THE ALEXANDER COLUMN-ST.PETERSBURG The Alexander column (in Russian: Алекса́ндровская коло́нна, Aleksandrovskaya kolonna) also known as column Alejandrina (in Russian: Александри́йская коло́нна, Aleksandriyskaya kolonna), is an interesting piece of architecture and engineering called thus by the Emperor, Alejandro I, who ruled Russia between 1801 and 1825. It is located in the center of the Plaza from the Palace of St. Petersburg, Russia, where it was erected after the Russian victory in the war against the French invasion of Napoleons armies. The Alexander column in scaffolding (1832-1834), by Grigori Gagarin. The Alexander column was designed by the French architect Auguste de Montferrand. It was built between 1830 and 1834, and it was revealed on August 30, 1834. The monument has a height of forty-seven meters and half, the highest of its kind in the world, and is completed by a statue of an angel bearing a cross, made by the Russian sculptor Borís Orlovski, and its appearance keeps a remarkable resemblance with the Emperor Alejandro I. The construction of the foundations and the scaffolding of the column as well as its lifting technique and placement on the pedestal was designed by the Spanish engineer Agustín de Betancourt. This technique was already employed previously by Betancourt in the construction of the St. Isaacs Cathedral whose columns are also made of a single piece. The column is made from a singular piece of red granite of twenty-five metres and medium in length and approximately three meters and a half diameter. The monolith of granite was extracted in Virolahti, Finland, and moved to Petersburgo by boat in 1832, on a barge designed specifically for this task. Without the aid of modern cranes and engineering machine, the column, weighing 600 tonnes, was built in less than two hours by three thousand men under the guidance of William Handyside, and is placed so perfectly that you dont need any attachment at the base. Pedestal Decorations on the pedestal of the Alexander column. The column pedestal is decorated with symbols of military glory, designed by Giovanni Battista Scotti. On the side of the pedestal facing the Winter Palace looks a bas-relief showing a winged figures carrying a plate with the inscription To Alexander I from a grateful Russia. The composition includes figures representing the rivers Neman and Vistula, related the events of the Patriotic war. Flanking these figures there are descriptions of old Russian armour - the shield of Prince Oleg de Nóvgorod, the helmet of Alejandro Nevski, the breastplate of Emperor Alejandro I, the chainmail of Yermak Timoféyevich, and other parts that recall ancient heroes whose martial feats brought glory to Russia. The other three sides are decorated with bas-reliefs representing allegorical figures such as wisdom and abundance, justice and mercy, peace and victory (the latter carrying a shield where you can see the dates 1812, 1813 and 1814). These compositions are accompanied by military symbols of ancient Rome and the Russian armor. Various artists participated in the realization of pedestal; the sketches for the bas-reliefs were produced by Auguste de Montferrand, who coordinated the scale of their compositions with the monumental forms of the monument; the panels were designed to size planned by the artist Giovanni Battista Scotti; the models were produced by the sculptors Piotr Svintsov and Ivan Lepee, and ornamental embellishments by sculptor Yevgueni Balin. The bronze cast was carried out at the factory of Charles Baird Petersburgo.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 11:42:15 +0000
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