For two and a half centuries, Russia fought with the Ottoman Empire - first for access to the Black Sea, and then to strengthen its position in the Caucasus. In this regard, Empress Catherine II successfully continued the foreign policy initiated by Peter the Great.
During her reign, the Russian Empire not only gained free access to the Azov and Black Seas, but also annexed the Crimean Peninsula, becoming a real maritime power. In honor of the victories of Russian weapons, talented architects and sculptors created commemorative monuments. One of them is the Chesme column in St. Petersburg.
Backstory
In the middle of the 18th century, Turkey continued to reign supreme in the Black Sea. Despite the attempts made by Peter I to gain a foothold on its shores, Russia at that time did not have either the Black Sea or the Azov flotilla. Therefore, the government of Catherine II considered the southern direction a priority in foreign policy.
However, Russia did not start the war. The Turks and the Crimean Tatars allied to them at the end of 1768 invaded the northern Black Sea region. In order to strike Turkey from the rear, as well as to support the upcoming uprising of Christians in the Balkans, it was decided to send the ships of the B altic Fleet to the Mediterraneansea.
In the summer - autumn of 1769, two Russian squadrons left Kronstadt, led by Admirals Grigory Spiridov and John Elphinston. The overall leadership of the expedition was entrusted to Count Alexei Orlov.
Sailing around Europe for Russian sailors was not an easy test. The first ships entered the Mediterranean in November, and in the spring of the following year, both B altic squadrons united and began to prepare for battle, as the Chesmenskaya Column in Tsarskoye Selo reminds of.
Victory over the brilliant Porta
The first major battle took place in the Strait of Chios on June 24, 1770. The Turkish fleet was twice as large as the Russian squadron, in addition, it occupied an advantageous strategic position. Despite this, after a hard battle, the Turks retreated to the Chesme Bay, which was considered almost impregnable.
On the same day, the military council decided to complete the defeat of the Turkish fleet right in Chesme. Russian ships blocked the narrow exit from the bay and around midnight a battle began, later recognized as one of the largest in the history of the sailing fleet.
On the night of June 26, the Turkish fleet was completely destroyed, the crews of the ships and the Chesma garrison fled to Smyrna. Nobody in Europe expected this. In honor of the triumph of the Russian fleet, the rostral Chesme column was later installed in the Catherine Park of Tsarskoye Selo.
All participants in the famous battle were awarded commemorative medals by decree of the Empressmedals. The Chesme Palace and the church were built in St. Petersburg, an obelisk was erected in Gatchina, and a column was erected in Tsarskoe Selo.
Antique prototype
While Russia entered the war with the Ottoman Empire, work began on laying out the park in Tsarskoye Selo. When the news of the victory at Chesme reached St. Petersburg, Catherine II commissioned the architect Rinaldi A. to create a column similar to the rostral pillar erected in Rome in honor of the victory of consul Gaius Duilia over the fleet of Carthage.
It was decided to erect a monument in the middle of the Big Pond, dug earlier by Swedish prisoners of war. The work continued for several years. During this time, the shape of the shoreline of the pond was changed to give it the outline of the Aegean Sea.
The Chesme column was made according to a sketch approved personally by Catherine II. The empress was not mistaken: the majestic and at the same time noble and restrained ancient forms of the monument were the best suited to express the triumph of the Russian fleet, which predetermined the outcome of the war.
Short description
The Chesme Column is a work of the Italian architect Antonio Rinaldi, who was in the Russian service, and the sculptor Johann Schwartz, who created the bronze elements of the monument: an eagle and bas-reliefs.
The granite pedestal rising from the water is made in the form of a truncated pyramid, while the column itself is made of solid Ural marble. The monument is crowned with a bronze eagle aiming at the Turkish crescent. On the one hand, it symbolizes victorious Russia, and on the otherthe other - Count A. Orlov, who received the right to be called Orlov-Chesmensky.
Relief images of various symbols of the East are noticeable on the rostras: turbans, bunchuks, quivers, spears, Turkish sabers, standards. Bronze bas-reliefs are dedicated to three victorious battles in the Aegean Sea, in honor of which the Chesme Column was erected.
History and present
In 1996, the 300th anniversary of the creation of the Russian Navy was celebrated. Over the course of three centuries, he won many glorious victories, including battles in the Aegean during the Russian-Turkish war. By this date, it was decided to restore the bronze bas-reliefs that previously adorned the Chesme Column.
After the Great Patriotic War, some of them were raised from the bottom of the Big Pond, where they ended up as a result of the futile attempts of the Nazis to demolish the marble monument. In 1994-1995 sculptor V. Kozenyuk recreated the missing elements, and today the Chesma Column looks the same as in the days of Empress Catherine II, who ordered this monument to the valor of the Russian fleet to be created.
