Favorite Thing: The monument was built by order of the Empress Catherine the Great as a tribute to her famous predecessor on the Russian throne, Peter the Great. Being a German princess by birth, she was eager to establish a line of continuity with the earlier Russian monarchs. For that reason an inscription on the monument reads in Latin and Russian: Petro Primo Catarina Secunda - To Peter the First from Catherine the Second.
This equestrian statue of Peter the Great, created by the famous French sculptor Etienne Maurice Falconet, depicts the most prominent reformer of the Russia state as a Roman hero. He came to Russia especially for that purpose. It took him three years (1768-1770) to make the model of the equestrian statue. The head of Peter I was performed by Falconet's apprentice - Collot. The pedestal was performed after Felten's design.
The pedestal is made of a single piece of red granite molded into the shape of a cliff. We can see how the rider compresses the reins of the impetuous horse. From the top of this "cliff" Peter gallantly leads Russia forward, while his horse steps on a snake, snake is a symbol of envy and spite, represents the enemies of Peter and his reforms. Ironically, the "evil" snake serves as a third point of support for the statue. This monument personifies the growth of the power of Russia.
The gigantic piece of granite upon which the statue rests was a favorite of Peter the Great. Previously and was located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, in the vicinity of the Lakhta village. Peter affectionately named it "Thunder-stone" and from it he used to observe the surroundings.
Fondest Memory: It took nine months to deliver the enormous monolith weighting 1600 tons to the construction site. 400 people, using special devices, were first moving it by land, and further by water. Catherine II had it brought by barge to St.Petersburg specifically to serve as the base for this statue. Catherine herself came to inspect the stone and the transportation device several times.
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Gorod Sankt-Peterburg
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on Mar 3, 2006
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