The Alexander Garden Obelisk is an obelisk located within the Alexander Garden, near the walls of Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia. The obelisk was initially designed by S. A. Vlasev and erected on July 10, 1914, at the entrance of the garden. It was created as a celebration of the tercentenary of the House of Romanov. The obelisk was moved closer to the center of the garden in 1966.
Soon after the revolution, by dismantling its parts, the drum was filled with reliefs and counter-reliefs that were then converted into a Monument-obelisk to commemorate the "outstanding thinkers and personalities of the struggle for the liberation of workers". It thus became the first monumental statue of the new state.
In 2013, on the 400th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, the monument was dismantled for the sake of creating a modern replica of the original monument to the Russian rulers of the Romanov dynasty. According to specialists, the original monument was almost lost in the process.
Russian Empire
Made in Vlasieva, the project of the obelisk (under the motto "the Truth") won the 2nd place in a special contest titled "Project of the Monument-Obelisk to Commemorate the 300th Anniversary of the Romanov Dynasty" in 1912, which was celebrated in 1913. Money for its construction came from the city; up to fifty thousand rubles was allocated by the Moscow city Duma.
Since the initial plan did not gain the approval of the Academy of Arts and Vlasyevo, it took some time to correct the shortcomings as direct work on the construction of the monument only began in the spring of 1914. The ceremony of a bookmark was held on April 18, 1914.
Photo 1914
Then there was a parade in the garden of the troops. The parade was commanded by the commander of the 1st Grenadier brigade, major General Holmsen. The parade commander of the Moscow Military district the General-of-cavalry P. A. Pleve, appearing in the middle of the front troops, proclaimed a toast for your Adored Sovereign Master of the Russian Land of the Emperor and the whole Reigning House. The troops, taking "on-guard" position, replied with thunderous, long smolkowski cheers; the orchestra played God save the Tsar! Then, General P. A. Pleve declared a toast to the prosperity and welfare of the city of Moscow, built a glorious monument, "Wow Moscow!" — said General Pleve, and in response to this, there was a mighty Bang; the orchestra played the March of the Transfiguration. I. D. mayor, V. D. Bryansk on behalf of the city of Moscow thanked the General P. A. Pleve and proclaimed a toast. Then the troops were overlooked by the ceremonial March. General P. A. Pleve thanked valiant and held a military unit" ("Moscow news" No. 134 – June 11, 1914).
Original appearance
Romanovsky obelisk in 1914–1918.
The memorial was erected in the Upper Alexander garden near the main gate, leading from Voskresenskaya square in the Alexander garden.
"Romanovsky obelisk is erected under the project of architect S. A. Vlasiev in that part of the Alexander garden, which is next to the Voskresenskaya square. For setting the composition of the monument represents a cubic pedestal, on which stands the obelisk, ending in a gilt bronze double-headed eagle. The whole monument rests on two plateaus that are elevated at 0.60 fathoms above the surface of the earth. The monument is constructed from grey finish granite with embossed inscriptions, coats of arms and ornaments. The upper part of the monument (obelisk) is made of seven monolithic granite pieces and the lower one of granite-faced slabs. The obelisk crowning the double-headed eagle is from cast bronze, chased and gilded. In the inscription on the obelisk are the names and patronymics of all the kings and queens throughout the tercentenary of the House of Romanov in chronological order, beginning with Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich and ending with the name of the reigning Sovereign Emperor. On the upper part of the anniversary inscription is the coat of arms of the House of Romanov, and on the pedestal is an inscription reading: "In memory of the 300th of the accession of the House of Romanov" and the coats of arms of Moscow, Kazan, Astrakhan, Poland, Siberia, Georgia; the United Coats of Arms of the Grand Duchies of Kiev, Vladimir, Novgorod, arms of the Grand Duchy of Finland" ("Moscow news", No. 90 – April 19, 1914)
The Soviet period
Adopted after the October revolution, Lenin's plan of monumental propaganda involved the demolition of "monuments in honor of tsars and their servants" (the decree of the CPC 12.04.18G. "On removing monuments erected in honor of tsars and their servants and the elaboration of projects of monuments of Russian Socialist Revolution") and the construction of a large number of monuments and memorial plaques in honor of the fighters of the revolution of all times and peoples. The obelisk in the Alexander garden, without being physically liquidated, embodied both sides of Lenin's plan — it was turned into a monument to the leaders of the socialist and Communist thoughts and their precursors.
During August–September 1918, according to the decision of the city Council Executive Committee, dated August 17, 1918 under the direction of architect N. A. Vsevolozhsky, the obelisk was altered:
the eagle from the peak was removed (with the help of the Latvian Riflemen)
emblems with the Foundation were removed (cartouche and shields from the coats of arms preserved)
in the central cartouche, the image of Saint George was replaced with the inscription "R. S. F. S. R." and "Proletarians of all countries, unite!")
the names of the kings of the needle of the obelisk were shot down. In their place a list was put of 19 social thinkers and political figures, approved by Lenin. The list of names was entrusted to a prominent Bolshevik, Vladimir Friche.
The order of the names is not chronological: the list begins with Marx and Engels, followed by three of the founders of the German Social Democratic Party (1860) and then the figures of the utopian socialism of the XVI and following centuries, also non-chronologically. The complete list contains five Russians — representatives of different political currents, including subsequently the opposition to Bolshevism (for example, the populistN. K. Mikhailovsky, anarchistM. A. Bakunin and Menshevik G. V. Plekhanov). There are no Bolsheviks named on the stele (the list included only deceased figures, the last of them, Plekhanov, died the same year as the alteration of the monument). " The alteration of the monument was the actual and symbolic value: a revolution that destroyed the tsarist dynasty destroyed the obelisk that is associated with the glorification of the dynasty, and erased all the names of its rulers" (the magazine of Art, 1939) "
The opening of the monument, called "Monument obelisk outstanding thinkers and personalities of the struggle for the liberation of workers", was timed to coincide with the first anniversary of the Revolution and took place in October 1918.
In 1966, the monument, originally located at the entrance to the upper garden, was moved to the center of the upper gardens to the grotto "Ruins" in connection with the construction of the memorial "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier".
Just at this place on the 3rd of November, 1918, the first anniversary of the Revolution, was established and stood for several days the concrete figure of Robespierre (work of sculptor B. J. Sandomirsky). But soon the monument was blown up by unknown persons — on the 7th of November, the sculpture was found destroyed. "Northern commune" reported: "the Monument to Robespierre on the night of 6th to 7th of November had been destroyed by someone's criminal hand. The figure of Robespierre, made of concrete, turned into a pile of small fragments scattered around. The pedestal has survived. On a guarded scene and put under investigation". However, another newspaper, "Izvestia", offered another version of the monument allegedly collapsed", due to improper location of the center of gravity of the whole figure of the monument is that it was noticed even when it was being built".
Recent years
"The obelisk was erected thinkers-socialists" in 2008.Dismantling of the monument-the obelisk on 2 July 2013.
The proposal to restore Romanovsky obelisk in its original form to the 400th anniversary of the Romanov house has been repeatedly heard from members of the public, in particular, the Fund's "Return". At the beginning of 2013 Vice-President of Fund "Return" on legal issues, Daniel Petrov said that "another appeal of Fund "Return" on Romanovsky obelisk, mutilated by Bolsheviks and standing in the Alexander garden near the Kremlin wall, finally, gave a preliminary result. The Ministry of culture is ready to consider returning the monument to its historic appearance". According to him, now "the Ministry needs ALL the documentary and historical materials on this monument, including local literature in Moscow". In this regard, he urged Russian historians and ethnographers to connect to this work, and "if anyone has materials on this subject (articles in books, guidebooks, photos before 1918 and after), etc., I am grateful for them sending me to message the Ministry of Culture". May 27, 2013, in the Alexander garden, on visual axis "Manezhnaya Square, the obelisk is the grotto" was erected an entirely new monument to Patriarch Hermogenes. After nearly a month, July 2, 2013, the obelisk was dismantled for reconstruction, without prior announcement, which caused questions from some residents about its fate. The press-Secretary of Department of presidential Affairs Viktor Khrekov explained that the monument will return to its place by November 4. According to him, the obelisk was dismantled, because "when you transfer to a new place in Soviet times, mistakes were made, which further has led to the fact that the obelisk tilted and began to pose a serious threat to people". A special working group under the Ministry of Culture came to the conclusion that the monument was "necessary to restore and strengthen the foundations". The restoration of the obelisk has been in charge of the company "Alfastroy", questioned for not having the proper license.
At the end of October 2013, the restored monument began to be mounted. Sculptor Nikolai Avvakumov found mistakes and inaccuracies when the restoration took place. In particular, the inscriptions were made standard font Izhitsa Cyrillic, while in some words there is a spelling error; the reconstructed image also does not correspond to the original. At the same time, the photographs of the monument, common on an opening day, November 4, 2013, two of the Avvakumov spelling errors have been fixed (hard sign in the word "memory" has been replaced with soft, added existed in the original text the hyphen in the word "300th anniversary").
Public movement "Arhnadzor" declared that "the restoration of the obelisk took place without any open expert and public discussion of its plan and project", in the end, "the original of 1914 has not been raised, and the original 1918 died in Alexander garden is now showing off a replica, not a monument of any era." Later "Arhnadzor" declared that "carried out in 2013 on the obelisk of work cannot be called restoration."
Popular culture
The obelisk in 1914 and after the refurbishment in 2013.
Soviet school book to read — A. P. Shikman, "Obelisk in Alexandrovsky garden: lives of the great socialists" (1990) consisted of biographical essays about people whose names were carved on the obelisk.
Dimitry Valovoi & Henrietta Lapshina. Names on an Obelisk. Moscow: Progress Publishers. 1983. English-language Soviet book providing short biographies of the persons named on the obelisk.
Related Research Articles
The House of Romanov was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastasia Romanova, was married to the First Tsar of Russia, Ivan the Terrible. Tsar Nicholas II's immediate family was executed in 1918, but there are still living descendants.
The coat of arms of Russia derives from the earlier coat of arms of the Russian Empire. Though modified more than once since the reign of Ivan III (1462–1505), the current coat of arms is directly derived from its medieval original, with the double-headed eagle having Byzantine and earlier antecedents. The general tincture corresponds to the fifteenth-century standard.
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a war memorial dedicated to the Soviet soldiers killed during World War II. It was designed by architects D. I. Burdin, V. A. Klimov, Yu. R. Rabayev and sculptor Nikolai Tomsky.
Alexander Gardens was one of the first urban public parks in Moscow, Russia. The park comprises three separate gardens, which stretch along all the length of the western Kremlin wall for 865 metres (2,838 ft) between the building of the Moscow Manege and the Kremlin.
Yedinstvo or Edinstvo was a faction within the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) between 1914 and 1917 and then a small independent party in 1917 and 1918. It was led by Georgi Plekhanov.
The coat of arms of Moscow depicts a horseman with a spear in his hand slaying a basilisk and is identified with Saint George and the Dragon. The heraldic emblem of Moscow has been an integral part of the coat of arms of Russia since the 16th century.
The Monument to Alexander II, officially called the Monument to Emperor Alexander II, the Liberator Tsar, is a memorial of Emperor Alexander II of Russia, situated in the immediate surroundings of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. Completed in 2005 and partly inspired by a destroyed imperial monument from 1898, the statue itself was paid for by private donations, with the rest of the monument mainly financed by public funding. The site for the new monument was chosen in part because Alexander helped lay the foundation for the original Christ the Savior Cathedral and ruled during its construction.
The Muzeon Park of Arts is a park outside the Krymsky Val building in Moscow shared by the modern-art division of the Tretyakov Gallery and the Central House of Artists. It is located between the Park Kultury and the Oktyabrskaya underground stations. The largest open-air sculpture museum in Russia, it has over 1,000 artworks currently in its collection.
The Romanov Tercentenary egg is a jewelled Easter egg made under the supervision of the Russian jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé in 1913, for Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. The Fabergé egg was presented by Nicolas II as an Easter gift to his wife, the Tsaritsa Alexandra Fyodorovna. It is currently held in the Kremlin Armoury Museum in Moscow.
West Hartlepool War Memorial or Victory Square War Memorial or Victoria Square Cenotaph is a war memorial in Hartlepool, County Durham, England commemorating those from West Hartlepool who died in World War I and World War II. The war memorial, created in the 1920s, is located on Victoria Road in Hartlepool's Victory Square. The square was created for this monument.
The Demidovsky Pillar is a modern obelisk on Demidov Square in the Central District of Barnaul, Russia. It is a memorial to 100 years of mining in the Altai Krai. It was begun on the initiative of Pyotr Kozmitch Frolov, with the first stone being laid on 18 June 1825 and completed in 1839.
The Rurikids or Riurikids also known as the Volodimerovichi, were a noble house allegedly founded by the Varangian prince Rurik, who, according to tradition, established himself in Novgorod around the year AD 862. After the conquest of Kiev by Rurik's successor Oleg the Wise in c. 880, the Rurikids established a dynasty over the state of Kievan Rus' until its disintegration in the 12th and 13th centuries. Over time, the reigning house split into many different branches, with distinct branches ruling regional centers. They continued to rule in many of the Rus' principalities which evolved out of Kievan Rus'.
Lenin's Plan of "Monumental Propaganda" – is a strategy proposed by Vladimir Lenin of employing visual monumental art as an important means for propagating revolutionary and communist ideas. "The plan" had the significance of creating a large demand for monumental sculpture on a state level, and thus it stands at the origins of the Soviet school of sculpture. The "plan" consisted of two main projects: (1) – decorating buildings and other surfaces "traditionally used for banners and posters" with revolutionary slogans and memorial relief plaques; (2) – vast erection of "temporary, plaster-cast" monuments in honor of great revolutionary leaders.
Prince Kirill Alexandrovich Romanovsky-Iskander, or Cyril Iskander Romanov, or simply Prince Iskander, was one of the last two members of the House of Romanov to remain alive in Russia following the Revolution.
The Robespierre Monument was one of the first monuments erected in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, raised in Moscow on 3 November 1918 – just ahead of the first anniversary of the October Revolution, which had brought the Bolsheviks to power. It depicted Maximilien de Robespierre, a prominent figure of the French Revolution. Located in Alexander Garden, it had been designed by the sculptor Beatrice Yuryevna Sandomierz. Created as part of the "monumental propaganda" plan, the monument was commissioned by Vladimir Lenin, who in an edict referred to Robespierre as a "Bolshevik avant la lettre". It was only one of several planned statues depicting French revolutionaries – others were to be made of Georges Danton, François-Noël Babeuf and Jean-Paul Marat, although only the one of Danton was never completed.
The Statue of Yuriy Dolgorukiy is an equestrian statue which commemorates the founding of Moscow in 1147 by Yuriy Dolgorukiy. Dolgorukiy was the Grand Prince of the Kievan Rus' (Kiev) and a member of the Rurik dynasty. On 6 June 1954, the statue was erected on Soviet Square, located in front of the Mossoviet building. The sculptors were Sergei Mikhailovich Orlov, A. P. Antropov, and Nicholay Lvovich Shtamm. The architectural design was by Viktor Semenovich Andreyev. The statue replaced the Monument to the Soviet Constitution, which had been demolished in 1941.
The Park of 28 Panfilov Guardsmen is an urban park located in east-central Almaty in the area surrounding the Ascension Cathedral. It is dedicated to and named after the Panfilov heroes which were the 28 soldiers of an Alma-Ata Infantry unit who allegedly died while defending Moscow from the German invasion during the Second World War. The group took its name from Ivan Panfilov, the General commanding the 316th division which, in spite of heavy casualties, believed at that time managed to significantly delay the Germans advance to Moscow, thus buying the time for the defenders of the city. An eternal flame commemorating the fallen of the World War II and the Eastern Front burns in front of the giant black monument of soldiers from all 15 Soviet Republics.
Keisarinnankivi is a monument located at the Market Square in Kaartinkaupunki in central Helsinki, Finland. The monument, designed by Carl Ludvig Engel, is the oldest public monument in Helsinki. It was revealed with celebrations on the name day of Nikolai on 18 December 1835 to commemorate the first visit to Helsinki by Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Emperor of Russia Nicholas I. The monument was erected at the spot where the imperial couple stepped ashore from the steamship Ischora on arrival in Helsinki on 10 June 1833. The monument was funded by a national collection of funds and by a grant given by the Imperial Senate of Finland.
Feodorovskaya Icon Cathedral — an Orthodox church in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It belongs to the Central Deanery of the St. Petersburg Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. The cathedral was built in Commemoration of the Romanov Tercentenary.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
