Monument to Peter I

Monuments to Peter I, one of the greatest rulers of Russia, the commander and the first Russian emperor, whose merits were recognized by even the most envious detractors, were installed in many cities of Russia and abroad. There is such a monument in Voronezh.

The monument was solemnly opened on August 30, 1860. The sculptor of the monument was Anton Evgrafovich Schwartz, and the architects were David Ivanovich Grimm and Alexander Antonovich Kui. The emperor was depicted in adulthood in the costume of the Transfiguration regiment. The anchor on which Peter I rested with his left hand is deeply symbolic. It was in Voronezh that the construction of the Russian flotilla unfolded, it was here that the foundations for further victorious battles were laid. But the monument was waiting for a difficult fate.

During the October Revolution, any manifestations of tsarist Russia were destroyed, but the monument miraculously survived. During the Great Patriotic War, the bronze statue was removed by German troops. But Nikolai Pavlovich Gavrilov managed to carry out reconstruction. The new monument repeated the composition of the former, but the sculptors made two changes in the appearance of the figure. First, the floors of the caftans were raised as if they were blowing the wind. Secondly, Peter I is depicted at a young age, at which he came to Voronezh to lead the construction of the Navy.