New times destroy old myths and create new ones. Some inquisitive minds of the 21st century call the Alexander Column the largest menhir on the planet. But is it?
Menhir for centuries
A menhir is a stone monolith that is taller than it is wide. There are many such standing stones on the planet. The columns with which our ancestors loved to decorate architectural complexes are a kind of memory of menhirs, because by the time these ancestors learned to process stones for columns, they had long ago abandoned the construction of menhirs. Most of the menhirs were erected during the Paleolithic era. Along with them, Paleolithic people also built cromlechs (alleys from a number of menhirs or circular structures from menhirs and trilithons like Stonehenge) and dolmens (stone “houses” made of standing stones, covered with another one lying on its side).
By the time Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich ordered the erection of a monument to his brother who died in Taganrog on the main square of St. Petersburg, primitive savages had already been resting in their primitive graves for a couple of millennia. And if we take into account that Nikolai Pavlovich was a little keen on historical research and reading “past jokes,” then he would never have dared to build a primitive menhir in his capital! Why would he be so stupid? Now, building five gallows in order to intimidate dissidents and execute several presumptuous Decembrists on them is a good thing. And the menhir... no, excuse me. Moreover, the emperor entrusted the construction of the monument not to the primitive Russian savage, but to the famous Montferrand.
But for modern truth-seekers, Montferrand, who documented the entire process of building the tallest column in the world, is not a decree. They are convinced that in fact, a stone pillar, that is, a menhir, has stood exactly in the middle of Palace Square since the Paleolithic era. Presumably, on a granite pedestal. And the architect Montferrand simply built a granite menhir with a brick top and installed an angel there. Less radical truth-lovers are not so sure about this: no, they write, Montferrand... found a ready-made menhir, which the ancestors did not have time to deliver to the pagan temple, and stuck it in the center of St. Petersburg for his glory and for the joy of everyone. And some people put Montferrand aside altogether and foam at the mouth to prove that this column, that is, this menhir, was hewn out of the Karelian rock by Russian builders who had ancient knowledge, and using a special ancient Russian Paleolithic technology. And that they cut down, delivered and installed this menhir without special devices and mechanisms - either by sorcery, or by the power of thought, or simply by strong laboring hands with hard peasant calluses...
Montferrand's brainchild
The construction of the Alexander Column is a mystery, shrouded in darkness, as these “historians” assure us. No design documents, no notes from Montferrand, no drawings, no eyewitness accounts have survived - nothing from this construction. And if there is nothing left, Montferrand didn’t build anything. He simply restored what had previously stood on Dvortsovaya, that is, the mentioned menhir! The largest menhir on the planet, the great heritage of the Paleolithic Russians!
However, they are lying. Montferrand published two albums about the construction of the Alexander Column - color and black and white. The pictures show in detail the entire process of processing, delivery and installation of our “menhir”. The tools with the help of which a block of the required size was broken off from a granite rock are also depicted. There are also descriptions of this process. No, it was not magic and the power of thought that the construction crews influenced the rock. They worked, as expected, with special tools. Many workers were hired. And since the emperor demanded that the monument be built quickly, these unfortunates were exploited without pity. They worked in the quarry for 400-600 people per shift.
What remains is a description of exactly how a crack was created in a monolithic block in order to break off the required part from it. To do this, they drilled holes in the stone, widened them with wedges, inserted long crowbars into them and began driving them into the rock like piles. One or more men stood at the full length of the crowbar and held it to guide it to the desired point, while other workers struck the free end with huge hammers. The noise was unbearable. But the worst thing was not for those who hit with hammers, but for those who held the crowbar: they became deaf, went blind, and their muscles tore from unbearable efforts. The work was hellish and with a very high mortality rate.
Having separated the block, it was compressed to the required size, and then they began to turn it into a column. Moreover, in the upper third they began to smoothly trim off the excess “shavings” so that visually this pillar would look equal in thickness - both above and below. For installation on the column, special protrusions were left in order to then attach rope rings to them. And although “secret seekers” believe that rounded granite products can only be made on a lathe, the column was not the only structure made from this material. And it was the 19th century...
To transport the “menhir”, a special, but by no means Paleolithic technology was also used - levers, gates, platforms, etc. The column was lowered onto a special frame equipped with runners, and a large crowd of men moved it along other runners equipped with bronze balls (a kind of bearings) until they were dragged to a ship, also specially built for its transportation.
National celebration
In the square, a column weighing 600 tons was placed on a pedestal using a special “tower” - a drawing of this tower is in Montferrand’s album. The column was attached to the wooden structure with five rows of rope rings. It was carefully installed “on its butt” in less than two hours (this is how admiring contemporaries described the installation). The column accepted vertical position and was held only by its own weight - no installation solutions were used. It turned out to be 25.6 meters high, if we consider the length of the structure itself, and 47.5 meters, if we consider the total length of all elements. It was truly the tallest column in the world at that time - higher than Trayanova and higher than Vendôme, which Montferrand took as a model.
True, the architect was not able to fully realize his plan. He dreamed of drilling out a column to create a spiral staircase inside it. He even figured out how to do it: he would need a good stonecutter and a boy capable of crawling into the interior of the structure. The downside of the project was that it could take years to hew out a spiral staircase in solid stone. The architect complained that the boy could increase in size during the work and complicate the entire progress of the work!
The Emperor nipped Montferrand's idea in the bud. He wanted to get the column as quickly as possible. And on August 30, 1832, he received it - on a powerful pedestal, round, pink, beautiful.
And exactly two years later the entire structure was completely completed. The pedestal was covered with granite bas-reliefs, the top of the column was equipped with a bronze capital, and a brick abacus was completed to install a cylindrical pedestal on which an angel with a cross was placed. And on August 30, 1834, a grand celebration took place - with a solemn prayer service and parade. All the St. Petersburg nobility gathered for the holiday. Simple people could observe the epochal event from afar, or from the surrounding roofs and trees.
Two points from early life The Alexander Column is described by hundreds of eyewitnesses - the installation of the pillar itself and the grand opening. In other words, you can forget about the “largest menhir in history.” Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin named the imperial column the Pillar of Alexandria. However, a pillar, not a menhir! Although the “truth seekers” also got to Pushkin: they suspect that the poet did not mean a column, but... the Alexandria Lighthouse. And where there is a lighthouse and Alexandria, there is a library and paganism. And where there is paganism, there are altars and temples. And where the temple is, there is, of course, a place for the “largest menhir.” These, alas, are the fruits of enlightenment...
Artifacts of another story. Alexander Column
It is no longer a secret to anyone that something is wrong with our modern science called “History”. Many have heard about artifacts hidden and open, hushed up, stored in special storage facilities and in personal collections. Let's talk today about the most prominent artifact in St. Petersburg, the Alexander Column. Official historians are telling us a fairly logical tale.
Nicholas I decided to put on Palace Square column in honor of the victory over Napoleon. They entrusted the implementation of this idea in 1829 to the Frenchman Auguste Montferrand. To begin with, let’s imagine that Stalin, after the victory in the Great Patriotic War, finds a former Nazi architect and instructs him to build an unsurpassed victory monument in Russia Soviet people over fascism. As they say today: it’s cool, isn’t it? So I looked at it, so it’s ours Frenchman V Pyuterlak quarry near Vyborg a pebble, or rather a piece of rock.
Judging by the drawing given to us by official sources, a pebble supposedly weighing 1600 tons was not only sawed out of the rock with something, but they also managed to break it off, resulting in approximately the same megalith as lies in Baalbek and has surprised the entire scientific community for hundreds of years.
Here, for general development, we need to remember that today is a miracle modern technology, the most powerful self-propelled crane in the world, at its smallest reach, the miracle arrow only slightly lifts 1200 tons. So, our guys, who are so proud, dug it out of the rock by hand and made it out of a granite block with the help of water, sand and rags perfectly smooth polished cylinder lower diameter 3.5 meters upper diameter 3.15 meters, height 25.6 meters and weight 600 tons.
Then, somehow with their hands, they loaded the pole onto a supposedly special barge. What is the specialty of this barge, why did it not capsize during loading, how did the deck withstand such weight, and where are the drawings of this masterpiece? Question? They only say that it was used to transport 210 km column to St. Petersburg. There she is too on hands unloaded ashore. True, the embarrassment occurred during unloading, original. The boards are broken, but the bulk is ours hung in the air and waited until new boards were placed under it. Such a flexible column turned out to be. Then, with the help of ropes, logs and something else intangible, they rolled it along a specially built ramp to the installation site. Like this.
Proton-M, close to her in starting weight, modern guys roll on special cars on special rails, but our serfs, led by Auguste Montferand so dashingly on ropes The hemp ones did it. Here it should also be mentioned that these drawings showing and proving were taken from two albums published in France, and still the same Auguste Montferand.
The “old” album was published in 1832, the “new” one in 1836. That’s how “reliable” sources appeared. What happens next is even more interesting. More interesting than that that according to some sources, for some reason, 1250 pine pillars were driven into the base of the column. According to other sources, while digging a pit on Palace Square for a foundation for a column, we were very happy to stumble upon the ones already driven in in the 1760s piles. So it’s not clear what kind of piles there are, we only know that they were leveled by pouring water.
Imagine, we drove 1250 6-meter piles into the pit one to one, and then poured the required level of water, and took I don't know what tool exactly 1250 in terms of water level and trimmed. Then, again, according to one version, granite slabs were laid on them, according to another, a huge monolith was brought from the same quarries. This monolith, weighing 400 tons, was made on site and sent to St. Petersburg by sea on a small boat.
Upon arrival, as usual, the peasants, using ropes and wooden rollers, dragged this block into place, and safely, having poured sand and poured vodka into the solution, according to Auguste’s advice, they placed it on the piles. There is not much left to do, namely to put the column in place.
True, it is not explained here that probably in order to deliver the foundation monolith it was necessary to first build one wooden ramp for the entire Palace Square, and then dismantle it completely another one, this time for transporting the column. Well, they also draw us some inconceivable structure, with the help of which the column was supposedly placed in a vertical position 2400 soldiers in less than 2 hours.
The wooden structure very convincingly shows that this is supposedly possible. However, the question of this possibility remains purely rhetorical, since there are no hunters trying to repeat it.
After the joyful installation of the column in its place, after two years of finalizing the masterpiece, September 11, 1834 The grand opening of the column and a grand parade took place.
In this dark history something completely incomprehensible still emerges, namely the artist’s watercolor Grigory Gagarin 1832-1833 “Alexander's Column in the woods” . This watercolor by a completely realistic artist depicts Palace Square with some kind of structure being dismantled, from which a column sticks out in the scaffolding.
This somehow doesn’t fit into the official version. If we remember here that the upper part of the monument is not granite, but brick, then it becomes clear why in the watercolor of Prince Gagarin there are forests nothing like a lifting mechanism. Rather they are for restoration works, or construction of the upper part on an already standing column. After all, if Montferan could manufacture, deliver and install a granite column 600 tons, what it cost him from granite and top part own.
It is also important to mention that the column was allegedly installed in 1832, and was inaugurated in 1834 on the same day: August 30 according to the old style, September 11 according to the new style. For our contemporaries, this is not just a day, but after the terrorist attacks in New York, the day designated as the beginning new era in the history of our civilization. Appointed by whom?: you ask. We can only guess how long all these events 11 September associated with beheading John the Baptist the ruler of Galilee and by whom this unjust death of a holy man is celebrated, and for whom this is a day of mourning and why. Let's leave this information for reflection.
To complete the picture, it should be noted that modern stone processors boast as their greatest achievement the production of granite columns for cities by decree of President Putin military glory. These columns do not exceed 6 meters and weigh no more than 16 tons. And almost 200 years ago they could make and transport columns weighing 600 tons without electricity, modern cranes, modern diamond stone-cutting tools and other technologies. Seems like a very impressive comparison. Is not it?
There are many ways to control a person's consciousness and manipulate society. But one of the most effective is history. Juggling and rearranging, inventing historical facts, constructing myths and legends is one of the most powerful tools for managing people. According to the law of time, we live when the global source of information the Internet gives a person the opportunity to build on many issues not a kaleidoscopic idea of the events of the past, but mosaic.
This circumstance significantly reduces the possibility of manipulating us. The main thing is that we finally wanted not to be deceived, we have ceased to be masses and individuals who can easily be led where we do not want to go. A person must become aware, must create a community of creation, and for this today everything is there.
Distortion of history. Part 4. Alexandria Column
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This monument complemented the composition of the Arch of the General Staff, which was dedicated to the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812. The idea of building the monument was proposed by the famous architect Carl Rossi. When planning the space of Palace Square, he believed that a monument should be placed in the center of the square. However, the proposed idea of installing another equestrian statue He rejected Peter I.
An open competition was officially announced on behalf of Emperor Nicholas I in 1829 with the wording in memory of “ unforgettable brother". Auguste Montferrand responded to this challenge with a project to erect a grandiose granite obelisk. Taking into account the size of the square, Montferrand did not consider options for a sculptural monument, realizing that, not having colossal dimensions, it would simply get lost in its ensemble.
A sketch of that project has been preserved and is currently in the library; it has no date; according to Nikitin, the project dates back to the first half of 1829. Montferrand proposed installing a granite obelisk, similar to the ancient Egyptian obelisks, on a granite base. The total height of the monument was 33.78 meters. The front side was supposed to be decorated with bas-reliefs depicting the events of the War of 1812 in photographs from the famous medallions by medalist Count F. P. Tolstoy.
On the pedestal it was planned to carry the inscription “To the Blessed One - Grateful Russia.” On the pedestal, the architect placed bas-reliefs (the author of which was the same Tolstoy) depicting Alexander in the form of a Roman warrior on a horse, trampling a snake with his feet; a double-headed eagle flies in front of the rider, followed by the goddess of victory, crowning him with laurels; the horse is led by two symbolic female figures.
The sketch of the project indicates that the obelisk was supposed to surpass all known monoliths in the world in its height. The artistic part of the project is excellently executed using watercolor techniques and testifies to Montferrand’s high skill in various areas of fine art. The project itself was also done “with great skill.”
Trying to defend his project, the architect acted within the limits of subordination, dedicating his essay “ Plans et details du monument consacré à la mémoire de l’Empereur Alexandre“, but the idea was still rejected and Montferrand was explicitly pointed to the column as the desired form of the monument.
Final project
The second project, which was subsequently implemented, was to install a column higher than that of Vendôme (erected in honor of Napoleon's victories). Montferrand used the columns of Trajan and Antoninus in Rome, Pompey's in Alexandria, and finally the Vendôme Column in Paris as sources for his project.
The narrow scope of the project did not allow the architect to escape the influence of world-famous examples, and his new work was only a slight modification of the ideas of his predecessors. Montferrand refused to use additional decorations, such as bas-reliefs, spiraling around the core of the ancient Trajan's Column, since, according to him, contemporary artists could not compete with the ancient masters, and settled on a version of the column with a smooth core made of a giant polished monolith of pink granite high 25.6 meters (12 fathoms). He copied the pedestal and base almost unchanged from Trajan's Column.
Montferrand made his monument taller than all existing monolithic columns - together with the pedestal and the crowning sculpture, its height was 47.5 m. In this new form, on September 24, 1829, the project without sculptural completion was approved by the emperor, and a few days later Montferrand was appointed builder of the column.
Construction took place from 1829 to 1834. Since 1831, Count Yu. P. Litta was appointed chairman of the “Commission on the Construction of St. Isaac’s Cathedral”, which was responsible for the installation of the column.
Preparatory work
After separating the workpiece, huge stones were cut from the same rock for the foundation of the monument, the largest of which weighed about 25 thousand poods (more than 400 tons). Their delivery to St. Petersburg was carried out by water, for this purpose a barge of a special design was used.
The monolith was duped on site and prepared for transportation. Transportation issues were dealt with by naval engineer Colonel K. A. Glazyrin, who designed and built a special boat, named “St. Nicholas”, with a carrying capacity of up to 65 thousand poods (about 1100 tons). To carry out loading work, a pier and a pier (its dimensions are 50 x 40 m) were built. Loading was carried out from a wooden platform that completed the pier and coincided in height with the side of the ship.
Having overcome all difficulties, the column was loaded on board, and the monolith went to Kronstadt on a barge towed by two steamships, from there to go to the Palace Embankment of St. Petersburg.
The arrival of the central part of the column in St. Petersburg took place on July 1, 1832. The contractor, merchant son V. A. Yakovlev, was responsible for all of the above work; further work was carried out on site under the leadership of O. Montferrand.
Yakovlev's business qualities, extraordinary intelligence and management were noted by Montferrand. Most likely he acted independently, " at your own expense» - taking on all financial and other risks associated with the project. This is indirectly confirmed by the words:
Yakovlev's case is over; the upcoming difficult operations concern you; I hope you have as much success as he did.
Nicholas I, to Auguste Montferrand regarding the prospects after unloading the column in St. Petersburg
Works in St. Petersburg
Since 1829, work began on the preparation and construction of the foundation and pedestal of the column on Palace Square in St. Petersburg. The work was supervised by O. Montferrand.
The foundation of the monument was built from stone granite blocks half a meter thick. It was extended to the horizon of the square using planked masonry. In its center was placed a bronze box with coins minted in honor of the victory of 1812.
The work was completed in October 1830.
Construction of the pedestal
After laying the foundation, a huge four-hundred-ton monolith, brought from the Pyuterlak quarry, was erected on it, which serves as the base of the pedestal. To install the monolith on the foundation, a platform was built onto which it was pumped using rollers along an inclined plane. The stone was dumped on a pile of sand that had been previously poured next to the platform.
“At the same time, the earth shook so much that eyewitnesses - passers-by who were in the square at that moment, felt something like an underground shock.”
After supports were placed under the monolith, workers raked out the sand and placed rollers. The supports were cut down, and the block was lowered onto the rollers. The stone was rolled onto the foundation and accurately installed. Ropes thrown over blocks were pulled into nine capstans and raised the stone to a height of about one meter. They took out the rollers and added a layer of slippery solution, very unique in its composition, on which they planted the monolith.
Since the work was carried out in winter, I ordered cement and vodka to be mixed and a tenth of soap added. Due to the fact that the stone initially sat incorrectly, it had to be moved several times, which was done with the help of only two capstans and with particular ease, of course, thanks to the soap that I ordered to be mixed into the solution
O. Montferrand
The placement of the upper parts of the pedestal was much more simple task- despite the greater lifting height, subsequent steps consisted of stones of much smaller sizes than the previous ones, and besides, the workers gradually gained experience. The remaining parts of the pedestal (hewn granite blocks) were installed on the base using mortar and fastened with steel brackets.
Column installation
- The column was rolled along an inclined plane onto a special platform located at the foot of the scaffolding and wrapped in many rings of ropes to which blocks were attached;
- Another block system was located on top of the scaffolding;
- A large number of ropes encircling the stone went around the upper and lower blocks and the free ends were wound on capstans placed in the square.
After all the preparations were completed, the day of the ceremonial ascent was set.
In parallel with the construction of the column, in September 1830, O. Montferrand worked on a statue intended to be placed above it and, according to the wishes of Nicholas I, facing the Winter Palace. In the original design, the column was completed by a cross entwined with a snake to decorate the fasteners. In addition, the sculptors of the Academy of Arts proposed several options for compositions of figures of angels and virtues with a cross. There was an option to install the figure of Saint Prince Alexander Nevsky.
As a result, the figure of an angel with a cross, made by sculptor B.I. Orlovsky with expressive and understandable symbolism, was accepted for execution - “ You'll win!" These words are associated with the story of the discovery of the life-giving cross:
The finishing and polishing of the monument lasted two years.
Opening of the monument
The opening of the monument took place on August 30 (September 11) and marked the completion of work on the design of Palace Square. The ceremony was attended by the sovereign, the royal family, the diplomatic corps, one hundred thousand Russian army and representatives of the Russian army. It was accompanied by a solemn service at the foot of the column, in which the kneeling troops and the emperor himself took part.
This is a worship service open air drew a parallel with the historical prayer service of Russian troops in Paris on the day Orthodox Easter March 29 (April 10) of the year.
It was impossible to look without deep emotional tenderness at the sovereign, humbly kneeling in front of this numerous army, moved by his word to the foot of the colossus he had built. He prayed for his brother, and everything at that moment spoke of the earthly glory of this sovereign brother: the monument bearing his name, and the kneeling Russian army, and the people among whom he lived, complacent, accessible to everyone.<…>How striking was at that moment the contrast between the greatness of life, magnificent but fleeting, with the greatness of death, gloomy but unchanging; and how eloquent this angel was in regard to both, who, unrelated to everything that surrounded him, stood between earth and heaven, belonging to the one with his monumental granite, depicting what no longer exists, and to the other with his radiant cross, a symbol of what always and forever
In honor of this event, a memorial ruble was issued in the same year with a circulation of 15 thousand.
Description of the monument
The Alexander Column is reminiscent of examples of triumphal buildings of antiquity; the monument has amazing clarity of proportions, laconism of form, and beauty of silhouette.
Text on the monument plaque:
TO ALEXANDER IMA GRATEFUL RUSSIAIt is the tallest monument in the world, made of solid granite, and the third tallest of all monumental columns - after the Column of the Grand Army in Boulogne-sur-Mer and Trafalgar (Nelson's Column) in London; The Alexander Column is taller than the Vendôme Column in Paris, Trajan's Column in Rome and Pompey's Column in Alexandria.
The column trunk is the tallest and heaviest monolith ever installed vertically in the form of a column or obelisk, and one of the greatest (the fifth in history and the second - after the Thunder Stone - in modern times) monoliths moved by man.
Characteristics
- The total height of the structure is 47.5 m.
- The height of the trunk (monolithic part) of the column is 25.6 m (12 fathoms).
- Pedestal height 2.85 m (4 arshins),
- The height of the angel figure is 4.26 m,
- The height of the cross is 6.4 m (3 fathoms).
- The bottom diameter of the column is 3.5 m (12 ft), the top is 3.15 m (10 ft 6 in).
- The size of the pedestal is 6.3×6.3 m.
- The dimensions of the bas-reliefs are 5.24×3.1 m.
- Fence dimensions 16.5×16.5 m
- The total weight of the structure is 704 tons.
- The weight of the stone column trunk is about 600 tons.
- The total weight of the column top is about 37 tons.
The column itself stands on a granite base without any additional supports, only under the influence of its own gravity.
Pedestal
The pedestal of the column, decorated on four sides with bronze bas-reliefs, was cast at the C. Byrd factory in 1833-1834.
A large team of authors worked on the decoration of the pedestal: the sketches were made by O. Montferrand, who showed himself here to be an excellent draftsman. His designs for bas-reliefs and bronze decorations are distinguished by “clarity, confidence of lines and careful drawing of details.”
The bas-reliefs on the pedestal of the column in an allegorical form glorify the victory of Russian weapons and symbolize courage Russian army. The bas-reliefs include images of ancient Russian chain mail, cones and shields stored in the Armory Chamber in Moscow, including helmets attributed to Alexander Nevsky and Ermak, as well as the 17th century armor of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, and that, despite Montferrand’s statements, it is completely doubtful that the shield Oleg of the 10th century, nailed to the gates of Constantinople.
Based on Montferrand's drawings, artists J.B. Scotti, V. Soloviev, Tverskoy, F. Brullot, Markov made cardboards for life-size bas-reliefs. Sculptors P.V. Svintsov and I. Leppe sculpted bas-reliefs for casting. Models of double-headed eagles were made by sculptor I. Leppe, models of the base, garlands and other decorations were made by sculptor-ornamentalist E. Balin.
These images appeared on the work of the Frenchman Montferrand through the efforts of the then president of the Academy of Arts, a famous lover of Russian antiquity A. N. Olenin. However, the style of depicting military fittings most likely dates back to the Renaissance.
In addition to armor and allegories, allegorical figures are depicted on the pedestal on the northern (front) side: winged female figures hold a rectangular board with the inscription in civil script: “Grateful Russia to Alexander the First.” Below the board is an exact copy of armor samples from the armory.
The symmetrically located figures on the sides of the weapons (on the left - a beautiful young woman leaning on an urn from which water is pouring out and on the right - an old Aquarius man) represent the Vistula and Neman rivers, which were crossed by the Russian army during the persecution of Napoleon.
Other bas-reliefs depict Victory and Glory, recording the dates of memorable battles, and, in addition, on the pedestal are depicted the allegories “Victory and Peace” (the years 1812, 1813 and 1814 are inscribed on the Victory shield), “Justice and Mercy”, “Wisdom and Abundance” "
At the upper corners of the pedestal there are double-headed eagles; they hold in their paws oak garlands lying on the ledge of the pedestal cornice. On the front side of the pedestal, above the garland, in the middle - in a circle bordered by an oak wreath, is the All-Seeing Eye with the signature “1812”.
All bas-reliefs depict weapons of a classical nature as decorative elements, which
...does not belong to modern Europe and cannot hurt the pride of any people.
Column and angel sculpture
The stone column is a solid polished element made of pink granite. The column trunk has a conical shape.
The top of the column is crowned with a bronze capital of the Doric order. Its upper part - a rectangular abacus - is made of brickwork with bronze cladding. A bronze cylindrical pedestal with a hemispherical top is installed on it, inside which is enclosed the main supporting mass, consisting of multi-layer masonry: granite, brick and two more layers of granite at the base.
The column itself is higher than that of Vendôme, and the figure of the angel exceeds in height the figure of Napoleon I on the latter. An angel tramples a serpent with a cross, which symbolizes the peace and tranquility that Russia brought to Europe, having won the victory over Napoleonic troops.
The sculptor gave the angel’s facial features a resemblance to the face of Alexander I. According to other sources, the figure of the angel is a sculptural portrait of the St. Petersburg poetess Elisaveta Kulman.
The light figure of an angel, the falling folds of clothing, the clearly defined vertical of the cross, continuing the vertical of the monument, emphasize the slenderness of the column.
Montferrand transferred the pedestal and base of Trajan's Column, as well as the lower diameter of the rod - 12 feet (3.66 m) into his design without changes. The height of the shaft of Alexander's Column was taken to be 3 feet less than Trajan's Column at 84 feet (25.58 m), and the top diameter was 10 feet 6 inches (3.19 m). As in the Roman Doric order, the height of the column was eight times its diameter. The architect designed own system thinning of the column core - an important element affecting the overall perception of the monument. Contrary to the classical thinning system, Montferrand began it not from a height equal to one third of the rod, but immediately from the base, drawing a thinning curve using divisions of tangent lines drawn to segments of the arc of the base section. In addition, he used a larger number of divisions than usual - twelve. As Nikitin notes, the thinning system of the Alexander Column is an undoubted success of Montferrand.
Fence and surroundings of the monument
The Alexander Column was surrounded by a decorative bronze fence about 1.5 meters high, designed by Auguste Montferrand. The fence was decorated with 136 double-headed eagles and 12 captured cannons (4 in the corners and 2 framed by double gates on four sides of the fence), which were crowned with three-headed eagles.
Between them were placed alternating spears and banner poles, topped with guards double-headed eagles. There were locks on the gates of the fence in accordance with the author's plan.
In addition, the project included the installation of candelabra with copper lanterns and gas lighting.
The fence in its original form was installed in 1834, all elements were completely installed in 1836-1837. In the north-eastern corner of the fence there was a guard box, in which there was a disabled person dressed in a full guards uniform, who guarded the monument day and night and kept order in the square.
An end pavement was built throughout the entire space of Palace Square.
Stories and legends associated with the Alexander Column
Legends
Regarding this column, one can recall the proposal made to Emperor Nicholas by the skillful French architect Montferrand, who was present at its cutting, transportation and installation, namely: he suggested that the emperor drill a spiral staircase inside this column and demanded for this only two workers: a man and a boy with a hammer, a chisel and a basket in which the boy would carry out fragments of granite as he drilled it out; finally, two lanterns to illuminate the workers in their difficult work. In 10 years, he argued, the worker and the boy (the latter, of course, would grow up a little) would have finished their spiral staircase; but the emperor, justifiably proud of the construction of this one-of-a-kind monument, feared, and perhaps with good reason, that this drilling would not pierce the outer sides of the column, and therefore refused this proposal.
Addition and restoration work
Two years after the installation of the monument, in 1836, under the bronze top of the granite column, white-gray spots began to appear on the polished surface of the stone, spoiling the appearance of the monument.
In 1841, Nicholas I ordered an inspection of the defects then noticed on the column, but the conclusion of the examination stated that even during the processing process, the granite crystals partially crumbled in the form of small depressions, which are perceived as cracks.
In 1861, Alexander II established the “Committee for the Study of Damage to the Alexander Column,” which included scientists and architects. Scaffolding was erected for inspection, as a result of which the committee came to the conclusion that, indeed, there were cracks on the column, originally characteristic of the monolith, but fear was expressed that an increase in the number and size of them “could lead to the collapse of the column.”
There have been discussions about the materials that should be used to seal these caverns. The Russian “grandfather of chemistry” A. A. Voskresensky proposed a composition “which was supposed to impart a closing mass” and “thanks to which the crack in the Alexander Column was stopped and closed with complete success” ( D. I. Mendeleev).
For regular inspection of the column, four chains were secured to the abacus of the capital - fasteners for lifting the cradle; in addition, the craftsmen had to periodically “climb” the monument to clean the stone from stains, which was not an easy task, given the large height of the column.
The decorative lanterns near the column were made 40 years after the opening - in 1876 by the architect K. K. Rachau.
During the entire period from the moment of its discovery until the end of the 20th century, the column was subjected to restoration work five times, which was more of a cosmetic nature.
After the events of 1917, the space around the monument was changed, and on holidays the angel was covered with a red tarpaulin cap or camouflaged with balloons lowered from a hovering airship.
The fence was dismantled and melted down for cartridge cases in the 1930s.
The restoration was carried out in 1963 (foreman N.N. Reshetov, the head of the work was restorer I.G. Black).
In 1977, restoration work was carried out on Palace Square: historical lanterns were restored around the column, the asphalt surface was replaced with granite and diabase paving stones.
Engineering and restoration work of the early 21st century
At the end of the 20th century, after a certain time had passed since the previous restoration, the need for serious restoration work and, first of all, a detailed study of the monument began to be felt more and more acutely. The prologue to the start of work was the exploration of the column. They were forced to produce them on the recommendation of specialists from the museum of urban sculpture. The experts were alarmed by large cracks at the top of the column, visible through binoculars. The inspection was carried out from helicopters and climbers, who in 1991, for the first time in the history of the St. Petersburg restoration school, landed a research “landing party” on the top of the column using a special fire hydrant “Magirus Deutz”.
Having secured themselves at the top, the climbers took photographs and videos of the sculpture. It was concluded that restoration work was urgently needed.
The Moscow association Hazer International Rus took over the financing of the restoration. The Intarsia company was chosen to carry out work worth 19.5 million rubles on the monument; this choice was made due to the presence in the organization of personnel with extensive experience working at such critical facilities. Work at the site was carried out by L. Kakabadze, K. Efimov, A. Poshekhonov, P. Portuguese. The work was supervised by first category restorer V. G. Sorin.
By the fall of 2002, scaffolding had been erected and conservators were conducting on-site research. Almost all the bronze elements of the pommel were in disrepair: everything was covered with a “wild patina”, “bronze disease” began to develop in fragments, the cylinder on which the figure of the angel rested was cracked and took on a barrel-shaped shape. The internal cavities of the monument were examined using a flexible three-meter endoscope. As a result, the restorers were also able to establish what the overall design of the monument looks like and determine the differences between the original project and its actual implementation.
One of the results of the study was the solution to the stains appearing in the upper part of the column: they turned out to be a product of the destruction of the brickwork, flowing out.
Carrying out work
Years of rainy St. Petersburg weather resulted in the following destruction of the monument:
- The brickwork of the abacus was completely destroyed; at the time of the study, the initial stage of its deformation was recorded.
- Inside the cylindrical pedestal of the angel, up to 3 tons of water accumulated, which got inside through dozens of cracks and holes in the sculpture’s shell. This water, seeping down into the pedestal and freezing in winter, tore the cylinder, giving it a barrel-shaped shape.
The restorers were given the following tasks: to remove water from the cavities of the pommel, to prevent the accumulation of water in the future, and to restore the structure of the abacus support. The work was carried out mainly in winter at high altitudes without dismantling the sculpture, both outside and inside the structure. Control over the work was carried out by both core and non-core structures, including the administration of St. Petersburg.
The restorers carried out work to create a drainage system for the monument: as a result, all the cavities of the monument were connected, and the cavity of the cross, about 15.5 meters high, was used as an “exhaust pipe”. The created drainage system provides for the removal of all moisture, including condensation.
The brick top weight in the abacus was replaced with granite, self-locking structures without binding agents. Thus, Montferrand's original plan was again realized. The bronze surfaces of the monument were protected by patination.
In addition, more than 50 fragments left over from the siege of Leningrad were extracted from the monument.
The scaffolding from the monument was removed in March 2003.
Fence repair
... “jewelry work” was carried out and when recreating the fence “iconographic materials and old photographs were used.” “Palace Square has received the finishing touch.”
The fence was made according to a project completed in 1993 by the Lenproektrestavratsiya Institute. The work was financed from the city budget, costs amounted to 14 million 700 thousand rubles. The historical fence of the monument was restored by specialists from Intarsia LLC. The installation of the fence began on November 18, and the grand opening took place on January 24, 2004.
Soon after the discovery, part of the grating was stolen as a result of two “raids” by vandals - hunters for non-ferrous metals.
The theft could not be prevented, despite the 24-hour surveillance cameras on Palace Square: they did not record anything in the dark. To monitor the area at night, it is necessary to use special expensive cameras. The leadership of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate of St. Petersburg decided to establish a 24-hour police post at the Alexander Column.
Roller around the column
At the end of March 2008, an examination of the condition of the column fence was carried out, and a defect sheet was compiled for all losses of elements. It recorded:
- 53 places of deformation,
- 83 lost parts,
- Loss of 24 small eagles and one large eagle,
- 31 partial loss of parts.
- 28 eagles
- 26 peak
The disappearance did not receive an explanation from St. Petersburg officials and was not commented on by the organizers of the skating rink.
The organizers of the skating rink committed themselves to the city administration to restore the lost elements of the fence. Work was supposed to begin after the May holidays of 2008.
Mentions in art
The column is also depicted on the cover of the album “Lemur of the Nine” by the St. Petersburg group “Refawn”.
Column in literature
- « Alexandria pillar» mentioned in the most famous poem A. S. Pushkin "". Pushkin's Alexandria Pillar is a complex image; it contains not only a monument to Alexander I, but also an allusion to the obelisks of Alexandria and Horace. At the first publication, the name “Alexandrian” was replaced by V. A. Zhukovsky for fear of censorship with “Napoleons” (meaning the Vendôme Column).
In addition, contemporaries attributed the following couplet to Pushkin:
In Russia everything breathes military craft
And the angel puts a cross on guardCommemorative coin
On September 25, 2009, the Bank of Russia issued a commemorative coin with a face value of 25 rubles, dedicated to the 175th anniversary of the Alexander Column in St. Petersburg. The coin is made of 925 silver, with a mintage of 1000 copies and weighing 169.00 grams
As the capabilities of humanities technologies grow, the role of history increases. Or is our understanding of it improving? However, it is no longer a secret to anyone that something is wrong with our modern science called “History”.
Still would! After all, on the one hand, in terms of methodology, history is stuck somewhere in the twentieth century. and completely ignores the achievements of other humanities, including the ideas of the Annales school, and on the other hand, they expect more from history.
Here's an example.
The mystery of the origin of the Alexander Column.
Many have heard about artifacts hidden and open, hushed up, stored in special storage facilities and in personal collections. Today we’ll talk about the most prominent artifact in St. Petersburg, the Alexander Column. Official historians are telling us a fairly logical tale.
Under Nicholas I, it was decided to erect a column on Palace Square in honor of the victory over Napoleon. The Frenchman Auguste Montferand was assigned to implement this idea in 1829.
To begin with, let’s imagine that Stalin, after the victory in the Great Patriotic War, finds a former Nazi architect and instructs him in Russia to build an unsurpassed monument to the victory of the Soviet people over fascism. As they say today: it’s cool, isn’t it? So, it means that our Frenchman looked at a pebble, or rather a piece of rock, in the Pyuterlak quarry near Vyborg.
Judging by the drawing given to us by official sources, a pebble supposedly weighing 1600 tons was not only sawed out of the rock with something, but they also managed to break it off, resulting in approximately the same megalith as the one that lies in Baalbek and has been surprising the entire scientific community for hundreds of years.
Here, for general development, we need to remember that today the miracle of modern technology, the most powerful self-propelled crane in the world, at the smallest reach of its miracle boom only slightly lifts 1,200 tons.
So our guys, with pride breaking through, manually dug it out of the rock and, with the help of water, sand and rags, made a perfectly smooth polished cylinder from a granite block with a lower diameter of 3.5 meters, an upper diameter of 3.15 meters, a height of 25.6 meters and weighing 600 tons.
Then, using their hands, they loaded the pole onto a supposedly special barge. What is the specialty of this barge, why did it not capsize during loading, how did the deck withstand such weight, and where are the drawings of this masterpiece? Question? They only say that it was used to transport the convoy 210 km to St. Petersburg. There she was also unloaded onto the shore by hand. True, the embarrassment occurred during unloading, original. The boards broke, but our giant hovered in the air and waited until new boards were placed under it. Such a flexible column turned out to be. Then, with the help of ropes, logs and something else intangible, they rolled it along a specially built ramp to the installation site. Like this.
Proton-M, which is close to it in the starting weight, modern guys roll it in special cars on special rails, but our serfs, led by Auguste Montferrand, famously did it on hemp ropes. Here it should also be mentioned that these showing and proving drawings were taken from two albums published in France, and all by the same Auguste Montferrand.
The “old” album was published in 1832, the “new” one in 1836. That’s how “reliable” sources appeared. What happens next is even more interesting. What’s more interesting is that, according to some sources, 1,250 pine pillars were driven into the base of the column. According to other sources, while digging a pit on Palace Square for a foundation for a column, they were very happy when they came across piles that had already been driven in in the 1760s. So it’s not clear what kind of piles there are, we only know that they were leveled by pouring water.
Imagine, they drove 1250 6-meter piles into the foundation pit one by one, and then poured the required level of water, and using an unknown tool, they cut all 1250 exactly according to the water level. Then, again, according to one version, granite slabs were laid on them, according to another, a huge monolith was brought from the same quarries. This monolith, weighing 400 tons, was made on site and sent to St. Petersburg by sea on a small boat.
Upon arrival, as usual, the peasants, using ropes and wooden rollers, dragged this block into place, and safely, pouring sand and pouring vodka into the solution on Auguste’s advice, they placed it on the piles. There is very little left, namely to put the column in place.
True, it is not explained here that probably in order to deliver the foundation monolith it was necessary to first build one wooden ramp for the entire Palace Square, and then dismantle it completely another one, this time for transporting the column. Well, they also draw us some unimaginable structure, with the help of which the column was allegedly placed in a vertical position by 2,400 soldiers in less than 2 hours.
The wooden structure very convincingly shows that this is supposedly possible. However, the question of this possibility remains purely rhetorical, since there are no hunters trying to repeat it.
After the joyful installation of the column in its place after two years of finalizing the masterpiece, on September 11, 1834, the grand opening of the column and a grand parade took place.
In this dark story, something completely incomprehensible still emerges. namely, a watercolor by the artist Grigory Gagarin 1832-1833. “Alexander’s Column in the Woods.” This watercolor by a completely realistic artist depicts Palace Square with some kind of structure being dismantled, from which a column sticks out in the scaffolding.
This does not somehow fit into the official version. If we remember here that the upper part of the monument is not granite, but brick, then it becomes clear why in Prince Gagarin’s watercolor the scaffolding does not in any way resemble a lifting mechanism. Rather, they are for restoration work, or the construction of the upper part on an already standing column. After all, if Montferan could manufacture, deliver and install a granite column of 600 tons, then what would it cost him to make the top part out of granite?
It is also important to mention that the column was allegedly installed in 1832, and was inaugurated in 1834 on the same day: August 30 according to the old style, September 11 according to the new style.
For our contemporaries, this is not just a day, but after the terrorist attacks in New York, a day designated as the beginning of a new era in the history of our civilization. Appointed by whom?: you ask. We can only guess to what extent all these events of September 11 are connected with the beheading of John the Baptist by the ruler of Galilee and by whom this unjust death of a holy man is celebrated, and for whom this is a day of mourning and why. Let's leave this information for reflection.
To complete the picture, it should be noted that modern stone processors boast as their greatest achievement the production of granite columns for cities of military glory by decree of President Putin. These columns do not exceed 6 meters and weigh no more than 16 tons. And almost 200 years ago they could make and transport columns weighing 600 tons without electricity, modern cranes, modern diamond stone-cutting tools and other technologies. This seems like a very impressive comparison. Is not it?
There are many ways to control a person's consciousness and manipulate society. But one of the most effective is history. Juggling and rearranging, inventing historical facts, constructing myths and legends is one of the most powerful tools for managing people. According to the law of time, we live in a time when the global source of information, the Internet, gives a person the opportunity to build, on many issues, not a kaleidoscopic view of the events of the past, but a mosaic one.
This circumstance significantly reduces the possibility of manipulating us. The main thing is that we finally want not to be deceived, to stop being a mass and individuals who can easily be led where we don’t want to go. A person must become conscious, must create a community of creation, and for this today everything is there.
The Alexander Column was made in another civilization 15 thousand years ago
The Alexandria Column in St. Petersburg was made in another civilization 12 - 15 thousand years ago.
https://konhobar.wordpress.com/2015/09/21/Alexandrian-column-made-other/
St. Petersburg with Georgy Sidorov (Property of the Planet)
Researchers of the mysteries of antiquity have more than once drawn attention to the numerous oddities of the architecture and symbolism of the northern capital of Russia. Oddly enough, one of the youngest cities in our country leads in the number of objects whose origin raises many questions. The writer-historian and traveler Georgy Sidorov commented on the most striking of them. This is the symbol of St. Petersburg: the Alexander Column (also known as the “Alexandrian Pillar”), the Hermitage Atlas and St. Isaac’s Cathedral. “As always, Georgy Alekseevich put forward his own sensational assumptions. His stay in St. Petersburg became the starting point for a long expedition through the waters of the Arctic Ocean.
St. Petersburg has always had a mystical reputation. This city attracts seekers of the most secrets different directions. Mysteries in St. Petersburg are found literally at every step: there are houses with a bad reputation, and an extensive network of dungeons, and the sign of the unfortunate Emperor Paul I, and even his own Bermuda Triangle, not to mention the countless Masonic symbols on the architectural structures of the northern capital. For a researcher of artifacts of ancient civilizations, St. Petersburg is a real treasure chest, but the writer-historian Georgy Sidorov, remaining true to himself, went a path not yet taken and presented a radical A New Look on the secrets of St. Petersburg.
The first object of Georgy Sidorov's visit was the famous Alexander Column. This gigantic monument, almost fifty meters high and weighing more than 600 tons, was erected about two centuries ago in 1834. According to official data, blanks for the column and pedestal were mined in the Pyuterlak quarry, then transported by water to St. Petersburg, where further processing of the stone monoliths was carried out under the leadership of the architect Auguste Montferrand. However, Georgy Sidorov’s point of view on the origin of this monument differs significantly from the generally accepted one.
Georgy Sidorov: If you look at it, what is surprising is that it is chiseled. To carve such a column from a solid block of granite, firstly, at a minimum, we need our civilization, we need electricity, we need electrical energy, we need special machines. We need a machine that can sharpen such a huge block. Well, let’s say the column itself, 750 tons, can hardly be rotated, even in our time, right now we don’t have such technology. Most likely, this huge block stood, fixed, and some mechanism moved along it, segment by segment, sharpening it to its entire length and making it cone-shaped. The fact is that if you look at it, you can see that there is one segment, the second segment, it is all cut into segments, the sharpening went like this. Now the question is - how could they do this? After all, this was done by a mechanism, because the glare of light is falling, there is not a single wave, it is made as if according to a ruler. It was made, stored somewhere, most likely, they found it and decided to adapt it for this purpose, to perpetuate power Russian Empire. Montferrand brilliantly managed to deliver it, install it, but the fact that it was made in another civilization, not in our civilization, it was made a very long time ago, maybe 12-15 thousand years ago, because even now, as far as I know I managed to ask architects and builders, those who know stone, work on stone, they shrug their shoulders. Currently, there is no technology for manufacturing such a column. They simply never existed. You can stage it, you can bring it, but it’s almost impossible to do it. A lot of questions arise here. On the one hand, why were Hittite eagles needed, not Russian, but Hittite eagles, they are not Byzantine, Byzantine eagles, they are already with crowns, here a purely Hittite double-headed eagle stands, on four sides, and it is not clear where it came from here.
That's it! The column glorifying Russia's victory over Napoleon actually contains symbols of completely different peoples and completely different times, which may indicate its ancient origins. By the way, you can read about some little-known details of the death of the Hittite Empire and the appearance of the double-headed eagle in Rus' in the books of Georgy Sidorov.
Walking past the building of the new Hermitage, Georgy Sidorov drew attention to the magnificent figures of Atlanteans holding a massive balcony on their shoulders. The keen eye of the researcher was attracted not so much by the artistic merits of these majestic sculptures, but by the method of their manufacture.
Georgy Sidorov: They are all one to one, all one. For fun, look, it’s all one. Do you understand? Bodies, bodies, it seems that they are simply cast from one mold, all made.
Woman: Hair too, they are a little different.
Georgy Sidorov: What is left for the sculptor to complete? Here, loincloths, hair, this distinguishes them. Fingers, feet, proportions - everything that concerns the body itself is all one to one, down to maybe one tenth of a millimeter. That is, it is practically one figure, it is one figure everywhere. This means that those who once made them, they owned the secret of liquid granite, they managed to make granite liquid, they poured it, then they changed some parts that caught the eye, they changed loincloths, they changed hair, that is, there The sculptor's chisel was already working. And it turns out that they seem to be the same, at the same time slightly different, but the proportions are absolute. The structure of the knees, the structure of the legs, the structure of the veins, the veins are all absolutely the same on the legs, as if they were the same shape. It's all one form. Now, how to explain this? Only in one case can it be explained that the Atlases were cast, they were not made of solid granite, granite slabs or stones, they were cast from one mold, and then finished here, the difference was made only here where the work went on the wool, that is the wool, the loincloths, the hair on the head, everything, everything else is the same.
The last point Georgy Sidorov planned to visit was St. Isaac's Cathedral. It's majestic architectural structure was erected in the mid-19th century according to the design of the same Auguste Montferrand, the author of the Alexander Column. Is it possible that they have a common ancient origin?
Georgy Sidorov: This part here, the large steps are an exact copy of the May pyramids, the Aztec pyramids, they are circular, this is a piece of the pyramid. It goes there, I don’t know how deep it is, maybe it’s 20 meters deep, maybe more. And this is the temple. Here are these steps, they are already modern, they were made for the modern, that is, they were done recently. And those steps too, but they were made for people not of our race, two, two twenty, two thirty, two fifty, approximately, height. The structure was made, and these steps were made for other people, this was made for giants, for a very large four-meter man, and this was later adapted for us.
You can see that this is the same technology as the Alexandria Pillar and these columns, the only difference is that they are lighter, much lighter than a pillar. Each column weighs approximately 110 tons. This is also a huge weight, and it is not clear how these columns were delivered, it is not clear how they were installed, because everything can be described, as we say, “paper will endure everything,” but, in fact, in those times when there was no electricity, it was all done. They were carved, then they were polished, but now, if you look closely at the steps and columns, you can see that there are such ripples along the steps, and along the columns, along the polishing, that is, the process of weathering is underway. And weathering in a century, in two, cannot be at such a level, it is clear that these columns and steps are gigantic, they were not made in the 18th century, not in the 17th, or even in the 15th, that is, it was a very long time ago. All this represents a single complex.
The tour of St. Petersburg has come to an end. In the port, the Mercury boat is waiting for Georgy Sidorov, on which he and his comrades will go along the coast of the Arctic Ocean. The purpose of the expedition is to search for traces ancient civilization Hyperborea, which existed on the disappeared continent of Arctida. We will tell you about what Georgy Sidorov will discover during the expedition on the “Planet Heritage” channel.