Glory Monument

This monument is one of most peculiar points of interest in the city, our visiting card.

This monument is one of most peculiar points of interest in the city, our visiting card. Glory Monument is an initial point of development of the downtown. Hardly you can miss the unity conception of the creators of architectural complex of St.Petersburg Palace with its composition center – Alexander Column of Mon-Ferran, and a modest by capital’s standards ensemble of our Round Square with monument glorifying Poltava Victory. Many streets radiating from Glory Monument had churches at their ends. A most striking prospect had both Alexander (October) Street with Uspenski Cathedral at its end, which as we believe will be restored soon and resume its activity, and Monastery Street which ended by Holy Cross Exaltation Monastery. On June 28, 1709 a triumphal arch had been erected near the place where monument stands and near which a meeting between Peter I and fortress’s defenders with commandant Kelin at the head took place. Prince Alexis Borisovich Kurakin, the first Little-Russia General-Governor was initiator of the monument’s erection. A brass plate was placed during the monument’s construction with the lines: “God be praised! In memory of the victory won on June 27, 1709 by Russia Emperor Peter the Great over King of Sweden Charles XII, this monument was put at this place in Poltava, during the happy reign of Emperor Alexander I, by Little-Russia General-Governor prince Kurakin on June 27 1804”

Ariya Leon Semenovich Weingort - renowned Poltava architect, who more than 30 years worked as a chief architect of our city and made a valuable contribution into preserving our city’s unique appearance, in his book “Historical and architectural sketch of Poltava” noted that it was M. Amvrosim a province architect and former pupil of Moscow School of Architecture to whom belonged the main idea on monument’s concept. His project, sent to Arts Academy was approved as a whole, and Tomas de Edison - Russian architect of France origin (1759-1813) was entrusted by the Academy to make some improvements in it. Creative life of Tomas was closely connected with the life of Andreyan Dmitrievich Zakharov great architect of realism (1761-1811), together with whom he was building one of the beautiful structures in St. Petersburg - commodity exchange house located at the spit of Vasilevsky Island.

The existence of the many buildings around Glory Monument became possible thanks to a great talent of architect A. Zakharov. The ultimate monument’s project submitted on May 9, 1805 was approved and put into practice. The famous Russian sculptor F. Shcedrin was engaged in monument’s decoration, and the author of the monument to Minin and Pozharsky in Moscow, sculptor I. Martos was invited as an adviser. As we know, the monument style was a typical one for the beginning of 19th century. To give an example of the similar structures we may take up two monuments of Alexander I, all built during his lifetime in Riga and at the Tsarevo-Alexandersky mine.

1147 peasants, who belonged to Poltava city council, were heavily sponsoring monument’s construction. The supreme decree issued in 1804, ordained that the peasants’ revenues from now on “be placed at the disposal of General-Governor, until started construction of the monument is completed”. Around 135 000 rubles were collected in such a way. Furthermore, Emperor Alexander I had assigned means for the molding works on eagle and other different decorations which were done in St. Petersburg by “skilled caster” P. Ekimov.

The fortress-like square pedestal of the monument with real cannons mounted in its foundation (ten cannons were taken from Poltava fortress’s bastions, other eight from Perevolochnaya) was made of light grey granite mined near Kremenchug. Till 1885 there was a brass plate installed on the monument from the side of the Province Assembly House, with an inscription “Under the patronage of Little-Russia General-Governor prince Alexis Borisovich Kurakin”. The upper area of the pedestal has a beautiful cast-iron fence in the form of swords symbolically pointed downward. The monument’s cast-iron column consisting of four parts connected with three unique bronze hoops was cast at Lugansk Cast-iron Foundry.

The bronze parts of the pedestal, featuring various military attributes are emphasizing the special beauty of the monument. At the other two sides of the pedestal you may see inscriptions “27th of July, 1709” and “Completed in 1809” These two inscriptions are written inside the bronze rings in the form of serpents holding their tails by the jaws. The latter inscriptions has nothing to do with reality, it was merely a creators’ wish to unveil the monument by 100th anniversary of Poltava Battle. The monument’s column is crowned with a hemisphere on a top of which a gilded eagle sits holding arrows in his claws and laureate wreath in a beak. The eagle is staring at the place, where Poltava Battle took place.

In 1808 F. Alexeev professor of the Arts Academy visited Poltava and made a blueprint on a forward-looking development of the Alexander Square. By looking at this blueprint we may judge what appearance the square had at the time of monument’s completion.

Glory Monument was solemnly unveiled on June 27, 1811 during the office period of Genera-Governor of Little-Russia, Secret adviser and Prince Yakov Ivanovich Lobanov-Rostovsky. Prince A.B. Kurakin had already been Minister of Internal Affairs of Russian Empire at that time. On this occasion, Poltava bishop Theophan recited the liturgy in Uspenski Cathedral. After that religious procession started moving toward Alexander Square, followed by “province officials according to their rank” and at the presence of big crowd the monument was finally unveiled.

In 1852, the square founded around Glory Monument by the order of Emperor Nicholas I was placed together with the monument under the jurisdiction of Petrov Military School of Poltava opened in 1840. A most curious thing connected with it is that in 1880 due to the lack of funds for a maintenance of the square it was passed to the city under the conditions that all leisure activities be conducted in the period from 10th of June till 10th of August, when all cadets stay within the camp. As the time went by, a ring road was laid around the majestic park fenced with beautiful cast-iron enclosure. The park’s paths are harmonically merging with radial streets each of them opening a fantastic view to the Monument of Glory.

This monument has had plenty in its long life…German gunnery at Poltava in 1918, takeover of a power for more then ten times, and as ever pogroms and executions time and again. Probably a few of the trees could have survived those cruel times up to our days; many of them were massively cut down as firewood in 1918-1920.

One of the old-timers in the park is a beautiful oak that is growing near Post Office, and another one is growing near Arts School. During the fascist occupation of the city, the Glory Monument had suffered a lot as the retreating German tanks tried to overturn the column. Luckily they didn’t manage to commit this barbaric act, and the monument escaped destruction.

At the end of 60ies, the park entrance, designed in “architectural style of Stalin times” was changed, only a small part of granite parapet is left untouched at the entrance. The monument had been restored by the celebration of 800th anniversary of Poltava in 1974 and the city residents could enjoy it in all its beauty once again.

Thanks to Poltava Virtual Museum : http://museum.poltava.ua