The Alexander Column in the Palace Square

The Alexander Column (Russian: Александровская колонна, Aleksandrovskaya Kolonna), is the focal point of Palace Square in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The monument was erected after the Russian victory in the war with Napoleon's France. Named after Emperor Alexander I, who ruled Russia between 1801 and 1825, the column is an interesting piece of architecture and engineering. Winter Palace with the Alexander Column. ... Winter Palace with the Alexander Column. ... Palace Square is the central city square of St Petersburg and of the former Russian Empire. ... Palace Square is the central city square of St Petersburg and of the former Russian Empire. ... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and Petrograd (Петрогра́д, 1914–1924), is a city located in Northwestern Russia on the delta of the river Neva at the east end of the Gulf of Finland... The March on Moscow The invasion commenced on June 23, 1812. ... For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation). ... Aleksander I Pavlovich Romanov (Russian: Александр I Павлович) (December 23, 1777–December 1, 1825), was Emperor of Russia from March 23, 1801–December 1, 1825 and King of Poland from 1815–1825, as well as the first Grand Duke of Finland. ...

Column

The Alexander Column was designed by the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand, built between 1830 and 1834, and unveiled on August 30, 1834. The monument—the tallest of its kind in the world—is 47.5 meters (155 ft 8 in) tall and is topped with a statue of an angel holding a cross. The statue of the angel was designed by the Russian sculptor Boris Orlovsky. The face of the angel bears great similarities with the face of Emperor Alexander I. Monferrands cathedral was the largest Orthodox church in the world at the time it was completed. ... The Annunciation - the Angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she will bear Jesus (El Greco, 1575) An angel is an ethereal being found in many religions, whose duties are to assist and serve God. ... Orlovskys statue of Mikhail Kutuzov in front of the Kazan Cathedral. ...

The column is a single piece of red granite, 25.45 meters (83 ft 6 in) long and about 3.5 meters (11 ft 5 in) in diameter. The granite monolith was obtained near Vyborg and in 1832 transported by sea to Saint Petersburg, on a barge specially designed for this purpose, where it underwent further working. Without the aid of modern cranes and engineering machines, the column, weighing 600 tonnes (1,322,760 lb), was erected by 3,000 men under the guidance of William Handyside in less than 2 hours. It is set so precisely that no attachment to the base is needed. Quarrying granite for the Mormon Temple, Utah Territory. ... A view of Vyborg from the castle tower Vyborg (Cyrillic: Выборг, Finnish: Viipuri, Swedish: Viborg, German: Wiburg) is a town with 70,000 inhabitants on the Karelian Isthmus in Russia, near the head of the Bay of Vyborg, 130 km to the northwest of Saint Petersburg, 38 km south from Russia... William Handyside (1793–1850) was a Scottish engineer who was involved in several important construction projects in St. ...

Pedestal

The pedestal of the Alexander Column is decorated with symbols of military glory, sculpted by Giovanni Battista Scotti.

On the side of the pedestal facing the Winter Palace is a bas-relief depicting winged figures holding up a plaque bearing the words "To Alexander I from a grateful Russia". The composition included figures representing the Neman and Vistula rivers that were associated with the events of the Patriotic War. Flanking these figures are depictions of old Russian armour - the shield of Prince Oleg of Novgorod, the helmet of Alexander Nevsky, the breastplate of Emperor Alexander I, the chainmail of Yermak Timofeyevich and other pieces recalling heroes whose martial feats brought glory to Russia. Located between the Palace Embankment and the Palace Square, the Winter Palace (Russian: Зимний Дворец) in St. ... Neman: Neman_River - Eastern European river Neman, Russia - town in Russia This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The Vistula (Polish: WisÅ‚a) is the longest river in Poland. ... Prince Oleg (Old Norse name Helgi, Khazarian form: Helgu) was a Varangian ruler who moved the capital of Rus from Novgorod the Great to Kiev. ... Statue in Pereslavl, just in front of the cathedral Alexander was baptised in. ... Cuirass ( French cuirasse, Latin coriaceus, made of leather, from corium, the original breastplate being of leather), the plate armour, whether formed of a single piece of metal or other rigid material or composed of two or more pieces, which covers the front of the wearers person. ... A number of historical people were named Alexander I : Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon 495-450 BC Alexander I of Epirus King of Epirus about 342 B.C. Pope Alexander I, Pope from 106 to 115 Alexander I of Scotland (c. ... David rejects the unaccustomed armour (detail of fol. ... Yermak Timofeyevich (Russian: Ерма́к Тимофе́евич, also Ermak) (born between 1532 and 1542 — August 5 or 6, 1585), Cossack leader and explorer of Siberia. ...

The other three sides are decorated with bas-reliefs featuring allegorical figures of Wisdom and Abundance, Justice and Mercy, Peace and Victory, the last holding a shield bearing the dates 1812, 1813 and 1814. These compositions are enhanced by depictions of Ancient Roman military symbols and Russian armour.

The sketches for the bas-reliefs were produced by Auguste de Montferrand. He coordinated the scale of their compositions with the monumental forms of the monument. The panels were designed to the planned size by the artist Giovanni Battista Scotti. The models were produced by the sculptors Piotr Svintsov and Ivan Lepee, the ornamental embellishments by sculptor Yevgeny Balin. The casting of the bronze was done at Charles Baird's works in Saint Petersburg. Monferrands cathedral was the largest Orthodox church in the world at the time it was completed. ... Charles Baird (1766 - 1843) was a Scottish engineer who played an important part in the industrial and business life of 19th century St. ... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and Petrograd (Петрогра́д, 1914–1924), is a city located in Northwestern Russia on the delta of the river Neva at the east end of the Gulf of Finland...

Later years

In 1952, the authorities of then Soviet Union secretly planned to replace the statue of the angel with a statue of Josef Stalin. These plans were only recently revealed to the public. A historic iron fencing around the column was demolished during the Soviet period. The fencing was restored in 2002. (Russian, in full: Ио́сиф Виссарио́нович Ста́лин [Iosif Vissarionovich Stalin]; December 18 [O.S. December 6] 1878[1] – March 5, 1953) was the leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s to his death in 1953 and General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1922-1953...

Further reading

• Ротач А. Л. Александровская колонна. Leningrad, 1966.