You can safely call it art the highest level literally and figuratively. Since ancient times, statues have been a way for people to show their devotion to religion or to commemorate a significant historical figure. Obviously, the bigger the statue, the greater its grandeur, so here are the top 10 tallest statues in the world. Perhaps you have already visited the places listed below and the sculptures made an indelible impression on you, please share your experience.

For example, I was, of course, in Moscow and saw the Monument to Peter the Great, and also in New York I took pictures with the Statue of Liberty; I have plans to visit Rio de Janeiro and climb to the Statue of Christ the Redeemer.

10. Christ the Redeemer Statue with outstretched arms is located on the top of Mount Corcovado in Rio de Janeiro, is a symbol of the city and Brazil as a whole. The height of one of the most famous statues in the world is 38 m.

9. Monument-sculpture "Motherland", is located in Kyiv on the banks of the Dnieper, rises 62 m into the sky and is 102 meters tall including the pedestal.

8. Statue “The Motherland Calls!”, standing in the Russian city of Volgograd, is dedicated to the “Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad.” The total height of the monument is 85 m. The statue is an image of the Motherland calling its sons to fight the enemy.

7. Statue of Liberty(illuminating the world) is perhaps the most famous sculpture in the world, often called the symbol of the United States. The copper statue is located on Liberty Island in New York, its height is 93 m including the base.

6. Sculptural Monument to Peter I in Moscow. The monument is 98 m high, made of bronze and stainless steel, installed on artificial island at the confluence of the Moskva River and the Obvodny Canal. The monument was designed by Georgian architect Zurab Tsereteli and it is unofficially believed that the sculpture was originally dedicated to Christopher Columbus, but after being rejected by the American government, it was sold to Russia as a representation of Peter the Great.

5. Buddha statue - Sendai Dai Kannon located in the Japanese city of Sendai. It is the sixth tallest statue in the world at 100m and has an elevator for tourists to climb to the top of the statue and enjoy the breathtaking view.

4. Sculptures first two emperors China Ian And Juan, are located in Zhengzhou city in China. The height of the sculptures is 106 m, which is the fifth tallest statue in the world.

3. Statue of the goddess Guanyin in Sanya 108 m high is located on Hainan Island in China. The statue has three faces, one of which faces the Chinese mainland, and the other two face South China Sea, blessing China.

2. Bronze Buddha statue Ushiku Daibutsu installed in Japan in the city of Ushiku. Its height, together with the platform and pedestal in the shape of a lotus flower, is 120 m. Tourists who want to admire the surroundings can take the elevator to the observation deck at an altitude of 85 meters.

is the largest statue in the world made of copper. Located in Henan Province in China. Its height is 128 m, including the pedestal, but if we also take into account the hill on which the statue is located, the height will be 208 m.

Sculpture “The Motherland is Calling!” is the compositional center of the architectural ensemble “To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad”, it represents a 52-meter figure of a woman, rapidly walking forward and calling her sons behind her. In his right hand is a sword 33 m long (weight 14 tons). The height of the sculpture is 85 meters. The monument stands on a 16-meter foundation. The height of the Main Monument speaks of its scale and uniqueness. Its total weight is 8 thousand tons. The main monument - a modern interpretation of the image of the ancient Nike - the goddess of victory - calls on her sons and daughters to repel the enemy and continue the further offensive.

Great importance was attached to the construction of the memorial. There were no restrictions on funds or building materials. The best creative forces were involved in creating the monument. The main sculptor and project manager was Evgeniy Viktorovich Vuchetich, who ten years earlier had already created a monument-ensemble to the soldiers of the Soviet Army in Treptower Park in Berlin and the sculpture “Let’s Beat Swords into Plowshares,” which still adorns the square in front of the UN building in New York. Vuchetich was assisted by the architects Belopolsky and Demin, and the sculptors Matrosov, Novikov and Tyurenkov. Upon completion of construction, they were all awarded the Lenin Prize, and Vuchetich was also awarded the Golden Star of the Hero of Socialist Labor. The head of the engineering group working on the construction of the memorial was N.V. Nikitin is the future creator of the Ostankino tower. The main military consultant of the project was Marshal V.I. Chuikov is the commander of the army that defended, whose reward was the right to be buried here, next to the dead soldiers: along the serpentine, in the hill, the remains of 34,505 soldiers - defenders of Stalingrad, as well as 35 granite tombstones of Heroes of the Soviet Union, participants in the Battle of Stalingrad, were reburied


Construction of the monument "Motherland" was started in May 1959 and completed on October 15, 1967. The sculpture at the time of its creation was the tallest sculpture in the world. Restoration work on the Main monument of the monument-ensemble was carried out twice: in 1972 and 1986. It is also believed that the statue was modeled after the Marseillaise figure on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and that the pose of the statue was inspired by the statue of the Nike of Samothrace. Indeed, there are some similarities. In the first photo there is Marseillaise, and next to Nika of Samothrace

And in this photo the Motherland

The sculpture is made from prestressed concrete blocks - 5,500 tons of concrete and 2,400 tons of metal structures (excluding the base on which it stands). Total height of the monument “ The Motherland is calling” - 85 meters. It is installed on a concrete foundation 16 meters deep. The height of the female figure is 52 meters (weight is more than 8 thousand tons).

The statue stands on a slab only 2 meters high, which rests on the main foundation. This foundation is 16 meters high, but it is almost invisible - most of it is hidden underground. The statue stands freely on the slab, like a chess piece on a board. The thickness of the reinforced concrete walls of the sculpture is only 25-30 centimeters. Inside, the rigidity of the frame is supported by ninety-nine metal cables that are constantly in tension


The sword is 33 meters long and weighs 14 tons. The sword was originally made of stainless steel covered with titanium sheets. In the strong wind the sword swayed and the sheets rattled. Therefore, in 1972, the blade was replaced with another one made entirely of fluorinated steel. And the wind problems were eliminated with the help of blinds at the top of the sword. There are very few similar sculptures in the world, for example, the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro. For comparison, the height of the Statue of Liberty from its pedestal is 46 meters.


The most complex calculations of the stability of this structure were carried out by Doctor of Technical Sciences N.V. Nikitin, the author of the calculation of the stability of the Ostankino TV tower. At night, the statue is illuminated by spotlights. “The horizontal displacement of the upper part of the 85-meter monument is currently 211 millimeters or 75% of what was allowed by calculations. Deviations have been going on since 1966. If from 1966 to 1970 the deviation was 102 millimeters, then from 1970 to 1986 - 60 millimeters, until 1999 - 33 millimeters, from 2000-2008 - 16 millimeters,” said the director of the State Historical and Memorial Museum-Reserve. Battle of Stalingrad" Alexander Velichkin.

The sculpture “The Motherland Calls” is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest sculpture-statue in the world at that time. Its height is 52 meters, arm length is 20 meters and sword length is 33 meters. The total height of the sculpture is 85 meters. The weight of the sculpture is 8 thousand tons, and the sword - 14 tons (for comparison: 46 meters high; 38 meters). Currently, the statue ranks 11th on the list of the tallest statues in the world. The Motherland is in danger of collapse due to groundwater. Experts say that if the tilt of the statue increases by another 300 mm, it could collapse due to any, even the most insignificant reason

70-year-old pensioner Valentina Ivanovna Izotova lives in Volgograd, with whom the sculpture “The Motherland Calls” was sculpted 40 years ago. Valentina Ivanovna is a modest person. For more than 40 years, she was silent about the fact that as a model she posed for the sculptors who sculpted perhaps the most famous sculpture in Russia - the Motherland. She was silent because in Soviet times, talking about the profession of a model was, to put it mildly, indecent, especially for a married woman raising two daughters. Now Valya Izotova is already a grandmother and willingly talks about that distant episode in her youth, which has now become perhaps the most significant event of her entire life.


In those distant 60s, Valentina was 26 years old. She worked as a waitress in the prestigious, by Soviet standards, Volgograd restaurant. This establishment was visited by all the eminent guests of the city on the Volga, and our heroine saw with her own eyes Fidel Castro, the Emperor of Ethiopia, and the Swiss ministers. Naturally, only a girl with a real Soviet appearance could serve such people during lunch. You probably already guessed what this means. Stern face, purposeful look, athletic figure. It is no coincidence that one day a frequent guest of Volgograd, the young sculptor Lev Maistrenko, approached Valentina to talk. He conspiratorially told his young interlocutor about the sculpture that he and his comrades were to make for the sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich, already famous in those days. Maistrenko walked around the bush for a long time, showering the waitress with compliments, and then invited her to pose. The fact is that the Moscow model, who arrived in the provinces directly from the capital, did not attract the attention of local sculptors. She was too arrogant and cutesy. And her face didn’t resemble “Mother.”

“I thought about it for a long time,” recalls Izotova, “the times were strict then, and my husband forbade it. But then my husband relented, and I gave the guys my consent. Who didn’t go on various adventures in their youth?

The adventure turned into serious work that lasted two years. Valentina’s candidacy for the role of the Motherland was approved by Vuchetich himself. Having listened to the arguments of his colleagues in favor of a simple Volgograd waitress, he nodded his head affirmatively, and it began. Posing turned out to be a very difficult task. Standing for several hours a day with my arms outstretched and my left leg pointed forward was tiring. According to the sculptors, a sword was supposed to be in the right hand, but in order not to tire Valentina too much, they put a long stick in her palm. At the same time, she had to give her face an inspired expression calling for exploits.

The guys insisted: “Valya, you must call people to follow you. You are the Motherland!” And I called, for which I was paid 3 rubles per hour. Imagine what it's like to stand for hours with your mouth open.

There was one piquant moment during work. The sculptors insisted that Valentina, as befits a model, pose naked, but Izotova resisted. Suddenly my husband will come in. At first we agreed on a two-piece swimsuit. True, then the top part of the swimsuit had to be removed. The breasts should look natural. By the way, the model was not wearing any tunic. It was only later that Vuchetich himself threw a flowing robe over Rodina. Our heroine saw the finished monument a few days after its official opening. It was interesting to look at myself from the outside: my face, arms, legs - everything was original, only made of stone and 52 meters tall. More than 40 years have passed since then. Valentina Izotova is alive and well and is proud that a monument was erected to her during her lifetime. For a long life.

The sculpture “The Motherland Calls,” created by E.V. Vuchetich, has the amazing property of a psychological impact on everyone who sees it. How the author managed to achieve this, one can only guess. Sharp criticisms of his creation: it is both exaggeratedly monumental and openly similar to the Marseillaise that adorns the Parisian Arc de Triomphe - do not explain its phenomenon at all. We must not forget that for the sculptor, who survived the most terrible war in the history of mankind, this monument, like the entire memorial, is first of all a tribute to the memory of the fallen, and then a reminder to the living, who, in his conviction, so they can never forget anything

The sculpture Motherland, together with Mamayev Kurgan, is a finalist of the competition

We hope that we will live to see the time when this remedy mass media will be included in the rating “The most feeble-minded media that have not survived to this day.”

Motherland

Why was this particular image used when creating the monument to the heroic defense of Stalingrad? There is an opinion that Evgeniy Vuchetich took the image of the Nike of Samothrace as the basis for the sculpture; the bas-relief of the Marseillaise in Paris, which also depicts a woman with a sword, could also have influenced the creative concept.

The very image of the “Motherland” became one of the main images of Soviet propaganda after Irakli Taidze created, perhaps, the most famous propaganda poster of the Great Patriotic War in 1941. Patriotic War"The Motherland is calling."

The sculpture on Mamayev Kurgan is thus an allegorical image of the Motherland, calling its sons to fight the enemy. Evgeniy Vuchetich did not come to this image right away. Initially, the project assumed the presence of two figures (a woman and a kneeling soldier); in her hand the Motherland was supposed to hold not a sword, but a red banner.

Dimensions

Construction of the monument began in May 1959 and was completed on October 15, 1967. At the time of its creation, the sculpture was the tallest monument in the world. Its total height is 85 meters, weight is 8 thousand tons. The calculations for the monument were made by Nikolai Nikitin, who had previously taken part in the design of Moscow State University and the Ostankino Tower. The height of the statue was determined by Nikita Khrushchev, who categorically stated that it should be higher than the Statue of Liberty in the United States. In comparison with the height of a person, the figure of the “Motherland” is increased 30 times. Today “Motherland” ranks 11th in the ranking of the tallest statues in the world. Restoration work on the Main monument of the monument-ensemble was carried out twice: in 1972 and 1986.

Sword of Victory

The sword in the hands of the “Motherland” has a connection with others famous monuments. It is implied that this sword is the same sword that the worker hands over to the warrior depicted on the "Rear to Front" monument (Magnitogorsk), and which is then dropped by the "Warrior Liberator" in Berlin.

The sword, originally 33 meters long and weighing 14 tons, was made of stainless steel covered with titanium sheets. However, the titanium skin sheets rattled in the wind, created unnecessary windage and could lead to undesirable consequences. In 1972, the blade of the sword was replaced during restoration - with one consisting entirely of fluorinated steel.

grave

More than 35 thousand people are buried on the Mamevo Kurgan. Of the 200 days of the Battle of Stalingrad, the struggle for this height lasted 135 days. Even in winter, Mamaev Kurgan remained black from bomb explosions; there were from five hundred to 1,200 fragments and bullets per square meter. In the spring of 1943, the grass never grew here. On the Mamayev Kurgan, at the foot of the “Motherland”, the commander of the 62nd Army, Marshal of the Soviet Union Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov was also buried. Vasily Ivanovich expressed his desire to be buried here in his will.

Prototypes

Until now, there are several versions about who Vuchetich “sculpted” his sculpture from. On the eve of the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Victory in the Battle of Stalingrad, 79-year-old resident of Barnaul Anastasia Peshkova announced that she was the prototype. In 2003, Valentina Izotova, who worked as a waitress at the Volgograd restaurant, said exactly the same thing.

Another contender for the title of prototype of the “Motherland” was former artistic gymnast Ekaterina Grebneva, but she, unlike previous contenders, believes that she was not the only model, and the image of the “Motherland” is still collective.

Former deputy director of the monument-ensemble “Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad” Valentina Klyushina expressed a different opinion: “Evgeniy Viktorovich made the figure from Nina Dumbadze, the famous discus thrower. She posed for him in Moscow, in his workshop. But Evgeniy Viktorovich did not go far to find the face of the sculpture. He created it with his wife, Vera Nikolaevna. And sometimes he affectionately called the sculpture by his wife’s name – Verochka.”

Without foundation

Despite its enormous weight (8,000 tons), “Motherland” is a free-standing structure. Inside it consists of separate cells. The rigidity of the frame is maintained by ninety-nine metal cables, which are constantly in tension. The thickness of the reinforced concrete walls of the sculpture is only 25-30 centimeters.

Materials

“Motherland” was cast layer by layer using special formwork made from gypsum materials, prestressed reinforced concrete blocks consisting of 5,500 tons of concrete and 2,400 tons of metal. And this is weight without foundation.

The monument stands on a slab 2 meters high, which is installed on a main foundation 16 meters high, almost completely hidden underground. To make the figure look even more monumental, an artificial embankment 14 meters high and weighing 150 thousand tons was also made at the top point of Mamayev Kurgan.

Green light

The entire time the statue was being built, there was a need for a continuous supply of concrete; even a slight delay could compromise the strength of the multi-ton structure. Trucks transporting concrete to the construction site were marked with special signs. Drivers were allowed to violate traffic rules; they could even drive through “red lights” without fear of being stopped by traffic police officers. 9 Copy of the statue At Yevgeny Vuchetich’s dacha in the Timiryazevsky district of Moscow, where his workshop used to be, and today the sculptor’s house-museum operates, you can see a small copy of the statue - a model, working sketches, as well as a life-size model of the head of the sculpture.

Bias

Ivan Bukreev, foreman of the former Stalingradgidrostroy, a builder with 50 years of experience, said in 2010 that “Motherland” needed to be saved, since it had already deviated from the 270 millimeters laid down in the project by 221 millimeters. The monument tilts for two reasons: the movement of the foundation and the deformation of the figure itself. The situation is also aggravated by vibrations of the sword due to wind loads.

Restorer Vadim Tserkovnikov also believes that “Motherland” is in disrepair. In his interview with MK in 2013, when asked whether the sculpture could fall, he directly answered: “Easily! She is unpredictable!

I sincerely hope that those who do not need this article, especially those under 30, are in the majority. I hope, but I don't really believe it. But even if this is the case, I still publish it for this minority. There is no such thing as too much patriotism.

So, here we go:

If you ask the average resident of any country a question about the tallest statues in the world, he will most likely remember Buddha statues carved from rocks, the Statue of Liberty in New York, the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio - well, the one from the TV series; Perhaps someone will remember the Colossus of Rhodes - it was probably huge, why not remember... And, perhaps, that’s all. In Russia, the older generation will still remember Mamayev Kurgan, but probably not everyone will remember the Kyiv Motherland, at least in the context of the largest in the world. Where is ours from theirs, from the West (with aspiration). Look, Christ the Redeemer was recognized as one of the Seven New Wonders of the World in 2007, the Statue of Liberty is among the finalists for this honorary title, but ours are not even close there. The Kremlin has just made it to the finalists of the candidates.

Statue of Liberty. NY. Who hasn’t dreamed of visiting Liberty Island or at least boarding that famous free ferry and sailing right next to Liberty Island an endless number of times. Yes, dreams...

We know everything about her. That its full name is “Freedom Illuminating the World”, we know when and who created it, when and where a separate hand with a torch was displayed, by what date the entire statue was donated and by whom. We even know that we are 10 years late with it. Without exaggeration, the Statue of Liberty can be called the most famous statue in the world, and our man is no exception here. He knows more about this overseas beauty than about his relatives.

How huge - look at the people at the base of the statue - they are practically invisible unless you look closely. She stands on torn shackles, holding a torch and a tablet with the date July 4, 1776. Visitors walk 356 steps to the crown of the Statue of Liberty or 192 steps to the top of the pedestal. There are 25 windows in the crown, which symbolize earthly precious stones and heavenly rays that illuminate the world. The seven rays on the crown of the statue symbolize the seven seas and seven continents (the Western geographical tradition counts exactly seven continents). She is not just a symbol of the United States, she is a symbol of the World. But, in my opinion, today it is a symbol of the ending world order, and a monument to the grave of freedom, which, in fact, never existed.

But let's get back to the facts. So.

Most of our compatriots don’t even think that our statues will be more massive than Western ones. Moreover, after such propaganda pictures that are circulating in the hundreds on the internet, we don’t even think about doubting this.

What a huge hugging statue of Christ the Redeemer. And in the last picture, the Statue of Liberty looks even larger than the statue of the Kyiv Motherland, which even here is 9 meters higher.

Is this so? In the next photo we will see the real size of the Statue of Liberty in New York in comparison with the figure in Volgograd and that very hugging statue in Rio, we see that if this Christ could hug anyone, it would certainly not be our girls. With its size, it could only hug the Lenin monuments fleeing from Ukraine.

And in the next photo we will see the real sizes of the statues without pedestals. Except for the New Wonder of the World - the statue of Christ the Redeemer, which, apparently, had to be left on a pedestal so that it would not be the smallest in the photo. After all, even with the pedestal it is only 38 meters high. Vladimir Ilyich’s facial expressions in this photograph are, of course, hard to see, but it seems to me that he is grinning.

Now someone, of course, will say that our statues still do not reach the huge Buddhist ones. It’s difficult to argue here, because the numbers speak for themselves. But, with your permission, I will allow myself to argue with the level of complexity of constructing these sculptures. So, the sculpture Motherland Calls is the ONLY DYNAMIC statue of this size in the WORLD! ! ! I emphasize - the only one!!!

The statue, the work of sculptor Vuchetich and engineer Nikitin, is made of 5,500 tons of concrete and 2,400 tons of metal structures. The height of the monument is 86 meters, the height of the sculpture itself is 53 meters. Moreover, the thickness of the walls of the sculpture is no more than 30 centimeters. The sword in the hand of the Motherland weighs 14 tons and has a length of 33 meters. They say that a car can easily fit in the palm of the statue. In 2008, the statue of the Motherland on Mamayev Kurgan was recognized as one of the Seven Wonders of Russia.

In 1972, restorers replaced the sword in the statue’s hand with a lighter one made of stainless steel. They also made holes in it to reduce the wind pressure. The old sword was made of titanium and rattled in the wind. In the mid-sixties, when the monument was opened, it was the tallest monument on the planet. The Statue of Liberty has never been anything “most” except perhaps the most recognizable in the world.

Currently, the statue is one of the ten tallest statues in the world. The Motherland is in danger of collapse due to groundwater. Experts say that if the tilt of the statue increases by another 300 mm, it could collapse due to any, even the most insignificant reason.

70-year-old pensioner Valentina Ivanovna Izotova lives in Volgograd, with whom the sculpture “The Motherland Calls” was sculpted 40 years ago. Valentina Ivanovna is a modest person; at that time she worked as a waitress in the Volgograd restaurant. For more than 40 years she was silent about the fact that as a model she posed for the sculptors who sculpted perhaps the most famous sculpture in Russia - the Motherland. She was silent because in Soviet times, talking about the profession of a model was, to put it mildly, indecent, especially for a married woman raising two daughters. Now Valya Izotova is already a grandmother and willingly talks about that distant episode in her youth, which has now become perhaps the most significant event of her entire life.

“I thought about it for a long time,” recalls Izotova, “the times were strict then, and my husband forbade it. But then my husband relented, and I gave the guys my consent. Who didn’t go on various adventures in their youth?

The adventure turned into serious work that lasted two years. Valentina’s candidacy for the role of the Motherland was approved by Vuchetich himself. Having listened to the arguments of his colleagues in favor of a simple Volgograd waitress, he nodded his head affirmatively, and it began. Posing turned out to be a very difficult task. Standing for several hours a day with my arms outstretched and my left leg pointed forward was tiring. According to the sculptors, a sword was supposed to be in the right hand, but in order not to tire Valentina too much, they put a long stick in her palm. At the same time, she had to give her face an inspired expression calling for exploits.

The guys insisted: “Valya, you must call people to follow you. You are the Motherland!” And I called, for which I was paid 3 rubles per hour. Imagine what it's like to stand for hours with your mouth open.

There was one piquant moment during work. The sculptors insisted that Valentina, as befits a model, pose naked, but Izotova resisted. Suddenly my husband will come in. At first we agreed on a two-piece swimsuit. True, then the top part of the swimsuit had to be removed. The breasts should look natural. By the way, the model was not wearing any tunic. It was only later that Vuchetich himself threw a flowing robe over Rodina. Our heroine saw the finished monument a few days after its official opening. It was interesting to look at myself from the outside: my face, arms, legs - everything was original, only made of stone and my height was 52 meters. More than 40 years have passed since then. Valentina Izotova is alive and well and is proud that a monument was erected to her during her lifetime. For a long life.

So, the height of the female figure of the Motherland Calling sculpture! 52 m, the height of the Statue of Liberty is 46 m and this is before the torch. That is, the figure itself is no more than 40 meters.

And one last thing. Purpose.

The Statue of Liberty is known throughout the world and many, as I already wrote, dream of seeing it in reality. Seeing the minimum, people feel a certain emptiness - that’s all? Is this the “great statue”? and, at most, they feel disappointed. There is no soul there. Perhaps Americans feel an influx of patriotism under or V this statue, but our man, absolutely certainly, does not feel anything like that.

And the diametrically opposite can be said about our Native statue. It has the opposite effect. The Calling Motherland has the amazing property of a psychological impact on everyone who sees it. There are so many feelings that no one can ignore them. After the first meeting with the appearance of their Motherland, people continue to be impressed for a long time. How the author managed to achieve this, one can only guess.

I think it's in our blood. Shall we check?

No matter how much you play the song Khasbulat Udaloy (US anthem), the impact of the Freedom Monument on a person does not increase.

But, I’ll quietly play you ours, patriotic in small letters, and in your heads, everyone who is a true patriot in their spirit will now boom!!!

wake up, huge country

stand up for mortal combat. . .