Scrabble. The motherland is calling: unknown facts about the main monument of Russia

It seems that the monument to the Unknown Soldier has always been near the walls of the Kremlin. Who will remember now what was at the site of the memorial, at the place where people silently stop and remember to whom they owe their lives. Who now remembers how the eternal flame ended up in the Alexander Garden? On the Day of the Unknown Soldier, we publish facts from the history of the creation of the memorial.

It was decided to create a memorial of national importance - a monument to the Unknown Soldier - on the 25th anniversary of the defeat of German troops near Moscow.

At one time, Brezhnev did not approve of the installation of a memorial in the Alexander Garden. After all, a monument with a long history already stood on this site - a monument to revolutionary thinkers and figures in the struggle for the liberation of the working people. In 1918, at the initiative of Lenin, the obelisk was converted into it in honor of the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty.

It was difficult to decide who exactly to bury near the walls of the Kremlin. The choice fell on the remains of a warrior from a mass grave, just discovered in those days near Moscow. A uniform without insignia and with a belt confirmed that the soldier was not a deserter. The soldier also could not be a prisoner, since the Germans did not reach this place. No documents were found with the soldier, which means that his ashes were really “unknown”.

On December 2, 1966, the soldier's remains were placed in a coffin wrapped in an orange and black ribbon. And the next day at 11:45 a.m., the coffin was placed on an open car, which moved along the Leningrad highway to the Alexander Garden.

That morning, the entire Gorky Street (now Tverskaya), along which the cortege was moving towards Manezhnaya Square, was filled with people. On December 3, 1966, under an artillery salvo, the ashes of the Unknown Soldier were solemnly buried.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier memorial was opened a year later, on May 8, 1967. The monument is a tombstone covered with a bronze battle banner. On the banner are a soldier's helmet and a laurel branch, also made of bronze. In the center of the memorial is burning Eternal flame glory.

The eternal flame was delivered on an armored personnel carrier from the military memorial on the Field of Mars in Leningrad. Leonid Brezhnev lit it on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, taking the torch from the hands of the Hero Soviet Union Alexey Maresyev.

Next to the fire is the inscription: Your name it is not known, your feat is immortal.

Monument "Motherland is calling!" opened in 1967. How the monument became the highest in the world, whose face a female figure has and what kind of sculptural “relatives” she has - we recall 10 facts about the Motherland.

Volgograd. Memorial complex "Motherland is calling!". Andrey Izhakovsky / Photobank Lori

Competition without borders. The victory in the Battle of Stalingrad was a turning point in the history of the Great Patriotic War. The competition for the creation of a monument in Stalingrad was announced already in September 1944. It was attended by famous architects, and soldiers who sent their sketches by military field mail. Architect Georgy Martsinkevich suggested placing a tall column with a figure of Stalin at the top, and Andrei Burov proposed a 150-meter pyramid with a frame made of remelted tanks.

Projects came even from abroad - from Morocco, Shanghai. Interestingly, the future creator of the Motherland Evgeny Vuchetich did not take part in the competition. There were legends that he discussed his project directly with Stalin.

Construction of the monument "Motherland is calling!". Mamaev Kurgan, Volgograd. 1962. Photo: zheleznov.pro

Construction of the monument "Motherland is calling!". Mamaev Kurgan, Volgograd. 1965. Photo: stalingrad-battle.ru

Construction of the monument "Motherland is calling!". Mamaev Kurgan, Volgograd. 1965. Photo: planet-today.ru

Changes in composition. The sculptural composition had to look different. It was assumed that next to the female figure there would be a statue of a kneeling soldier holding out his sword to the Motherland. However, the initial composition of the monument seemed to Evgeny Vuchetich too complicated. He changed the project after the approval "from above". The sculptor had an important ideological argument: the soldier could not hand over his sword to anyone, because the war was not over yet.

Who was the prototype? Art critics agree that Yevgeny Vuchetich was inspired by the Marseillaise bas-relief on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and antique sculpture Nike of Samothrace. However, who specifically posed for him is not known for certain. It is most likely that the sculptor sculpted the figure of the Motherland from the Soviet sportswoman Nina Dumbadze, and the face from his wife Vera. Today, the model of the head of the statue is kept in the Vuchetich Estate Museum in Moscow.

The first reinforced concrete monument. The Motherland became the first monument in the USSR completely made of reinforced concrete. In the 1960s, after the war, many more cities, including Volgograd, were not rebuilt, and reinforced concrete was one of the cheapest materials. However, this choice caused some difficulties. For example, a year after the opening of the monument, small cracks began to form on it. To preserve the monument, the head and arms of the sculpture were covered with a water-repellent every year.

Soviet athlete Nina Dumbadze at the competition. 1950s Photo: russiainphoto.ru

Bas-relief "Departure of volunteers to the front in 1792" ("La Marseillaise"). Triumphal Arch. Sculptor Francois Rude. Paris, France. 1836

Sculpture "Nike of Samothrace". Pythocrite from Lindos. Around 190 BC Louvre, Paris

Structural reinforcement. All engineering calculations were carried out under the direction of Nikolai Nikitin, who was building the Ostankino television tower. Monument "Motherland is calling!" during the construction they did not fix it in any way: it stands on the ground due to its own weight. Metal ropes are stretched inside the statue, which make it more stable and maintain the rigidity of the metal frame. Today, sensors are installed on the cables, specialists monitor the state of the structure.

Monument to the era of the three general secretaries. Although the architectural design competition was held in the 1940s, work on the monument began after Stalin's death. The construction order was signed in January 1958 by Nikita Khrushchev. The monument was erected for almost ten years - it was opened in October 1967. The opening was also attended by the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU - at that time already Leonid Brezhnev.

The tallest statue in the world. It was planned that the height of the Motherland would be 36 meters. However, Khrushchev ordered to "grow up" the female figure. The statue on Mamayev Kurgan was supposed to "surpass" the Statue of Liberty - its height without a pedestal was 46 meters.

After the construction was completed, the Motherland was the tallest statue in the world. Female figure towered 52 meters above the pedestal, and taking into account the length of her arm and sword, the height of the monument was 85 meters. The monument weighed 8 thousand tons, excluding the sword. Today Motherland remains in the top ten most tall statues peace.

steel sword. The sword of the statue was made using aviation technology. It was made of stainless steel and lined with titanium sheets. But such a decision was not suitable for the monument - the sword swayed and creaked in the wind. In 1972, the weapons were replaced with steel ones with holes to reduce windage. Because of the "problematic" sword, the designers of the monument did not receive the Lenin Prize. The monument "The Motherland Calls!". Sculptor Evgeny Vuchetich, architect Nikolai Nikitin. Volgograd. 1959-1967

Monument "Warrior-Liberator". Sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich, architect Yakov Belopolsky. Berlin, Germany. 1949

The image of the "Motherland". Collective image Motherland appeared on propaganda posters as early as 1941. Created them Soviet painter Irakli Toidze. The artist recalled that his wife became the prototype of the woman on the poster. Hearing a message about an attack on the USSR, she ran into the artist's studio shouting "War!". Irakli Toidze was shocked by her facial expression and immediately made the first sketches.

There are many interesting and unusual things in the world. Here is a small collection of unusual and amazing monuments from around the world.

Queue Monument in Washington DC.

Monument to Orange in Odessa. "Catherine II issued a decree on May 27, 1794 on the construction of a commercial seaport in Odessa, which was to become the largest in the south of the Russian Empire. However, after the death of the Empress, Paul I was going to cancel her decree, justifying this with large financial costs. Odessa merchants, having learned about that Paul I intends to withdraw the allocated funds for the construction of the port and the development of the city, they sent the king, under the escort of the Fenogarian Greek guard, several carts with oranges.The emperor was very fond of these fruits.At that time in Russia, oranges were considered exotic fruits, and they were difficult to get. The next day after receiving a generous gift, having appreciated the ingenuity of the Odessans, the emperor renewed his mother's decree on the allocation of 250,000 rubles in gold for the construction of the port and the development of the city. So, it turns out that the oranges "gave" the city of Odessa life, that is, it contributed to its construction. "

Monument to the Nezhin cucumber in the city of Nizhyn near Kyiv. "The monument is a composition of three elements imitating: a cellar for storing pickles and preservation, a barrel in which vegetables were pickled in the old days, and a Nezhin cucumber."

Monument to the national Russian snack - cucumber in the town of Lukhovitsy near Moscow. "Green breadwinner" is the main source of income for the city. It is Lukhovitsy that is the main supplier of excellent cucumbers to the market of Moscow and the Moscow region.


Monument to an apple in Alma-Ata. Marble, an apple stands at the foot of which water flows, and coins glisten in the recess.

Monument to the Antonovka apple in Kursk. When did the competition start? public recognition"of the year", the winners are given small gilded apples as a reward.

Monument to the stub in Jerusalem. What it means is probably known only to the author himself.

Monument to the well-known cheese "Friendship". The cheese on the monument is reproduced very thoroughly - even with a barcode Address - Moscow, intersection of Rustaveli and Ogorodny passage, near the plant.

Monument to the Baltic sprats in the Kaliningrad region (Mamonovo). The fish cannery has been operating in the city since 1949, and therefore Mamonovo can be considered the birthplace of domestic sprats.

Monument to the sausage in Novosibirsk.

Monument to CHOCOLATE (yum-yum) in the city of Pokrov

Monument to Galushka in Poltava. Many, when photographed, traditionally sit on a spoon to feel like a dumpling, I guess.

Monument to Varenik in Cherkasy. (And "Gorilka" with a mug next to it).

Monument to beer in China. (Especially for Ilya Korkin and other BEER lovers!

Monument to the samovar in Yelabuga. Even the heat is simulated!

Guadalajara, Mexico. A very unusual monument-chair with ears.

Monument-bench. It's called "Let's Eat a Biscuit Together." Seoul, South Korea.

Monument to the Crane and the jet of water in the Canary Islands. Installed in the Aquapark, next to Las Americas in Tenerife.

Monument to the heating battery in Samara. The bronze composition is a radiator and a window sill with a warming cat. The sculpture, 2 m high and weighing 200 kg, was placed in the gatehouse of the oldest in the country, the Samara State District Power Plant. So in an unusual way the city celebrated the 150th anniversary of the battery - in 1855, a Russian German of Italian origin, Franz Karlovich San Galli, invented the first heating radiator.

Monument to Clothespin in Philadelphia.

Monument to enema in Zheleznovodsk.

The scariest animal is the Frog! She "strangled" half the world. Monument to the TOAD in Berdyansk.

Monument to the Toad in Kyiv. This Toad has: inside it there is a bucket into which all the coins that tourists throw into it fall. And they say that one day this bucket will overflow and all the wealth will spill out under the feet of the lucky one.

Monument to the Hedgehog in the fog in Kyiv.

Monument to HAPPINESS in Tomsk. The symbol of Happiness was chosen, which most fully embodies this state - a well-fed wolf at a wedding from the legendary cartoon "Once upon a time there was a dog." When passers-by stroke the wolf's well-fed belly, the monument "says" in the unforgettable voice of Armen Dzhigarkhanyan: "I'll sing right now."

Monument to the Cow in a spacesuit in Stockholm.

Monument "Revived match" in Kiev Symbolizes participation in the environmental movement in order to draw the attention of residents to the decrease in the area of ​​green areas and excessive pollution. environment especially in the center of the capital.

Monument to the workaholic in Los Angeles, USA.

Monument to the girls on the bridge in Georgia.

"Reverse Monument" in Melbourne.

Monument to the "Man coming out of the wall" in Paris.

Traffic light monument in London.

Monument Sofa-watermelon in Kyiv.

Monument to Saint Wenceslas in Prague.

Monument from the keys in Prague. . A monument made of keys in Prague got into the Book of Records: Czech sculptor Jiri David needed 85 thousand keys to make a 6-meter monument dedicated to the "velvet" revolution. The keys for the monument were collected throughout the Czech Republic. The sculpture is a pyramid of standing on top of each other Latin letters that make up the word "revolution"

MONUMENTS TO THE INVISIBLE MAN: Monument to the Invisible Man in the center of Prague:

Monument to the Invisible Man in Yekaterinburg:

Monument to the Invisible Man in St. Petersburg:

Monument to the Invisible Man in Western Europe:

Monument to the Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison) in Manhattan.

Monument to the Invisible Man in Ukraine, Ternopil city:

Monument to unborn children.

Monument to drunk driving!

One of the tallest monuments in Russia, Muscovites met with some criticism. In 1997, after its installation, a series of publications appeared in the Moscow media calling on city residents to write letters in support of collecting signatures for the demolition of the monument. There were about 5 thousand of them, most of whom criticized two points - the excessive height of the monument and its location.

However, as we can see in this moment, a monument to Peter I in Moscow received the right to life. The work of Zurab Tsereteli was erected by order of the Government of Moscow on an artificial island, poured at the division of the Moscow River and the Vodootvodny Canal. Officially announced by the creator and customers as a gift to sailors for the 300th anniversary Russian Fleet. The total height of the monument is 98 meters, the height of the figure of Peter is 18 meters.

Some Russian newspapermen called this monument a reworked statue of Columbus, which Tsereteli was going to sell in 1992 for the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America by Europeans, but did not sell.

In 2014, architectural critic Revzin expressed his opinion about the overly active protests against the new monument. So, he pointed out that publications and posters “You weren’t here” began to come out too abruptly in Moscow, which before that had to be coordinated without fail, reduce the budget and receive it. Thus, this process, most likely, was launched by someone, and then picked up by the townspeople.

The height of the monument is comparable to the height of the Statue of Liberty, which stands in New York.

Just do not forget that the difference of 5 meters is due to the fact that the Statue of Liberty, as a solid monument, is only 46 meters, but now it stands on a pedestal 47 meters high. From here, the total height is considered to be 93 meters.

On September 6, 1817, a monument to Minin and Pozharsky arrived in Moscow; it was cast in St. Petersburg and delivered by water through Nizhny Novgorod.

It was the first sculptural composition Moscow and the first monument dedicated not to the sovereign, but folk heroes. He, like his characters, has his own biography, full of triumph, difficulties and even barbs.

National Monument

The monument to Minin and Pozharsky was built not at the expense of the state treasury, but at the expense of the people. The initiators of the project, the Free Society of Lovers of Literature, Sciences and Arts, collected donations from all over Russia. In 1808, they sent engravings around the country with an approved project: "so that it would be known to all Russians." In three years, they managed to collect 136 thousand rubles, which was enough for the construction of a monument in Moscow and the erection of an obelisk in Nizhny Novgorod.

double halter

In fact, the monument to Minin and Pozharsky symbolizes two events - the liberation of Russia from foreign invaders in 1612 and the victory in Patriotic War, which also went down in history as " people's war". It was originally planned to install "Minin and Pozharsky" in 1812 on the bicentennial of the victory of the second militia, but the war ruined the plans of the authors of the project, slowing down the progress of work. The sculptural composition appeared on Red Square only on March 4, 1818.

Monument-nomad

The history of the creation of the monument, as well as the history of its existence, is filled with constant disputes about where it should stand. The very first potential location location was Nizhny Novgorod, where the second militia was born, but, given the importance of the event for the country, Alexander I insisted on installing a monument in Moscow. Nevertheless, in Nizhny Novgorod today you can see his twin brother, however, in a reduced size. It is installed under the walls of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, near the Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist, from which Minin once called on the people of Nizhny Novgorod to convene a militia.
The sculptural composition was installed in 1818 in front of the GUM gate. As conceived by the architect, Minin points Pozharsky to the Kremlin, calling for the expulsion of the Poles from Moscow. In 1931, the monument was moved to St. Basil's Cathedral, as it interfered with parades on Red Square.

By water

By the way, the monument to Minin and Pozharsky was cast not in Moscow, but in St. Petersburg. The sculpture was delivered to the ancient capital by water. The transportation took several months from May 21 to September 6, 1818, as the plans included a mandatory stop in Nizhny Novgorod. The arrival of the long-awaited monument to the city was mentioned in the magazine "Son of the Fatherland": famous monument... citizens of Nizhny Novgorod of both sexes and all ages from morning to night came to the courts to see this monument, famous for its subject, art and size.

Innovation

Today, the sculptural composition "Minin and Pozharsky" may not seem unique, but for that time it was a real technological breakthrough. Despite its impressive size, the monument is monolithic, it was cast "in one piece". For this, it took "1000 pounds of bayonet copper, 10 pounds of tin, 60 pounds of spyware." Copper was melted for about ten hours, the metal in the mold cooled down only after five days. To early XIX centuries, such work was considered unique.

Poetic criticism

On the central monument of Moscow, everything should be wise. This opinion was also shared by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, who in his writings reported a factual error in the inscription on the pedestal: “Grateful Russia to Citizen Minin and Prince Pozharsky.” The poet wrote: “The inscription to Citizen Minin, of course, is not satisfactory: for us, he is either the tradesman Kosma Minin, nicknamed Sukhorukoy, or the duma nobleman Kosma Minich Sukhorukoy, or, finally, Kuzma Minin, an elected person from the entire Muscovite state, as he is called in the charter on the election of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov.

folklore

One political legend is connected with the monument to "Minin and Pozharsky". After the death of V.I. Lenin in 1924, a struggle for power began at the top of the party. During this difficult period, at one of the congresses, the careless Grigory Zinoviev delivered the main report "The Political Report of the Central Committee of the RCP (b)", which was the prerogative of Secretary General. There were rumors that Zinoviev managed to seize power from everyone behind their backs. So the nickname “the second Grishka Otrepyev” stuck to him. It is believed that at the same time an inscription appeared on the monument, which later became part of folklore: "Look, prince, what scum in the Kremlin started up today." True, according to another version, the original belonged to a later period, sounded like “Look, prince, what scum has subsided near the walls of the Kremlin,” and referred to Lenin's mausoleum.