What is Donbas famous for? Coat of arms of Donetsk region

The Mertsalov Palm is the oldest, but at the same time the youngest symbol of the city. It is depicted on the coat of arms of the Donetsk region and is an element of the image policy of the entire Donbass. The filigree sculpture of a palm tree, whose height is 3.5 meters, was forged from a rail at the very end of the 19th century by blacksmith Alexei Mertsalov. Palma Mertsalova is located near the building of the regional local history museum and is a copy famous image palm trees, which was awarded the Grand Prix at the Paris Industrial and international exhibition 1900. The original palm tree is kept in St. Petersburg in the Museum of the Mining Institute. This palm tree was forged from steel in 1985 at a metallurgical plant, which was called the "Novorossiysk Society of Coal Rail and Iron Production".

Mertsalov's palm was created by a rather original method - without any joints and welding. The weight of this product is about 325 kg, and the diameter of its sheets is 2.5 meters. There are 10 leaves around the trunk of a palm tree. The leaves of this palm tree are slightly springy, although they are made of steel and form one single whole with the trunk. The top ends with a whisk. For this palm tree, a tub was created, consisting of four rail racks, and 23 rings were laid around them, which at that time symbolized the age of the plant. It took a total of only three weeks for Mertsalov, who worked simply from a postcard and had never seen real palm trees, to create this sculpture.

On August 17, 1999, Mertsalov's palm tree was proclaimed a symbol of Donbass on the initiative of one of charitable foundations and approved by the city council as a real key element of the coat of arms of the Donetsk region.

The Mertsalov Palm is an award-winning Grand Prix of the Paris International Industrial Exhibition of 1900, an image of a palm tree, forged from steel in late XIX century by the blacksmith Alexei Ivanovich Mertsalov with an assistant-hammer Fyodor Shparin.

History of creation

In 1900 at the International industrial exhibition in Paris, the Grand Prix was awarded to an unusual product from distant Russia - a palm tree forged from steel. The exhibit, which amazed the sophisticated French public, was forged by Alexei Mertsalov, a blacksmith of the Yuzovsky factory, with Fyodor Shparin, an assistant hammerer. Before the unique work was abroad, it was exhibited at the All-Russian Industrial Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod. There, Mertsalov's palm was highly appreciated by both specialists and people of art. The general public also liked it. The Kharkiv magazine Gornozavodskoy Listok then wrote: “The palm tree is made of one rail. Its trunk bears ten leaves and ends with a rim at the top. The height of a truly artistic product is 3 m 53 cm. A hammer and a chisel are the only tools used by blacksmiths.” Another of the newspapers of that time wrote: “The palm tree amazes the audience with its height, harmony, and amazing grace. Its dark, dissected leaves, fanning out from the trunk, were so light, and the thin, rough trunk was so flexible that at first it was hard to believe that this was not a living plant taken from the Caucasian coast, but the finest work of art. Everyone wanted to touch her with their hands.” Our masters of blacksmithing at all times amazed contemporaries with their skill. Blacksmithing is one of the oldest crafts of mankind. Artistic forging on the territory of Ukraine was widely used already in the 7th century BC. e. in the Black Sea regions. Artistic forged metal began to be used in architecture during the period of power Kievan Rus. And it is not surprising that blacksmiths A. Mertsalov and F. Shparin from Donbass won the hearts of visitors to the exhibition in France with their magnificent product.

Modern copies

The original "Mertsalov's Palm" is kept in the Museum of the Mining Institute in St. Petersburg.
The author of modern copies is Sergey Kaspruk, a Donetsk blacksmith.
The image of the "Mertsalov's Palm" at the initiative of the Donetsk Regional Fund "Golden Scythian" was adopted as a symbol of the revival of Ukraine - an independent and powerful industrial state. There is a project to install copies of the Mertsalov's Palm in the capitals of the world's leading states. Currently, work is being carried out in 70 countries of the world.
Scuba divers installed a copy of the "Mertsalov's Palm" under water at Cape Tarkhankut in the Crimea.
An exact copy of Mertsalov's Palm was installed in Donetsk on the square near the Expo-Donbass exhibition center on September 12, 1999.

As part of the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Donetsk region in the summer of 2007, another copy of Mertsalov's palm was installed in Donetsk. It is located on Pushkin Boulevard near the building of the Donetsk Regional State Administration. The palm tree is forged from Damascus steel and stands between two bowls of fountains. The weight of the copy is about 500 kilograms.
In September 2001, as part of the Days of Donbass, a copy of Mertsalov's Palms was installed on Manezhnaya Square in Moscow (the Okhotny Ryad shopping center) (director solemn ceremony- K. Nikitina). Moscow in return gave Donetsk a copy of the Tsar Cannon.
In 2001, a copy of the Mertsalov's Palm was installed in Kyiv, on the territory of the Holy Dormition Kiev Pechersk Lavra. It was planned that the monument would be installed on Independence Square, but the palm tree was moved to shopping center"The globe". Kyiv, in response, presented Donetsk with a statue of Archangel Michael. In 2004, a copy of the palm tree was installed at the Borispol airport, it was planned that it would then be transferred to one of the air shows in Le Bourget.
In Lvov, a copy of Mertsalov's Palm was installed in May 2003 at the station square.

On April 10, 2003, a copy of the Mertsalov Palm was installed in Hannover. Place of installation - the central hall of the exhibition complex Hannover.
In December 2002, a copy of Mertsalov's Palm was donated to Ottawa.
On July 27, 2002, a copy of Mertsalov's palm was installed in an underwater grotto at Cape Tarkhankut (Crimea) in Chudesnaya Bay by the forces of the Aquatik diving camp in Donetsk. Depth: 12.5 m. World coordinates: latitude 45 degrees 20 minutes 116 seconds, longitude 32 degrees 33 minutes 722 seconds.

heraldic symbol

Coat of arms of the Donetsk region On August 17, 1999, following the results of a competition at the session of the Donetsk Regional Council, the coat of arms of the Donetsk region was approved, which includes the Mertsalov palm tree as the main symbol.
Later, a reference coat of arms appeared, correcting a number of heraldic errors.

Alexey Mertsalov: Name and palm tree

Born in 1856 in the village of Kurakhovka, Yekaterinoslav province. He died on August 1, 1935 in Anapa.

The palm tree is made from a single rail. Its trunk bears ten leaves and ends with a rim at the top. The height of a truly artistic product is 3 m 53 cm. A hammer and a chisel are the only tools used by blacksmiths,” this is how the Kharkov magazine Gornozavodskoy Listok described this work, which became a symbol of the Donetsk region a century later.

Little is known about the author of the amazing blacksmithing masterpiece. How exactly Alexei Ivanovich Mertsalov got to the metallurgical plant of the Novorossiysk Society is not reported anywhere. Why he made a palm tree is also not entirely clear. However, the result is well known to everyone: the Mertsalov product struck the imagination of the public, first at the All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition of 1896 in Nizhny Novgorod (for which it was made), and then at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900 (where the palm tree received the Grand Prix ). The author's surname did not appear in any of the cases - the palm tree was called "Yuzovskaya". It was under this name that she got into the St. Petersburg Mining Museum where it has been stored ever since. And Mertsalov's name sank into oblivion, and only in 1952, thanks to the enthusiastic engineer K. Zakharenkov, did it become known. Zakharenkov found the hammer fighter Philip Shkarin, who helped Mertsalov, and restored historical justice. Since then, Mertsalov has become part of official history Donbass.

Here is how the Donetsk writer G. Volodin describes the miracle of the creation of a masterpiece: “The most skillful blacksmith Aleksey Ivanovich Mertsalov and the best hammer fighter Filipp Fedotovich Shkarin worked on the palm tree for three weeks. 11 leaves were forged, bringing them to such a resemblance to real leaves that people both then and now wonder whether it is true that a palm tree is made from a piece of rail? Many must have touched and are now touching with their hands to make sure - is it not alive?

For his work, Alexei Ivanovich probably received some kind of award, but he remained a simple blacksmith at the plant - until the summer of 1919, when production stopped due to the Civil War. I had to survive somehow. And the author of the legendary palm leaned into warmer climes, in Anapa ...

Source of information (from the book stock of the Dobropilsky Central City Library): Donetsk region is many-sided and eternal: historical sketches / ed. E.Yu. Yasenov. - Donetsk: LANDON-XXI, 2012. - 272 p. : ill.

Palm tree picture: http://www.internet.dn.ua/pages/donetsk/donobl/palma.html

Portrait of Mertsalov: scanned from a book - Donetsk region is many-sided and eternal: historical sketches / ed. E.Yu. Yasenov. - Donetsk: LANDON-XXI, 2012. - 272 p. : ill.

The Mertsalov Palm is an image of a palm tree that was awarded the Grand Prix at the 1900 Paris International Industrial Exhibition. It was forged from steel at the end of the 19th century by the blacksmith Alexei Mertsalov and his assistant Fyodor Shparin, a hammerer. Before the unique work was delivered abroad, it was presented at the All-Russian Industrial Exhibition, held in Nizhny Novgorod, where the Mertsalov palm received a rather high appreciation from both specialists and artists. The general public also liked it.

The palm tree is made of one rail, and its trunk carries 10 leaves and ends with a rim at the top. The height of the authentic piece of art is 3.53 meters.

The only tools the blacksmiths used were a hammer and a chisel. The palm tree amazes the audience with its height, amazing grace, and harmony. Donetsk masters of blacksmithing have always amazed their contemporaries with their skills. Blacksmithing is one of the oldest crafts of all mankind.

Artistic forging on the territory of Ukraine was widely used already in the 7th century BC in the Black Sea region. forged metal used in architecture during the time of the power of Kievan Rus. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that the blacksmiths Mertsalov and Shparin from Donetsk won the hearts of French visitors to the exhibition in Paris with their magnificent product.

Original by Palma Mertsalov

The original "Mertsalov's Palms" on this moment kept in the Museum of the Mining Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia. The author of modern copies is the Donetsk blacksmith Sergei Kaspruk. The image of the "Mertsalov's Palm" is accepted as a symbol of the revival of the whole of Ukraine - a powerful and independent industrial state. There is also a project to install copies of Mertsalov's Palm in various capitals of the leading countries of the world. Currently working in this direction conducted in 70 states.

Copies of Palma Mertsalov

A copy of Mertsalov's Palm was installed by scuba divers under water near Cape Tarkhankut in the Crimea. It was also installed on September 12, 1999 on the square near the Expo-Donbass exhibition center in Donetsk. As part of the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Donetsk region, another copy of the Mertsalov Palm was installed on Pushkin Boulevard near the building of the Donetsk regional state administration in 2007. This copy of a palm tree is forged from Damascus steel and is located between the bowls of the fountains.

In 2001, a copy of the Mertsalov's Palm was installed in Moscow as part of the Days of Donbass. In response, the capital Russian Federation gave the city of Donetsk a copy of the Tsar Cannon.

Also in 2001, a copy of the palm tree was installed in Kyiv, in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. It was planned to erect a monument on Maidan Nezalezhnosti, however, the palm tree was eventually moved to the Globus shopping center. In response, Kyiv presented the capital of Donbass with a statue of Archangel Michael. In Lvov, a copy of Mertsalov's Palm was installed on the railway station square in May 2003. And on April 10, 2003, it was also installed in Hannover, Germany, in the central hall of the exhibition complex.

In conclusion, it must be said that on August 17, 1999, at the session of the Donetsk Regional Council, the coat of arms of the Donetsk region was approved, which includes the Mertsalov Palm as the main symbol.

Book a hotel in Donetsk near Mertsalov's Palm

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The other day, on the sidelines of the blacksmith's festival, a conversation arose about Mertsalov's Palm. Despite the fact that this wonderful example of blacksmithing was written about many times, it turned out that many people do not know Interesting Facts about the iron tree.
“Website about metal” responded to the voiced wish: “I wish I could read it in detail somewhere!” and, without pretending to be a completely complete presentation of the facts, he will try to tell as much as possible about the palm itself and its authors.

Palma Mertsalova
The image of a palm tree, forged from steel at the end of the 19th century by the blacksmith Alexei Ivanovich Mertsalov with his assistant-hammer Philip Fedorovich Shkarin, is quite widely known as Mertsalov's Palm.
The height of the palm tree is 3 meters 53 centimeters. At the top of the palm is a corolla, and ten leaves around the trunk. The leaves are springy, although they are forged from steel and are integral with the trunk. A tub was also forged for the palm tree, which consists of four reinforced rail posts, around which twenty-three metal rings of different sections are laid. The number of rings corresponded to the age of the plant - 23 years. A palm tree weighs 325 kilograms, and a tub - 200. The rail was chosen as the starting material for the manufacture of palm trees for advertising purposes, as the main product of the Novorossiysk Society of Coal, Iron and Rail Production. The palm tree was made at the end of 1895. It is believed that Mertsalov took three weeks to create it.
Mertsalov's Palm is stored in the Museum of St. Petersburg Mining University. Some sources claim that the work was awarded the Grand Prix at the Paris International Industrial Exhibition of 1900, however, a number of local historians who have specifically studied this issue authoritatively state that they know nothing about documents that could confirm this fact.
However, the very name Mertsalov's Palm in 1900 could not sound. The plant belonged to the industrialist John Hughes, and the palm tree, like the plant, was mentioned as Yuzovsky. From such a name, a legend even appeared that the owner of the plant conceived and implemented this work himself. Perhaps John Hughes did not shy away from manual work, but any blacksmith understands how much time he would have to work in the forge to perform work of this level. So the Welsh industrialist could at best have the idea, which in itself is not a small thing.
Actually, the city itself, the current Donetsk, was called Yuzovka, so the name for the palm tree “grown” here was quite appropriate.
In the early 30s, an engineer of the former Yuzovsky, and later the Stalin Metallurgical Plant (ultimately the Donetsk Metallurgical Plant) began to ask old workers who exactly made outstanding work. It was then that the names of Alekchey Mertsalov and Philip Shkarin were restored. And the palm tree sometimes began to be called "mertsalovsky".

Alexey Mertsalov was born in 1856 (some sources indicate 1853).
In 1878 he began working at the Yuzovsky plant.
The fame of Alexei Mertsalov is associated with the famous steel rail palm tree made by him in 1895, together with the hammerer Philip Shkarin.
The palm tree was made specifically for the Nizhny Novgorod exhibition to demonstrate the quality of products manufactured by the Yuzovsky plant.
Alexei Ivanovich Mertsalov passed away on August 1, 1935 (some sources indicate 1931).

Hammer fighter Filipp Shkarin
Filipp Fedotovich Shkarin - blacksmith, master of the blacksmith shop at the Donetsk (Yuzovsky) metallurgical plant. He began working at the Yuzovsky Metallurgical Plant in 1895 at the age of seventeen. Philip Shkarin took part in the work on the famous Yuzovsky palm tree (Mertsalov's Palm) as an assistant-hammer for the blacksmith Alexei Mertsalov.
Philip Shkarin was born on January 21, 1879.
In 1897, Philip Shkarin was transferred to the blacksmiths.
He worked as a foreman in the forge shop of the DMZ until the 1950s.

Brief stories about blacksmithing masterpiece
There are several versions of how a plant atypical for the flora of the region “took root” in the Donbass and how the idea of ​​creating a palm tree from a rail arose. Let's start with the official one.
In 1895, the Donetsk plant of John Hughes (later - DMZ) was preparing for the Nizhny Novgorod exhibition, to which craftsmen brought their achievements from all over Russia. The success of the robots presented at such an exhibition, as a rule, guaranteed orders to the enterprise for long years, so it was for the sake of surprising visitors. In the shops of the metallurgical plant, which had worked by that time for about a quarter of a century, metal was forged, poured, and bent.
In 1900, a palm tree forged from rail steel was presented at the International Industrial Exhibition in Paris, where the exhibit amazed the sophisticated French public.
An unofficial, romantic version says that the idea of ​​​​creating a palm tree was born in the tavern of the Great Britain Hotel, where the blacksmith Mertsalov rested with a German colleague. They argued which of them was better at using the hammer. There was a palm tree in the lobby of the establishment, and it became the subject of a dispute, which Alexei Mertsalov won by turning the rail into a work of art. And the palm tree, in confirmation of the skill of the Donetsk craftsman, subsequently received the highest award at the Nizhny Novgorod exhibition in 1896, and then - the Grand Prix of the exhibition in Paris (1900).
In another version, Yuz instructed Alexei Mertsalov to do something that would surprise everyone. The master was looking for an idea to implement, and drew attention to an elegant tropical tree. Some argue that it stood not far from the table at which the worker was resting, while others are sure that he saw it through the window of the restaurant, and the worker could not have money to visit such establishments.
Here is how the Kharkiv magazine Gornozavodskoy Listok wrote about the unique robot of the Donetsk craftsman:
“The palm tree is made from a single rail. Its trunk carries ten leaves but ends with a rim at the top. The height of a genuine artistic product is 3 m 530 mm. Hammer and chisel are the only tools used by blacksmiths."

In another newspaper of that time there is such an assessment:
“The palm tree amazes the audience with its height, harmony, amazing grace. Its dark, dissected leaves, spreading like a fan from the trunk, were light, and the thin, rough trunk was so flexible that at first it was hard to believe that this was not a living plant taken from the Caucasian coast, but the finest work of art. Everyone wanted to touch her with their hands.”

FROM light hand journalists who reported that “the palm tree is made of one rail”, and “hammer and chisel are the only tools”, legends appeared that still exist. However, this unique artwork worthy of legend being told about her.

Rebirth of a legend
The palm tree, forged from a rail, attracted the attention of heraldists, who were developing the coat of arms of the region, not by chance. Since ancient times, the palm tree has been considered a universal symbol of primacy and success. In addition, the tradition of celebrating the winners with a palm branch has existed since Ancient Greece. Order of the Palm Branch - official award France, the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
At the end of the 20th century, this symbol of success, the embodiment of which almost sank into oblivion, became a confirmation of the fact that nothing is impossible for Donbass, and even palm trees can “grow” here from metal. It is worth noting that few people knew about Mertsalov's palm by this time, since after its return from Paris, it was sent to the Mining and Geological Institute of St. Petersburg, where it is still kept. At the same time, allegedly one of the sheets broke off during delivery and was fixed with rivets. In fact, the sheet did not break off. It was cut off in order to bring the product into the room. Since the museum building itself is of architectural value, they did not break the walls. We decided to cut off the sheet, which was already welded inside. This fact is recorded by the relevant act, which is also stored in the museum.
Later, after establishing its historical value, attempts were made to return the rarity to their homeland, but they were unsuccessful. So the Donetsk blacksmiths had to make a copy of the work of a compatriot.
In August 1998, the blacksmiths of the Gefest enterprise made palm trees based on the work of Alexei Mertsalov. Two small “copies” were donated to the mayors of Donetsk and Bochum, who just had a meeting on the occasion of the 10th anniversary since the two cities became sister cities.
Later, for the Donetsk blacksmith Sergey Kaspruk, the reconstruction of a century-old masterpiece became the most important image work. The desire to create something elegant out of industrial metal was born by Sergey Kaspruk from the time he studied blacksmithing. Therefore, the opportunity to forge an exact copy of Mertsalov's palm fell in love.
To get closer to the rarity, and the workpiece was looking for the appropriate one. At the mine "Lidievskaya" there were rails marked Yu.V.Zh.D. 1901, which were subsequently used as source material. None of Mertsalov's secrets were known, so Sergei Kaspruk had to invent his own tricks, which were somewhat different from those of his predecessor.
Sergey Kaspruk spent three and a half months, together with his son Oleg and fellow craftsmen, to make a palm tree from a rail. For comparison: Mertsalov, who was helped by the workers of almost the entire plant, forged a palm tree in three weeks. In order to understand the uniqueness and complexity of the project, let's give one figure - during the work on the palm, the blacksmiths made about 10 thousand heatings. Kaspruk believes that he made the task more difficult and even surpassed Mertsalov a little, but he does not detract from the dignity of the original author at all: they simply used a different path.
An exact copy of Mertsalov's Palm was installed in Donetsk on the square near the Expo-Donbass exhibition center on September 12, 1999.
The image of the "Mertsalov's Palm" on the initiative of the Donetsk Regional Fund "Golden Scythian" was adopted as a symbol of the revival of Ukraine - an independent and powerful industrial state. There was a project to establish copies (in this context, the word “copy” should not be taken literally) of the Mertsalov Palms in the capitals of the leading countries of the world. The work was carried out in more than 70 countries of the world.
Scuba divers installed a copy of the "Mertsalov's Palm" under water at Cape Tarkhankut in the Crimea.
On August 17, 1999, following the results of a competition at the session of the Donetsk Regional Council, the coat of arms of the Donetsk region was approved, which includes the Mertsalov palm tree as the main symbol.
In 2001, a copy of the Mertsalov's Palm was installed in Kyiv, on the territory of the Holy Dormition Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. It was planned that the monument would be installed on Independence Square, but the palm tree was moved to the Globus shopping center. Kyiv, in response, presented Donetsk with a statue of Archangel Michael.
In September 2001, as part of the Days of Donbass, a copy of the Mertsalov's Palm was installed on Manezhnaya Square (OTC Okhotny Ryad) in Moscow. Moscow in return gave Donetsk a copy of the Tsar Cannon.
In December 2002, a copy of Mertsalov's Palm was donated to Ottawa.
On April 10, 2003, a copy of the Mertsalov Palm was installed in Hannover. Place of installation - the central hall of the exhibition complex Hannover.
In Lvov, a copy of Mertsalov's Palm was installed in May 2003 at the station square.
In 2004, a copy of the palm tree was installed at the Borispol airport, it was planned that it would then be transferred to one of the air shows in Le Bourget.
As part of the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Donetsk region in the summer of 2007, another version of Mertsalov's palm was installed in Donetsk. It is located on Pushkin Boulevard near the building of the Donetsk Regional State Administration. The palm tree is forged from Damascus steel and stands between two bowls of fountains. The weight of the copy is about 500 kilograms.