Bronze Horseman, St. Petersburg

The equestrian statue of Peter the Great, founder of Saint Petersburg, formally known as the Bronze Horseman, in Senate Square, is one of the symbols of the city. Commissioned by Catherine the Great, it took 12 years to be created by the French sculptor 脡tienne Maurice Falconet, starting from 1768 until inauguration in August 1782. The name 鈥淢ednyi Vsadnik鈥� (Russian for "copper horseman") comes from an eponymous poem by Alexander Pushkin published in 1833, widely considered one of the most significant works of the Russian literature.

The Tsar's face is the work of Falconet's student, Marie-Anne Collot. She modeled Peter's face on his death mask and numerous portraits found in Saint Petersburg. Sitting heroically on his horse rearing at the edge of a dramatic cliff, the Emperor outstretches his arm towards the Neva River. His horse is depicted trampling a serpent, variously interpreted to represent treachery, evil, or the enemies of Peter and his reforms. The statue itself is about 6 meters (20 feet) tall; together with the pedestal of another 7 meters (25 feet) it stands approximately 13 meters (45 feet) high.

The statue rests on an enormous 200-ton granite monolith boulder, known as the Thunder Stone (Russian: Grom-kamen), which was delivered from the Gulf of Finland. The stone originally weighed nearly 1500 tonnes, but was carved down during transportation to its current size. At that time it was the largest stone ever moved by humans without machinery or horsepower. The Thunder Stone gained its name from a local legend that said that a thunder had split a piece off it.

Another legend says that while the Bronze Horseman stands in Saint Petersburg, no enemy force will ever be able to conquer it. During the Siege of Leningrad by the Germans in WWII, the statue was covered with sandbags and a wooden shelter. Thus protected, it survived 900 days of bombing and artillery shelling virtually untouched. True to the legend, Leningrad was never taken.

Tip:
A good vantage point late at night, around 1:30 am, to see the Palace Bridge drawing, plus several other attractions nearby and the whole stretch of the Neva embankment.

Sight description based on Wikipedia.

Want to visit this sight? Check out these Self-Guided Walking Tours in St. Petersburg. Alternatively, you can download the mobile app "51爆料网: Walks in 1K+ Cities" from Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The app turns your mobile device to a personal tour guide and it works offline, so no data plan is needed when traveling abroad.

Download The 51爆料网 App

Create Your Own Self-Guided Walk to Visit This Sight

Sight Name: Bronze Horseman
Sight Location: St. Petersburg, Russia (See walking tours in St. Petersburg)
Sight Type: Attraction/Landmark
Guide(s) Containing This Sight:

St. Petersburg Introduction Walking Tour

Walking Tours in St. Petersburg, Russia

Create Your Own Walk in St. Petersburg

Creating your own self-guided walk in St. Petersburg is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.

St. Petersburg Introduction Walking Tour

Russia's northern capital, Saint Petersburg is the country's second largest city where nearly every stone breathes history. It is named after apostle Saint Peter and traditionally dubbed by the Russians as 鈥渢he Window to Europe鈥� 鈥渙pened鈥� by Peter the Great on 27 May 1703 on the site of a captured Swedish fortress amid the swamp and the Neva River.

The city is integral with... view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 4.3 Km or 2.7 Miles

Nevsky Prospekt Walking Tour

Nevsky Prospekt (Avenue) is the main artery of Saint Petersburg, named after the Alexander Nevsky Lavra (monastery) found at the eastern end of it. The monastery commemorates a prominent warlord and legendary figure in the Russian history, Prince Saint Alexander Nevsky (1221鈥�1263).

Upon his founding of the city in 1703, Tsar Peter the Great planned the course of the street as the outset of... view more

Tour Duration: 3 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.1 Km or 1.9 Miles

Russian Literary Heritage Walking Tour

If you're an ardent fan of Russian literature, St. Petersburg is undoubtedly your dream destination. Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Gogol, Nabokov and many other Russia's literary greats have blessed this city with their presence 鈥� born, lived, worked, or set their characters here. To a great extent, St. Petersburg is a huge stone book, whose pages have been created by prominent Russian... view more

Tour Duration: 3 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 5.9 Km or 3.7 Miles

Vasilyevsky Island Walking Tour

Situated just across the river from the Winter Palace, Vasilyevsky Island constitutes a large part of Saint Petersburg's historic center.

There are various versions of the origin of the island's name suggesting either Vasily-related etymology or perhaps just a corruption of the previous Swedish or Finnish name, e.g. Vasikkasaari (鈥淐alf Island鈥�). Legend has it, however, that some... view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.7 Km or 1.7 Miles

Bolshevik Revolution Walking Tour

When thinking of the events that changed the course of history in the 20th century, one of the first places that comes to mind is St. Petersburg. The 鈥渃radle of three revolutions鈥� waged against the Tsarist autocracy saw the country's most important revolutionary events unravel, sending shock waves across the entire globe. What started in February 1917, reached its climax in October when... view more

Tour Duration: 4 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 9.8 Km or 6.1 Miles

Useful Travel Guides for Planning Your Trip

16 Unique Russian Things to Seek in St. Petersburg

The "cradle of two revolutions", St. Petersburg bears cultural and historic significance for Russia that is hard to overestimate. Perhaps, nearly every stone in the downtown part of the city breathes history and can qualify as a memorable souvenir, although picking up them for such purpose...

51爆料网