Rostral columns, St. Petersburg - description, history and interesting facts

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:46

Thomas de Thomon, having built the Stock Exchange in St. Petersburg, made a breakthrough in the architecture of Europe. He turned the water space into a square, thus closing the main St. Petersburg triangle, the top of which was the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Winter Palace, the rostral columns and the Stock Exchange.

Begin construction

Peter the Great, being wary of an attack from the sea, at the beginning of the 18th century ordered to establish a seaport for merchant ships on Vasilevsky Island, and not on the coast of the Gulf of Finland. The royal decree was executed in 1710. However, by the end of the century, it became obvious that the port needed to be expanded.

The rounded outlines of the cape of Vasilevsky Island, the largest in the Neva delta, are called "arrows". At the beginning of the 19th century, there was nothing here but a flood wasteland. In the place where the Stock Exchange building is located today, there was a swamp, and in the place of the current rostral columns, the waters of the Neva splashed at all.

Thinking about trading

When the architect de Thomon started building the island, he raised the shore and pushed it forward more thanat 100 meters. Thus, the entire architectural composition was completed. However, the French architect pursued not only an aesthetic goal.

His main concern was the construction of a convenient port on Vasilyevsky Island. For this reason, this entire territory was built up with purely functional buildings: warehouses where goods were stored, customs, Gostiny Dvor, Exchange.

In the first third of the 19th century, the arrival of foreign ships in the port was a real event. On the embankment, where the rostral columns towered, a huge number of metropolitan residents gathered, considering overseas goods. Vasilyevsky Island was the site of all trading operations until the port moved to Gutuevsky Island in 1885.

History of Creation

During the work, the arrow was raised by adding soil to avoid flooding the Neva waters. In addition, the river was "pushed back" by about 100 meters.

According to the design of de Thomon, lighthouse columns were included in the architectural ensemble. The French architect carefully and for a long time worked on the perfection of their proportions. Rostral columns in St. Petersburg on Vasilyevsky Island were installed in 1810. One of them showed the way to the Bolshaya Neva, the other served as a beacon for ships sailing along the Malaya Neva.

Everything related to the rostral columns, construction and design work was controlled by the Council of the Academy of Arts, which was headed by the famous architect Zakharov. Discussedeverything: both practical purpose and artistic appearance, which testified to the importance of these structures.

According to the original design of de Thomon, the lighthouse columns were small and located closer to the Exchange building. This shortcoming was rightly pointed out to him by the architect Zakharov. Later, changes were made to the project, the lighthouses gained their current height and were installed further from the Exchange.

Powerful columns with an expressive silhouette and clear proportions stood out well against the background of the northern sky and were visible from a distant perspective. Lighthouses were lit in foggy weather and at night, for this purpose they were used until 1885.

Why are the columns rostral

Even in ancient times, elements of enemy ships were used as parts of parade structures. Rostrum was the name given to the forward part of the prow of a ship. From Latin it is translated as "beak". It was used as a battering ram during an attack on an enemy ship.

Initially, rostra decorated the podium of speakers, installed in the ancient Roman forum. Then they began to decorate the triumphal columns with which it was customary to celebrate naval victories. They were decorated with the noses of captured enemy ships.

Similarly, the rostral columns in St. Petersburg served as an allegory for the triumph of Russian maritime navigation, they symbolized the power of the country as a trade and military power.

General Description

When creating lighthouses, de Thomon used pillars of the Doric order, the appearance of which is determined by restraint, rigor and lack of a base. Rostral columns in St. Petersburg are made of stone and reach a height of 32 meters. There is a spiral staircase inside them, on the upper platform there is a metal tripod holding the bowl of the lamp, as was done in ancient altars.

Burning wicks of lamps served as lighthouses. Initially, these were tar torches, then they tried to burn hemp oil in the braziers, but hot spray fell on the heads of passers-by. Electric lamps were connected to lamps in 1896, but this lighting method was also rejected due to high consumption. Finally, in 1957, powerful gas burners were installed in the lamp bowls.

Since then, on holidays, bright orange 7-meter torches are lit on rostral columns in St. Petersburg. On ordinary days, these are just the world-famous symbols of the Northern Capital.

Decoration

At the foot of the columns are monumental sculptures. Seated two female and two male figures symbolize 4 rivers: Volkhov, Dnieper, Volga and Neva. The statues were modeled by Jacques Thibault and Joseph Cumberlain, French sculptors well known to the architect de Thomon. He originally wanted the statues to be cast in bronze. However, no one wanted to take on such a difficult project.

As a result, they were made of Pudost stone - soft and pliable when processed, but with one drawback: it is very easily destroyed. Ultimately, this became the dignity of the sculptures. Although some of their parts crumble from time to time, but this is exactly whatgives them a certain antiquity.

Samson Sukhanov, the legendary stonemason, took part in the creation of the triumphant lighthouse columns. He carved out of stone the figures sitting at the base of the columns. At that time, Sukhanov collaborated with the most famous architects of the capital, but then went bankrupt and died in complete obscurity.

The columns are also decorated with rostra in memory of how Peter the Great waged war with Sweden for 20 years for access to the B altic Sea. Below is the first pair, fortified in such a way that one ship's prow is turned to the Stock Exchange, and the other - to the Neva. These rostra are decorated with figures of winged mermaids. Perpendicular to the first is the second pair, it is decorated with seahorses, a crocodile's head and fish. The third pair is decorated with the head of a merman, and the fourth, the top one, is decorated with images of seahorses.

Summing up

Several interesting facts are connected with the lighthouse columns:

Branson Deco, who visited Leningrad in 1931, captured them on color slides

• The image of the rostral columns in St. Petersburg can be seen today on the 50-ruble bill.
• The lighthouses were last renovated in 1999.
• In the 1990s, an episode of the movie "White Nights of St. Petersburg" was filmed here.

The panorama of Vasilevsky Island with the same brick-colored lighthouses is often found on postcards of the Northern capital. This is quite natural, since the history of rostral columns is inseparable from the history ofPetersburg.