Monument sights in St Petersburg
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Bronze Horseman
The most famous statue of Peter the Great was immortalised as the Bronze Horseman in the poem by Pushkin. With his mount rearing above the snake of treason, Peter’s enormous statue stands at the river end of pl Dekabristov. The statue was sculpted over 12 years for Catherine the Great by Frenchman Etienne Falconet. Its inscription reads ‘To Peter I from Catherine II – 1782’. Many have read significance into Catherine’s linking of her own name with that of the city’s founder: she had no legitimate claim to the throne and this statue is sometimes seen as her attempt to formalise the link (philosophical, if not hereditary) between the two monarchs. The significance of the in…
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Site of Pushkin’s Duel
This is a point of literary pilgrimage for those who mourn the loss of Russia’s poetic genius, Alexander Pushkin, who was senselessly killed in a duel with the Frenchman Georges d’Anthès on 8 February 1837. The story has developed a certain mythology around it in the past two centuries. A marble monument now stands on the place where Pushkin was shot and there are always fresh flowers here. From the metro station at Chyornaya Rechka, walk down Torzhkovskaya ul and turn left at the first light on Novosibirskaya ul. Walk straight to the end of the road, cross the train tracks and enter the park. The monument is across the park to the left.
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Catherine the Great Statue
An enormous statue of Catherine the Great stands amid the chess, backgammon and sometimes even mah jong players that crowd the benches of this airy square. The statue was created by Carlo Rossi in the 1820s and 1830s. At the Empress' heels are some of her renowned statesmen, including her lovers Orlov, Potemkin and Suvorov.
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Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad
On the way to or from the airport you won’t miss the awe-inspiring Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad. Centred on a 48m-high obelisk, the monument is a sculptural ensemble of bronze statues symbolising the heavy plight of defence and eventual victory.
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