing of the column.
The column was surmounted by a bronze capital of the Doric order with a rectangular abacus made of brickwork with bronze facing. A bronze cylindrical 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 intended to be placed above it and, according to the wishes of Nicholas I, facing the Winter Palace. In the original design, the column was completed with 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 an option to install the figure of Saint Prince Alexander Nevsky, but the first option that was approved was a cross on a ball without an angel, in this form the column is even present in some old engravings..
But in the end, the figure of an angel with a cross was accepted for execution, made by the sculptor B.I. Orlovsky with expressive and understandable symbolism - “By this victory!”
Orlovsky had to redo the sculpture of the Angel several times before Nicholas I liked it. The Emperor wanted the Angel’s face to be given a resemblance to Alexander I, and the face of the snake trampled by the Angel’s cross must certainly resemble Napoleon’s face. If he does sweat, it is only remotely.
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 for the fence was carried out by “carved master” Vasily Zakharov. Instead of a temporary fence, at the end of 1834 it was decided to install a permanent metal one “with three-headed eagles under the lanterns,” the design of which was drawn up by Montferrand in advance.
It must be said that the monument, which now seems perfect, sometimes aroused criticism from contemporaries. Montferrand, for example, was reproached for allegedly using the marble intended for the column to build his own house, and using cheap granite for the monument. The figure of the Angel reminded the people of St. Petersburg of a sentry and inspired the poet to write the following mocking lines:
“Everything in Russia breathes military craft:
And the Angel puts a cross on guard.”
But the rumor did not spare the emperor himself. Imitating his grandmother, Catherine II, who inscribed “Peter I - Catherine II” on the pedestal of the Bronze Horseman, Nikolai Pavlovich in official papers called the new monument “Pillar of Nicholas I to Alexander I,” which immediately gave birth to the pun: “Pillar of a pillar of a pillar.”
In honor of this event, a commemorative coin was minted in denominations of 1 ruble and one and a half rubles
The grandiose structure inspired admiration and awe in St. Petersburg residents from the moment of its foundation, but our ancestors were seriously afraid that the Alexander Column would collapse and tried to avoid it.
To dispel philistine fears, the architect Auguste Montferrand, fortunately living nearby, on the Moika, began to exercise daily around his brainchild, demonstrating complete confidence in his own safety and the correctness of his calculations. Years have passed, wars and revolutions have passed, the column still stands, the architect was not mistaken.
On December 15, 1889, an almost mystical story happened - Foreign Minister Lamsdorff reported in his diary that at nightfall, when the lanterns were lit, a luminous letter “N” appeared on the monument.
Rumors began to spread around St. 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.
There are many tales and legends 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 Palace Square. A hot air balloon hung above the column. However, when he flew up to the required distance, the wind immediately blew and drove the ball away. By evening, attempts to hide the angel stopped.
There is a legend that at that time, instead of the angel, they seriously planned to erect a monument to Lenin. It would have looked something like this))) Lenin was not appointed because they could not decide in which direction to extend their hand to Ilyich...
The column is beautiful both in winter and summer. And it fits perfectly into Palace Square.
There is another interesting legend. This happened on April 12, 1961, after a solemn TASS message about the launch of the first manned spacecraft was heard on the radio. There is general rejoicing on the streets, real euphoria on a national scale!
The very next day after the flight, a laconic inscription appeared at the feet of the angel crowning the Alexandria Pillar: “Yuri Gagarin! Hurray!”
Which vandal was able to express his admiration for the first cosmonaut in this way and how he managed to climb to such a dizzying height will remain a mystery.
In the evening and at night the column is no less beautiful.
If we talk about the sights of St. Petersburg, the Alexander Column cannot be ignored. This is a unique architectural masterpiece that was erected in 1834. Where is the Alexander Column located in St. Petersburg? On Palace Square. In 1828, Emperor Nicholas I issued a decree on the construction of this majestic monument, designed to glorify the victory of his predecessor on the throne and elder brother Alexander I, won in the war with Napoleon Bonaparte. Information about the Alexander Column in St. Petersburg is presented to your attention in this article.
Birth of a plan
The idea of constructing the Alexander Column in St. Petersburg belonged to the architect Carl Rossi. He was faced with the task of planning the entire architectural complex of Palace Square and the buildings located on it. Initially, the idea of building an equestrian statue of Peter I in front of the Winter Palace was discussed. It would have become the second after the famous Bronze Horseman, located nearby on Senate Square, erected during the reign of Catherine II. However, Carl Rossi eventually abandoned this idea.
Two versions of the Montferrand project
In order to decide what will be installed in the center of Palace Square and who will manage this project, an open competition was organized in 1829. The winner was another St. Petersburg architect - the Frenchman Auguste Montferrand, who became famous for the fact that he had the opportunity to supervise the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral. Moreover, the initial version of the project proposed by Montferrand was rejected by the competition commission. And he had to develop a second option.
Montferrand, like Rossi, already in the first version of his project abandoned the construction of a sculptural monument. Since Palace Square is quite large in size, both architects reasonably feared that any sculpture, unless it was absolutely gigantic in size, would be visually lost in its architectural ensemble. A sketch of the first version of Montferrand's design has been preserved, but the exact date of its production is unknown. Montferrand was going to build an obelisk similar to those installed in Ancient Egypt. On its surface it was planned to place bas-reliefs illustrating the events of the Napoleonic invasion, as well as an image of Alexander I on a horse in the costume of an ancient Roman warrior, accompanied by the Goddess of Victory. Rejecting this option, the commission pointed out the need to erect the structure in the form of a column. Taking this requirement into account, Montferrand developed a second option, which was subsequently implemented.
The height of the Alexander Column in St. Petersburg
According to the architect's plan, the height of the Alexander Column surpassed the Vendôme Column in the capital of France, which glorified the military triumphs of Napoleon. It generally became the tallest in history of all similar columns made of a stone monolith. From the base of the pedestal to the tip of the cross, which the angel holds in his hands, is 47.5 meters. The construction of such a grandiose architectural structure was not a simple engineering task and took many stages.
Material for construction
Construction took 5 years, from 1829 to 1834. The same commission that supervised the construction of the Cathedral of St. Isaac was involved in this work. The material for the column was made from a monolithic rock chosen by Montferrand in Finland. The extraction methods and methods of transporting the material were the same as during the construction of the cathedral. A huge monolith in the shape of a parallelepiped was cut out of the rock. Using a system of huge levers, it was laid on a previously prepared surface, which was densely covered with spruce branches. This ensured softness and elasticity during the fall of the monolith.
The same rock was also used to cut granite blocks from it, intended for the foundation of the entire designed structure, as well as to create a sculpture of an angel, which was to crown its top. The heaviest of these blocks weighed about 400 tons. To transport all these granite blanks to Palace Square, a ship specially built for this task was used.
Laying the foundation
After examining the site where the column was to be installed, laying the foundation of the structure began. 1,250 pine piles were driven under its foundation. After this, the site was filled with water. This made it possible to create a strictly horizontal surface when cutting off the top of the piles. According to ancient custom, a bronze box filled with coins was placed at the base of the foundation. All of them were minted in 1812.
Construction of a granite monolith
In the work to implement the Montferrand project, a unique engineering lifting system developed by Major General A. A. Betancourt was used. It was equipped with dozens of capstans (winches) and blocks.
Exactly how this lifting system was used to install the granite monolith in a vertical position is clearly illustrated on the model on display at the St. Petersburg Museum, which is located in the house of the commandant of the Peter and Paul Fortress. The erection of the monument in the designated place took place on August 30, 1832. This involved the labor of 400 workers and 2,000 soldiers. The ascent process took 1 hour 45 minutes.
A great crowd of people came to the square to observe this unique event. Not only Palace Square was filled with people, but also the roof of the General Staff building. When the work was successfully completed and the column stood in its intended place, a unanimous “Hurray!” was heard. According to eyewitnesses and the sovereign, the emperor, who was present at the same time, was also very pleased and warmly congratulated the author of the project on its success, telling him: “Montferrand! You have immortalized yourself!”
After successfully erecting the column, slabs with bas-reliefs and decorative elements had to be installed on the pedestal. In addition, it was necessary to grind and polish the surface of the monolithic column itself. Completion of all this work took another two years.
Guardian angel
Simultaneously with the construction of the Alexander Column on Palace Square in St. Petersburg, since the autumn of 1830, work was underway on the sculpture that, according to Montferrand’s plan, was to be installed at the top of the structure. Nicholas I wanted this statue to be placed facing the Winter Palace. But what its appearance would be was not immediately determined. Quite a few different options were considered. There was also an option, according to which the Alexander Column would be crowned with only one cross with a snake entwined around it. It would decorate the fastening elements. According to another option, it was planned to install a statue depicting Prince Alexander Nevsky on the column.
In the end, the option with a sculpture of a winged angel was approved. In his hands is the Latin Cross. The symbolism of this image is quite clear: it means that Russia crushed the power of Napoleon and thereby established peace and prosperity for all European countries. The work on this sculpture was carried out by B.I. Orlovsky. Its height is 6.4 meters.
The opening ceremony
The official opening of the monument was scheduled for the symbolic date of August 30 (September 11). In 1724, on this day, the relics of Alexander Nevsky were transferred to the Alesandro-Nevsky Lavra, who has since been considered the protector and heavenly patron of the city on the Neva. The angel crowning the Alexander Column is also treated as the guardian angel of the city. The opening of the Alexander Column completed the final design of the entire architectural ensemble of Palace Square. The celebrations marking the official opening of the Alexander Column were attended by the entire imperial family, headed by Nicholas I, army units numbering up to 100 thousand and foreign diplomats. A church service was held. The soldiers, officers and emperor knelt. A similar service involving the army was held in Paris at Easter in 1814.
This event is immortalized in numismatics. In 1834, 15 thousand memorial coins with a face value of 1 ruble were minted.
Description of the Alexander Column in St. Petersburg
The model for Montferrand's creations was the columns erected in the era of Antiquity. But the Alexander Column surpassed all its predecessors in both height and massiveness. The material for its manufacture was pink granite. In its lower part there is a bas-relief depicting two figures of women with wings. In their hands is a board with the inscription: “Russia is grateful to Alexander I.” Below is an image of armor, to the left of it is a young woman, and to the right is an old man. These two figures symbolize two rivers located in the territory of military operations. The woman represents the Vistula, the old man represents the Neman.
Fence and surroundings of the monument
Around the Alexander Column in St. Petersburg, a brief description of which is presented to your attention above, a one and a half meter fence was built. Double-headed eagles were placed on it. Their total number is 136. It is decorated with spears and flag poles. Along the fence there are military trophies - 12 French cannons. There was also a guard box near the fence, in which a disabled soldier was on duty around the clock.
Legends, rumors and beliefs
When the construction of the Alexander Column was underway, persistent rumors spread among St. Petersburg residents, clearly untrue, that a huge granite blank for its construction was obtained by chance during the manufacture of columns for St. Isaac's Cathedral. This monolith allegedly by mistake turned out to be larger in size than required. And then, so that it would not disappear, the idea supposedly arose - to use it to build a column on Palace Square.
After the Alexander Column in St. Petersburg (everyone who is interested in the history of the city knows briefly about it) was erected, in the first years many noble persons who were not accustomed to such a spectacle feared that it would collapse. They did not believe in the reliability of its design. In particular, Countess Tolstaya strictly ordered her coachman not to approach the column. M. Yu. Lermontov’s grandmother was also afraid to be near her. And Montferrand, trying to dispel these fears, often took long walks near the column at the end of the day.
Baron P. de Bourgoin, who served as French envoy to Russia in 1828-1832, testified that Montferrand allegedly proposed to Nicholas I to create a spiral spiral staircase inside the column, which would allow one to climb to its top. This required cutting out a cavity inside the column. Moreover, Montferrand allegedly claimed that to implement such a plan, one master, armed with a chisel and a hammer, and an apprentice boy with a basket in which he would carry out fragments of granite would be enough. The two of them would have done the work, according to the calculations of the author of the Alexander Column in St. Petersburg, Montferrand, in 10 years. But Nicholas I, fearing that such work could damage the surface of the structure, did not want to implement this plan.
In our times, a wedding ritual has arisen in which the groom carries his chosen one in his arms around a column. It is believed that the number of circles he walks, the number of children there will be in their family.
According to rumors, the Soviet authorities allegedly hatched plans to dismantle the statue of the Guardian Angel on the Alexander Column. And instead it was supposedly supposed to place a sculpture of Lenin or Stalin. There is no documentary evidence of this, but the fact that in the pre-war years, on the holidays of November 7 and May 1, the angel was hidden from human eyes is a historical fact. Moreover, two methods were used to hide it. Either it was covered with a cloth that was lowered from the airship, or it was covered with balloons filled with helium and rising from the surface of the earth.
"Wounding" of an angel during the Leningrad siege
During the Great Patriotic War, unlike many other architectural masterpieces, the Alexander Column in St. Petersburg, interesting facts about which we have collected in this article, was not completely disguised. And during the shelling and bombing, she received numerous hits from shell fragments. The guardian angel himself had his wing pierced by a shrapnel.
In 2002-2003, the largest restoration work since the creation of the Alexander Column was carried out, during which about fifty fragments that had remained there since the war were removed from it.