St. Petersburg - to see the invisible

 

Every tourist definitely gets to the Palace Square. He is told that this square is unique (if you look like everything in the world), that it has been the main one in the city for three centuries, that it was here that the most important events in the history of Russia took place. I agree with everything except historical events. Well, the Bolsheviks did not rush from Palace Square to the gates of the Winter Palace! They had nothing to do there. So the frames of the “documentary” chronicle are pure creative fiction. Revolutionaries, not devoid of taste for beauty, could not lose sight of the magnificent gateway to the creation of history.

 

The Palace Square is a clear evidence of how history was preserved in the past. The fact is that the project of the great architect K.I. Rossi near the Winter Palace required “moving” the houses located nearby. To put all the buildings under demolition in the name of glorifying the victories of Russian weapons in the war of 1812, the brilliant architect did not allow - many of them he included in the new ensemble, so the original facades were preserved. The architecturally insignificant houses were bought by the state, after which they were demolished.

 

The facade of the General Staff building, divided by a huge Arc de Triomphe, covers the Palace Square in a semicircle. Nicholas I, upon completion of the Headquarters, pointed out to Rossi that the Arch looked extremely unreliable. In response to the accusations, the great architect climbed the Arch and stayed there the whole time the builders dismantled the supporting structures. In case of an error, Rossi would have fallen along with the arch, but the reliability of the structure has not failed so far.

 

The Alexander Column in the heart of the Palace Square appeared in memory of the victory over Napoleon. This is the world’s tallest triumphal column with a height of 47.5 meters, which is held without any attachments – only due to its own weight of more than 600 tons. The figure of an angel with a cross crowns the column. In his face are the features of Alexander I. He defeated Napoleon, he is also recognized as the most beautiful monarch of the Russian Empire.

The figure of an angel did not give rest to activists of Soviet ideology. They considered it the height of outrage that the winged messenger of heaven supposedly blessed the parades and rallies of proletarian atheists. At that time, there were very peculiar ideas about the beautiful, and therefore the angel was offered to remove, replacing it with a statue of the leader of the world revolution. Fortunately, the Alexander Column was more fortunate than St. Isaac’s Cathedral, which the Bolsheviks did reconstruct in their own way. Therefore, Vladimir Ilyich could not move the Angel, who for centuries blessed St. Petersburg.

 

 

I invite you to an unusual tour of the Northern capital.

Author: private guide Anna Velichko

Address of the author's page: http://www.personalguide.ru/guids/529/721/