In St. Petersburg there are several monuments to Peter I, as in the city center, for example equestrian statue of Peter the Great "The Bronze Horseman" on Senate Square, and outside the city center, for example, in the Lower Park of the Peterhof Palace and Park Ensemble in Peterhof.
This article will focus on the monument to Peter I, located near the Mikhailovsky Castle in the heart of the historical part of St. Petersburg.
The monument to Peter I at the Mikhailovsky Castle is a majestic equestrian statue dedicated to the Russian emperor and the founder of St. Petersburg.
The monument is located near the main (southern) facade of the Mikhailovsky Castle, in the Engineering Square on Klenovaya Street.
The State Russian Museum is located in the walls of the Mikhailovsky Castle today. Read more about Mikhailovsky Castle... Learn more about the Russian Museum...
Initially, the grandiose Constable Square (from the French connettable - commander-in-chief of the army) was located in front of the Mikhailovsky Castle, where in 1800 a bronze equestrian monument to Peter I, the work of the Italian sculptor Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli, was installed.
Rastrelli made a model of the monument during the life of Peter I. However, the sculpture was not completed until after the death of Peter the Great, by 1747, when Alessandro Martelli cast it in bronze.
Thus, this monument is the 1st monument dedicated to Peter the Great.
The monument is set on a high four-sided granite pedestal (pedestal), made according to the drawing of Fyodor Volkov.
The pedestal is decorated with two bronze bas-reliefs- "The Battle of Poltava" and "The capture of the frigates at Gangut", as well as an allegorical composition with trophies.
By order of Emperor Paul I, opposite the residence of which (Mikhailovsky Castle) is a monument, on the pedestal of the monument was made the inscription "Great-Grandfather Great-Grandson 1800", which was most likely a counterweight to the inscription on the pedestal of the "Bronze Horseman": "Peter the Great Catherine the Second".
During the siege of Leningrad in the Great Patriotic War, the statue of Peter I was removed from its pedestal and hidden. After the war (1945), the statue was returned to its place.
In the sculptural composition of the monument, Peter the Great is depicted majestically sitting on a dashing steed.
It is interesting that the sculptor made the front left hoof of the horse in the form of a human foot in a boot! For this reason, this monument is also called a monument with three legs.
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