Bronze Horseman

The Bronze Horseman (Russian Медный всадник / Medny wsadnik; literally The copper horseman ) denotes the set up 1782 bronze equestrian statue of Tsar Peter the Great on the St. Petersburg 's Senate Square. Because of the 1833 published the poem " The Bronze Horseman " by Pushkin, which deals with this monument, the figure got her characteristic epithet.

The equestrian statue is one of the world-famous landmark of St. Petersburg. Tsar Peter I sits " on horseback " on a rearing horse. Under the hoofs of the horse, a snake will crush - the scene is meant to symbolize Peter's victory over Sweden.

The Czarina Catherine the Great had the monument of the famous French sculptor Etienne Maurice Falconet - build and just wanted to Peter as himself grant immortality - it carries a not quite modest inscription in Latin ( " Petro Primo / Catharina Secunda / MDCCLXXXII " ) on the left and in Russian ( " Петру Первому / Екатерина Вторая / Лѣта 1782 "; German: " Peter the First / Catherine the Second / 1782 " ) on the right side.

The monument still plays a significant role in the urban landscape - almost constantly are fresh flowers at his feet, newly married couples come here to celebrate and to be photographed in front of him. Since 1934 until today, it is also the distinctive mark of Lenfilm (Russian Ленфильм ), one of Europe's largest film studio based in Saint Petersburg, which was from 1924 to 1991 Leningrad.

A feat of engineering was the transportation of the foundation. The Thunder Stone (Russian grom - arrived) called and about 1250 tons of heavy rock was been transported in one piece from the then 22 km away, Finland. Implementation of the project was initiated and directed by the engineer Marinos Charvouris.

In 2002, the city government was restored the monument.