Peter the Great - The Bronze Horseman - St. Petersurg, Russia
N 59° 56.193 E 030° 18.101
36V E 349233 N 6647418
This statue of Peter the Great survived World War II, as the citizens went to great lengths to disguise it during the war. It is situated in Ploschad Dekabristov (December Square) near Saint Isaac Cathedral, in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Waymark Code: WMG47K
Location: Russia
Date Posted: 01/10/2013
Views: 11
"It is one of the main monument in Saint Petersburg. It is dedicated to the most powerful Tsar of Russia and founder of Saint Petersburg “Peter the Great”. The statue is located in Ploschad Dekabristov (December Square) near the Saint Isaac cathedral at Neva shore. It was constructed in the XVIII century by the famous French sculptor Etienne Maurice Falconet. The monument’s construction was ordered by “Catherine the Great” as a tribute to his famous predecessor. The equestrian statue inspired the famous poem “The Bronze Horseman” of the great Russian poet Aleksandr Pushkin . This poem (considered one of the best works of the Russian Literature) is the reason why the people call usually this sculpture the “Bronze Horseman”.
The enormous an impressive pedestal of the statue is known as the Thunder Stone and is a single piece of red granite molded into the form of a cliff. The legend says that while this statue is in its location any enemy can never take the city. This legend recovered value in the Second World War; since the sculpture was not taken down during the 900 days that lasted the Leningrad siege, it survived almost 3 years of bombing and shelling, because it was protected by the citizens at any cost; they used sand bags and wooden shelter to protect the main symbol of their resistance. Therefore, this monument is now a symbol of the Saint Petersburg’s courage." (
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"The Bronze Horseman is an equestrian statue of Peter the Great in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Commissioned by Catherine the Great, it was created by the French sculptor Étienne Maurice Falconet. It is also the name of a narrative poem written by Aleksandr Pushkin about the statue in 1833, widely considered to be one of the most significant works of Russian literature. The statue came to be known as the Bronze Horseman because of the poem's great influence and success. The statue is now one of the symbols of Saint Petersburg, in much the same way that the Statue of Liberty is a symbol of New York City. Both of them were designed and built by French artists.
The statue's pedestal is the enormous Thunder Stone, claimed to be the largest stone ever moved by man (1,250 t). In its original state the stone weighed about 1500 tonnes. It was carved during transportation to its current site.
The Thunder Stone is sometimes claimed to be the "largest stone ever moved by man". This stone was large and heavy; it was effectively moved 6 km (3.7 mi) overland to the Gulf of Finland by manpower alone; no animals or machines were used. Transported by barge up the Neva River, it reached St. Petersburg. The entire effort is considered an historic engineering feat.
Due to the large size of the rock, the easiest way to measure its mass is to calculate it. According to the fall 1882 edition of La Nature, its dimensions before being cut were 7 × 14 × 9 m. Based on the density of granite, its mass was determined to be around 1500 tonnes. Falconet had some of this cut away to make a wave-like shape, so the finished pedestal weighed slightly less.
On 7 August 1782, fourteen years after excavation of the pedestal began, the finished statue was unveiled in a ceremony with thousands in attendance. Conspicuously absent was Falconet, as a misunderstanding between him and the empress turned into a serious conflict. As a result he was forced to leave Russia four years before the project was completed. Catherine largely forgot about him afterwards, and came to see the Bronze Horseman as her own oeuvre.
The statue portrays Peter the Great sitting heroically on his horse, his outstretched arm pointing towards the River Neva in the west. The sculptor wished to capture the exact moment of his horse rearing at the edge of a dramatic cliff. His horse can be seen trampling a serpent, variously interpreted to represent treachery, evil or the enemies of Peter and his reforms. The statue itself is about 6 m (20 feet) tall, while the pedestal is another 7 m (25 feet) tall, for a total of approximately 13 m (45 feet)." (
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