O. MOZGOVAYA, art critic (St. Petersburg)

St. Petersburg is getting ready for its 300th anniversary. And as is customary, the city preens for the holiday. Restoration work has been underway at Strelka for several years. Vasilyevsky Island. In the XVIII century it was one of the most significant places in St. Petersburg. It was convenient to moor ships here, so in 1733 the port moved here from Berezovy Island. The building of the Stock Exchange, Customs, warehouses and other port facilities were erected on the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island. At the end of the 18th century, more than a thousand ships came to Strelka every year.

Currently, the port is located on Gutuevsky Island, but the features of maritime grandeur are still preserved on the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island. And among them - Rostral columns.

IN Ancient Rome there was a custom: in honor of naval victories, triumphal columns were erected, decorated with rostra (prows) of enemy ships. In St. Petersburg, the Rostral Columns were built in 1810 according to the design of the French architect Jean-Francois Thomas de Thomon. There was a time when the columns served as beacons for ships coming to the port. The height of each column is 32 meters. To the upper platforms, where the tripods for signal lights are located, there are spiral staircases located inside. Hemp oil was burned in braziers upstairs, and hot spray fell on the heads of passers-by.

In 1896 electricity was brought to the lamps. But this method of illumination was not used for long "because of the great expense."

And only on the 250th anniversary of the city, in 1957 (the anniversary was celebrated with a delay), gas was supplied to the columns, and 7-meter fire torches blazed in powerful burners. The fires on the Rostral Columns are lit only on especially solemn occasions. They also lit up on November 30 last year, when the Rostral columns were inaugurated after restoration.

SCULPTURE NEEDS PROTECTION

Rostral columns are one of the symbols of St. Petersburg. Triumphal columns are traditionally associated with power and strength. The monumental figures placed at the foot of the columns became the personification of these qualities.

The sculpture decorating the Rostral columns was created in 1810-1811, simultaneously with the entire ensemble, in which the synthesis of arts, so characteristic of the era of classicism, was fully manifested. Architecture and sculpture are an inseparable unity here, complementing each other.

Initially, the author of the project, Thomas de Thomon, intended to cast all the sculptural decor in bronze, but due to the complexity of the work, the statues had to be made from Pudost limestone. This material was mined in quarries near St. Petersburg, not far from Gatchina, in the town of Bolshaya Pudost, from which it got its name. Easily workable immediately after extraction from the quarry - it can be cut with a knife, limestone quickly hardens in the open air. The structure of the stone does not allow detailed study of small volumes and polishing of the surface, so the master working with Pudost limestone is deprived of the opportunity to demonstrate to the viewer the effect of transferring the texture of various materials, fine ornamentation. At the same time, the Pudost stone has its own specific advantages: strength, a beautiful yellowish-grayish warm shade, which stands out especially effectively against the background of granite blocks and the reddish-ocher color of the columns.

IN last years it was established that the French sculptors J. Kamberlen and F. Thibaut worked on the creation of sculptures. The first was the male figure on the northern column, and the rest of the sculptures belong to the hand of Thibaut. A more careful study of the sculpture reveals differences in the style of performance: the work of J. Camberlain differs from the rest in greater dynamism and complexity of the silhouette.

What do the sculptures represent? The opinion that allegorical images representing four Russian rivers are presented at the foot of the columns (the Volkhov and the Neva near the south, the Dnepr and Volga near the north) is not supported by documents and arose relatively recently. Thomas de Thomon himself wrote that "the base of each column is decorated with huge figures that symbolize the deities of the sea and commerce." The attributes of the sculptures are rather sparse, and none of them can confirm or completely refute the version that we have before us allegories of specific four rivers.

Pudost limestone, to a greater extent than other rocks, is subject to the damaging effects of temperature changes, precipitation, industrial emissions, cold and damp climate. Therefore, a sculpture made of Pudost stone often has to be restored.

Before the restoration of the sculpture of the Rostral Columns, which was carried out in 1928, the largest specialist in the field of monumental and decorative sculpture I. V. Krestovsky wrote: "The sculptures by the time of their restoration, carried out after the October Revolution, turned out to be painted with oil paint, and not once, but several , and every time a new color<...>All sculptures made of Pudozh limestone were ugly plastered with plaster, cement or plaster, not only in places of breakage, but also in completely intact places. During the restoration of the stone figures of the Rostral Columns, two or three extraneous cement, gypsum and plaster coatings were removed from each of the figures.

However, this critical review did not affect the progress of the repair work, and Krestovsky repeatedly drew attention to the fact that the restoration was again being carried out incorrectly.

During subsequent repairs, which were usually carried out in a hurry on the eve of the celebration of anniversaries, iron pins and nails were driven into the stone in places of loss, which served as reinforcement for cement finishing. The destroyed parts of the figures were replaced with new ones, made of cement or cut out of another type of stone, and everything was covered with paint.

The state in which the sculpture of the columns was for decades is evidenced by the acts preserved in the archive State Museum urban sculpture. They were compiled based on the results of inspections carried out before the next stages of restoration. However, unfortunately, in the course of the work carried out from 1928 to 1979, there were no fundamental changes in technology.

No measures were taken to strengthen the Pudost limestone, there was no hydrophobization, that is, protection of the stone surface from moisture. The monument continued to deteriorate to the point that the lack of structures for attaching protruding parts led to the fall of these parts. In some places, ferrous metal reinforcement with traces of deep corrosion was exposed.

AND AGAIN - RESTORATION

In 1996, the question arose of another restoration, as the sculpture was in disrepair.

In Russian art, the closest analogues to the stone images of the Rostral Columns are the figures of Alexander the Great, Achilles, Ajax and Pyrrhus, located at the base of the Admiralty Tower, by the sculptor F. Shchedrin. They are also made of Pudost stone. During the restoration of these sculptures in 1997-1998, the Hermitage employees tried and applied for the first time the methodology developed by the Spetsproektrestavratsiya research institute. This technique was also used in the restoration of the sculpture of the Rostral Columns, but here the specialists faced a much more difficult task.

First of all, the sculpture was washed, the persistent sooty pollution formed as a result of the influence of the city's atmosphere was removed, and then the biodamage that covered the surface in many places was neutralized with a special composition.

One of the most important measures taken by the restorers was the removal of late finishes. Alien materials differing in their physical properties from the Pudost stone contributed to the destruction of the sculpture. In addition, the Kolomna limestone (dolomite), which was used in numerous restorations, has a different color and surface texture than the Pudost stone. Therefore, parts of the sculptures made of dolomite were clearly out of place.

The cleaned stone was strengthened, and exact repetitions of the lost parts were installed in the damaged places. They were carried out according to the surviving drawings and photographs, fixing their original appearance. First, the missing details were made in plasticine, then in plaster, and when the Restoration Council approved the shape of the model, they were made in Pudost limestone.

The fastening of the missing parts, the elimination of small chips and cracks were carried out with a special composition of lime and marble chips. This mixture, in terms of its porosity and strength, is most consistent with natural Pudost stone. Used as far back as the 4th century by the architects of the Northern Black Sea region for processing architectural limestone details, the composition of lime and marble chips is still distinguished by its strength and good compatibility with the limestone surface.

To fix the lost elements, hollow corundum ceramic rods were used. The core manufacturing technology was developed at the St. Petersburg Institute of Refractories. Employees of the Research Institute "Spetsproektrestavratsiya" suggested using corundum ceramics, commonly used in medicine, and in restoration practice. This ceramic is inert to weathering and has an expansion coefficient close to stone, has high strength and low thermal conductivity. All this excludes the processes of destruction in the thickness of the stone. Accessible areas of metal parts that cannot be removed and replaced were cleaned and painted with an anti-corrosion compound.

The last stage of sculpture restoration is tinting and hydrophobization. Limestone sculpture is tinted with an aqueous solution of slaked lime. Application after this of the composition that protects the stone from moisture, allows the tinting to be firmly fixed on the stone. This method was developed specifically to protect the Pudost stone and has no analogues in world restoration practice.

To save the sculpture of the Rostral Columns, researchers, professional restorers, employees of the monument protection authorities and patrons have joined their efforts. The restoration work was financed by Baltonexim Bank. There was hope that patronage in Russia was being revived.

"Petersburg - the city of stone" - this is the name of the special program for the rescue of monumental sculpture. Next in line is the restoration of compositions on the pediment of the Stock Exchange building. The exchange celebrates its anniversary at the same time as St. Petersburg: in 1703, Peter I signed a decree on the creation of the Russian exchange.

- this is the arrow of the Neva, the eastern tip of Vasilyevsky Island in St. Petersburg. On the arrow is Birzhevoy Square.

In front of the spit of Vasilyevsky Island is the widest place on the Neva - here it is over a kilometer. Currently, the arrow of Vasilyevsky Island is one of the main attractions of the city, it is very popular with residents of the city and tourists. On Birzhevaya Square, citywide holidays, folk festivals and concerts are held.

History of Strelka

The construction of the arrow began under Peter the Great. The Exchange building, customs, warehouses were built here, the Gostiny Dvor was erected, and a port was organized on the very spit of the island. The space of the arrow was empty for a long time and only in 1767 it was decided to organize a horseshoe-shaped square here.

From 1783 to 1797 the main building of the Academy of Sciences was built, as well as the concave part of the northern warehouse.

In 1805-1810, a new Exchange was built and Rostral columns were installed. The buildings of the customs, southern and northern warehouses were built in 1826-1832.

In 1896, a square was laid out along the perimeter of Birzhevaya Square.

In 2003, a commemorative sign Anchor of the Petrine era, raised from the bottom of the Neva at the Skipper channel.

The architectural ensemble of the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island consists of:

• Exchange building
• Exchange square
• Exchange Square
• Rostral columns
• Memorial sign "Anchor of the Petrine era"
• Memorial stone "Here was the largest center of foreign trade of the Russian Empire"
• Arrow Embankment
• Square

Statues of sea deities on the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island

On the spit of Vasilyevsky Island there are 4 sculptures - sea deities made of Pudozh stone, which are allegories of rivers.

There are four sea deities denoting rivers:

• Neva,
• Dnieper,
• Volga,
• Volkhov.

However, there is not a single historical document that would indicate that the sea deities are allegories of rivers.

19. View of the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island. I.V. Czech. 1810s State Hermitage.

20. Sculpture of the "sea deity" at the foot of the Rostral Column. Photo: G.N. Popov.

21. One of the granite balls by Sukhanov on a postcard by A.P. Ostroumova-Lebedeva, 1942. Ill.: babs71.livejournal.com.

Fabulous architectural ensemble on the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island - one of the most beautiful and recognizable places in St. Petersburg. The arrow is called the eastern cape of the island, washed by the Bolshaya and Malaya Neva. Since the time of Peter the Great, a commercial seaport has been located here, to which hundreds of overseas ships came with goods.

Strelka received its completed form as a result of the creation in 1804–1811. designed by architect Zh.F. Thomas de Thomon of a grandiose ensemble in the style of classicism: with a new Stock Exchange, rostral columns and a semicircular embankment. All stonework during the construction of the architectural complex was carried out by Samson Sukhanov's artel. Field examination by A.G. Bulakh showed that here in in large numbers skillfully used Finnish coarse-grained pink and rare gray rapakivi granite.

The main part of the ensemble is the colossal building of the Exchange, built in the form of a peripter - an ancient temple, surrounded on all sides by a colonnade. The rectangular building rests on a high powerful stylobate (stylobate is the surface on which the colonnade was built) with a wide front staircase. On its sides are gentle ramps. Stonecutters Sukhanov lined the walls of the stylobate with large rectangular blocks of "Finnish marine granite" in four rows: gray granite - the top two rows, pink - the lower rows. The wide steps of the stairs are carved from the same stone of two colors (pink at the bottom of the stairs, gray at the top). For the columns, Sukhanov carved huge bases with a diameter of about two meters from monoliths of gray “Finnish sea granite”. All "marine Finnish granite" was mined in quarries near Vyborg. Sukhanov is credited with the execution of sculptural groups based on the models of J. Cumberlain (“Neptune with two rivers” and “Navigation and Mercury with two rivers”) on the attic of the Stock Exchange building.

At the same time, according to the project of the architect Zh.F. Thomas de Thomon and engineer I.K. Gerard in front of the Exchange, a square with a semicircular embankment was built, intended for the construction of a front pier seaport. Thousands of piles were driven into the bottom of the river to level the outlines of the coast and create a pier with a deep fairway, a huge mass of soil was poured, as a result of which coastline 123.5 m advanced into the bed of the Neva.

The artel of Sukhanov was engaged in the construction and decoration of a two-tier horseshoe-shaped embankment with a length of 561 m, covering the banks of the Bolshaya and Malaya Neva.

In 1807–1808 granite masons built a semi-circular retaining wall with a parapet from blocks of pink “Finnish sea granite”. It is decorated with a symbolic grotto in the form of an arch and is decorated with 12 lion masks carved from granite with bronze mooring rings. From the outside, slopes go around the wall - ramps made of granite slabs laid with an inclination, smoothly leading down to the pier area. On the sides of the pier, huge granite balls made by the craftsman Samson Sukhanov are placed on massive cubic stone pedestals. Created granite embankment"of amazing purity, strength and beauty in decoration" harmoniously blended into the architectural ensemble of the Strelka.

In 1810, the construction of the Rostral Columns on the sides of the semicircular square near the slopes to the Neva was completed by the working people of Sukhanov. The bases of the columns were carved from slightly pinkish, the pedestals from gray "Finnish sea granite", and the fusts (trunks) of the Roman Doric order columns were made of brick. The rostral columns, symbolizing naval victories and serving as beacons, were decorated with metal rostra - the bows of the ships and crowned with tripod lamps. The height of the columns reaches 32 m. At the foot of the columns there are huge figures, personifying, according to the plan of Thomas de Thomon, “the deities of the sea and commerce”, and now traditionally considered allegories of the Russian rivers Volga, Dnieper, Volkhov and Neva. They were executed in 1810–1811. Samson Sukhanov based on the models of the sculptors J. Thibaut and J. Kamberlin from Pudost stone. Perhaps the sculptors themselves were involved in the final “finishing”.

When creating the ensemble of the Strelka of Vasilievsky Island, the architect especially noted among the contractors the St. Petersburg merchants Samson Sukhanov, who headed the artel of masons, and Ivan Zherikhov with a team of carpenters, who "against other contractors, the treasury was tangible during the production of work." “For the creation of figures for lighthouses” Samson Sukhanov was awarded a caftan with gold braids (braided cord, tassel or fringe used to decorate clothes).

P.P. Svinin in 1817 gave an elegant description of the new Stock Exchange: “Bordeaux Stock Exchange, revered as the most magnificent in Europe, should now give way in beauty and vastness to the new St. Petersburg Stock Exchange, which, in addition to the merits of architecture, has a charming and most advantageous location.< …>The building consists of an oblong quadrangle 55 meters long, 41 meters wide, and 14 ½ fathoms high. It is surrounded by a number of Doric columns, which made up a beautiful open gallery around, having 14 pillars on the long sides and 10 on both facades. These latter are still surrounded from above by statues representing the Baltic Sea and the Neva allegorically.< …>The building is in the open. On the side of the Collegiums, it is separated by an area having 148 fathoms in length and 125 in width. In front of the main facade facing the Neva, a vast semicircular area was made for storing goods. Its banks are lined with granite slabs and have two round slopes leading to the surface of the river. At the ends of the square rise two majestic pillars, decorated with statues, ship prows< …>, of which the most remarkable of all is the colossal figure of Neptune with a trident, the work of the sculptor Thibaut from Pudost stone. In the interior of the pillars, steep stairs are held, along which one can climb to the very top of them, enclosing rather wide platforms with iron railings. From here, in clear weather, the most beautiful views are presented from all sides.

This is one of the articles in issue No. 119 of the charity wall newspaper “Briefly and Clearly About the Most Interesting” - “The Art of Stonecutting”. The issue was created on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the birth of stonemason master Samson Sukhanov. His name is now not particularly known, despite the fact that Sukhanov built almost half of St. Petersburg in the first third of the 19th century with his artel. The release continues the series "Stone decoration of St. Petersburg".

Thank you for your interest in our project.

The Hermitage was not the most beloved museum in Leningrad, the Central Naval Museum has always been and remains the most beloved museum. CVMM is one of oldest museums city, it is the largest military Maritime Museum Mir, and now he was evicted from his former place and quartered in the Kryukov barracks, located near New Holland - the site of the oldest port of Northern Palmyra, Northern Venice, Petersburg, Petrograd, Leningrad, St. Petersburg, closed from St. Petersburg winds.

Conceived as the Naval Temple of Poseidon - with the god of the seas Neptune (Poseidon) on the portico was built by the architect Giacomo Quarenghi in 1783, and I'm sure much earlier - in the middle of the 15th century, but this now does not fit into the official History of the Navy)

In 1804, the temple was dismantled by the Inquisition, apparently the same Inquisition that now came up with the idea of ​​evicting the Naval Museum from its place of honor - the building of the Naval Temple.

Finding nothing to replace the existing style, the building was rebuilt by architect. J.-F. Thomas de Thomon in 1805-1816, and was adapted immediately for the Maritime Stock Exchange. The old foundations of Northern Palmyra have survived to this day, as well as all the lower floors of the buildings of the flooded Atlantis, made of tuff.

The magnificent Museum of Naval Glory on the Spit of Vasilievsky Island is a visiting card of Northern Palmyra, Northern Venice, St. Petersburg, Petrograd, Leningrad, St. Petersburg, and I hope it will remain for posterity for centuries. And now this building is being destroyed very badly, which causes extreme concern for the sailors.

The exhibits of the museum sailors lovingly began to gather back in the Admiralty Model Chamber - where, since May 25, 1708, there were drawings of the ships of the Great Greco-Russian Eastern Empire.

The model-camera was located in the Central building of the Main Admiralty of the Empire in St. Petersburg.

In 1805, the "Naval Museum" was created, based on the collections of the Model Chamber of the Admiralty. By the end of the XIX century. The Maritime Museum has become a significant Russian cultural and scientific center and has become famous all over the world.

"In 1908, before the solemn celebration of the 200th anniversary of the museum, it was named after the founder - Peter the Great." Why then is the year of foundation now written 1709?

Having changed a number of other names, in 1924 the Museum became known as the Central Naval Museum. Corresponding to the spirit of the times, adjustments were also made to its exposition.

In August 1939, the Central Naval Museum was again transferred to the Naval Temple of Poseidon, the Stock Exchange building. Where already In February 1941, a chic exposition opened in the new restored halls and immediately, four months later, the Great Patriotic War began.

Apparently they were afraid that the gene memory would wake up and everyone would understand our Rewritten History.
The city was decided to be wiped off the face of the earth.

The building of the Stock Exchange was saved by an anti-aircraft battery, which was constantly on duty and shelling German planes flying up to the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island.

The most valuable exhibits were evacuated to Ulyanovsk. In July 1946, the museum, which returned from evacuation, reopened its doors to visitors.

Fleet propaganda work The Central Naval Museum was highly appreciated in 1975 by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was awarded the Order of the Red Star.

Since the 1980s again, for the first time after the revolution of 1917, foreign exhibition activities of the museum began, which allowed the museum to achieve wider recognition not only in Russia, but also abroad. The removal of museum exhibits has begun. I wonder if they brought everything back?

"Over the three centuries of its existence, the museum has collected a huge amount of valuable museum items reflecting the most important events in the history of the fleet. The museum holds more than 700,000 exhibits, including over 13,000 items of ship equipment, more than 11,000 cold and firearms, over 62 000 works of fine art, more than 56,000 uniforms, awards and badges, flags and banners, over 44,000 documents and manuscripts, about 300,000 photographs and negatives, hundreds of thousands of sheets of drawings.

The museum has the richest collection of ship models in the world - 2000 ships. The model collection clearly reflects the history of Russian and foreign military shipbuilding.

With the participation of the museum, hundreds of exhibitions were held in St. Petersburg, Moscow and cities Russian Federation. Between CVMM and museums foreign countries fruitful creative ties were established, exhibitions with his participation were exhibited in more than 20 countries. It seems that now the museums of the World are replenished with our exhibits, and there our Fleet is already shown as their own.

In April 2013, "dispossession" was completed and the transfer of the TsVMM collection to the restored Kryukov Barracks complex was completed. In 2013, exhibition complexes of six halls, an exposition in the atrium and the first stage of the main exposition consisting of 6 halls began to work. By the Day of the Navy, July 27, 2014, the exposition in 19 halls was fully open to the public, but few people go there until the Metro opens nearby. The approach to the museum is deliberately extremely inconvenient so that as few people as possible can get to the museum.

And the building of the empty Exchange rots and collapses without human warmth. But such an object should not be empty, otherwise it will collapse completely. We urgently need to take murf to save the Stock Exchange. But no measures are taken, apparently everyone is just waiting for the building to collapse
And I would not be surprised if the Stock Exchange is dismantled again and removed from the portico of Neptune, our god of the seas, so hated by the Russian Orthodox Church.

The building can be saved by the sailors, who would gladly take the building for themselves, convert it into a modern interactive Naval Museum with multimedia exhibitions, but for some reason the Stock Exchange building was given to the Hermitage.

I think it is necessary to quickly return the Stock Exchange building to the Central Navy Museum - as the head building of the Museum of the Russian Navy. to the best museum the city of sailors is supposed to be this place by right. It's time to continue the maritime traditions in St. Petersburg, in the city originally created as the maritime capital of Europe, and to celebrate the day of Neptune. You can leave the exhibition space in the Kryukov Barracks, as branches of the museum. In New Holland it is necessary to create a museum - the harbor of ships. Sailboats "Poltava" and "Eagle", which are now being built in the hangars of Gazprom, can be shown here in winter under a glass dome and there you can create a world of sailors with Russian pirates of Catherine II - Counts Orlovs.
And by the 300th anniversary of the Russian Submarine Fleet in 2018 in New Holland, it is imperative to make a museum of the submarine fleet and save the barrel - the grandmother of the submarine fleet in the museum in New Holland.
This will be very pleasant for our ancestors and very important for future sailors. IMHO

Petersburg, like others European capitals, dreamed of maritime grandeur for centuries. Therefore, some of its corners are inhabited by statues of water gods, ancient and Russian, there are some. And the spit of Vasilyevsky Island in terms of marine figures can compete even with world celebrities: the Roman Trevi Fountain and Piazza Navona.

Trevi Fountain, Italy

Here is Rome. On its streets and avenues, on its piazzas and piazettas, in its parks and squares, bronze and stone marine figures froze, as if in a child's game: Neptunes and Poseidons; newts and naiads; sturgeons and dolphins; seahorses and sea horses; water snakes and water lizards; crabs and turtles. The tone and style of this figured splendor was set in the middle of the 17th century by the sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini. He worked under the auspices of three popes at once, each of whom he glorified with a magnificent fountain. And funds for the construction were obtained by collecting extremely unpopular taxes on bread and wine among the people.

fountain neptune

The most magnificent water monument erected by Bernini in the name of papal majesty is the Fontana dei Fiumi (Fountain of the Rivers) on piazza Navona. The cyclopean-sized structure, on the top of which the sculptor erected a multi-meter Egyptian obelisk, symbolizes the four main rivers known at that time - the Ganges, La Plata, the Danube and the Nile. The leading roles of rivers are played by muscular stone men with disheveled hair and beards, seated at the foot of the obelisk. On Navona Square there are two more fountains, although not as multi-figured as the central one, but no less outstanding, including the fury of struggles. Bernini also had a hand in them: in the bowl of one, the mighty Neptune is fighting an octopus, in the middle of the other, a hefty Moor overcomes a dolphin. Rome also owes the appearance of its most famous fountain to the genius of Bernini - architectural complex in piazza Trevi built many years after the death of the great sculptor Nicola Salvi. Salvi did not hide the fact that his work is an imitation of the work of the maestro. Indeed, Neptune and the two tritons curbing water stallions belong to the same family of marine figures as the naked men from piazza Navona.

Spit of Vasilyevsky Island, St. Petersburg

But Petersburg is a city that dreamed of greatness no less than Rome. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Swiss architect Jean-Francois Thomas de Thomon, commissioned and to the glory of Emperor Alexander I, erected an impressive complex decorated with marine figures on the swampy spit of Vasilyevsky Island. In the center of the ensemble is the Exchange building, built on the model of the temple of Poseidon in Paestum and therefore surrounded by a Doric colonnade - so to speak, the temple of trade and market relations that were emerging in that era. From the portico above the facade, Neptune's chariot harnessed by hippocampi (sea horses) leaves for the Neva. Holding a trident in his left hand, the right sea god extends over the city, and he guards northern Petersburg as vigilantly as southern Rome. The Russian retinue of the watchman is not tritons, but the powerful figures of the Neva and Volkhov. So we have our own curly geography of seas and rivers.

Rostral column

Peter I planned to transfer the city center to Vasilyevsky Island, but did not have time. A century later, by the will of the emperor, the talent of an architect and the efforts of tens of thousands of serfs, the arrow became even more lancet. Wooden piles were hammered into the quicksand without counting, and the cape was advanced more than a hundred meters to the east due to gigantic bulk works. As a result, the architectural complex is opposed to the flow of the river and, as it were, divides the bed of the Neva into two branches. The correctness and smoothness of its flow is checked by two huge Rostral columns, with barrels decorated with copper images of the prows of ships. These columns used to serve as lighthouses for the port of St. Petersburg; hemp oil was burned on their tops. Now, on holidays, gas burners are lit in bowls-lamps.

Fountain of the Rivers Rostral columns: Dnieper and Neva

At the foot of the Rostrals, marine figures settled in pairs. The architect Thomas de Thomon considered four statues made of Pudost stone to be the deities of the sea and commerce, but in the literature they are called allegorical images of the main navigable Russian rivers - the Volga and Dnieper, Neva and Volkhov. From afar, the figures look no less representative than the men from the Roman fountains, but upon closer inspection, the grandeur is slightly lost. The fact is that there was not much money for sculptures in the imperial treasury, marble and bronze had to be abandoned, they managed with a stone from the vicinity of Gatchina. The fragile and not very plastic limestone is easy to process, but difficult to maintain. It was not possible to hire an academic sculptor, the lower rank masters, the French Joseph Cumberlain and Francois Thibault, took up the manufacture of models. Soft stone sculptures often had to be restored, but in the 20th century they lost their ceremonial appearance. They updated the figures carelessly, for the anniversaries of October they simply covered them with oil paint; the places of breakdowns were covered with plaster or gypsum; sometimes they even drove steel pins under the ribs to strengthen the structure. In the end, out of desperation, the Neva's left hand broke off, and Volkhov lost his right hand. It wasn't until the late 1990s that the figures were restored through scientific procedure, and now they finally look fresh.
At the Fountain of the Rivers in piazza Navona, frail American students often roam, studying Rome from the text of Dan Brown's novel Angels and Demons. The famous writer did not bypass the dei Fiumi fountain, in the bath of which the main character Robert Langdon had a decisive battle with a religious fanatic who drowned a cardinal with a football surname Baggio at the feet of the Ganges and the Danube. Nothing of the kind has happened yet on the Vasilevsky Spit, it is still waiting for its hero and its writer. Our marine figures will surely also have something to tell the world about.

On Friday in my Blog: See Peter - and fall asleep soundly. The art of hostels.