A monument to Holmes and Watson was opened on Smolenskaya embankment. The best monuments to Sherlock Holmes
A country: Russia
City: Moscow
Nearest metro: Smolenskaya
Was passed: 2007
Sculptor: Andrey Orlov
Description
Located at the British Embassy, the monument to the literary heroes Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson is as follows: Dr. Watson sits on a bench and holds his notebook in his hands, in which he writes down the details of a complicated and very interesting crime recently solved by Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock stands nearby with a pipe and is just telling the details that helped him solve the crime. Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson are surprisingly similar to everyone's favorite actors Vasily Livanov and Vitaly Solomin. And this is not without reason.
History of creation
The idea of the monument and the choice of location are not accidental. After all, the British recognized actor Vasily Livanov as the best actor who played Sherlock Holmes. And where should we put it other than at the British Embassy on Smolenskaya Embankment?
Traditions
At the opening of the monument by Vasily Livanov, a legend was born. If you sit next to Dr. Watson on the bench and hold his notebook, then all problems and doubts will disappear. And if you hold onto Sherlock’s phone, your worries will increase.
How to get there
Get to the metro station Smolenskaya Filevskaya line. You get out and turn right onto 2nd Nikoloshchepovsky Lane. Follow it to 1st Smolensky Lane, turn right and go to Protochny Lane. There you turn left and go to Smolenskaya embankment. At the intersection of Protochny Lane and Smolenskaya Embankment there is the British Embassy, where there is a monument to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. 618 meters (7 minutes walk). Smolenskaya embankment, building 10.
14 years ago, the most famous monument to probably the most famous detective in the world was unveiled on Baker Street. On this occasion, we decided to collect in one selection the most interesting and simply the best sculptural compositions dedicated to Sherlock Holmes.
Baker Street, London
It would seem that on this London street, made famous thanks to the detective novels of Arthur Conan Doyle, a monument to its most famous resident, whose fictional status does not at all interfere with his popularity, should have appeared a long time ago. Somewhere at the beginning of the century, after 1927, when the last book about the adventures of a British detective who never parted with his pipe and violin was published.
But no, the house-museum in house 221-b, where, according to the plot of the novels, Mr. Holmes lived, was opened only in 1990, and the monument - even later. But, despite his youth, it is the thoughtful figure of Sherlock with a pipe in his hand, perched at the exit of the metro station, that is considered the main monument to the famous detective.
Meiringen, Switzerland
Amazingly, it was not the British, but the Swiss who were the first to honor the memory of the most famous literary character. And they did it very diligently. Bronze Sherlock Holmes thoughtfully smokes a pipe, perched on a stone, waiting for a battle with the insidious villain Moriarty. And on a very impressive area around it are hung replicas of old issues of the Strand magazine, where notes about the Baker Street detective first appeared, decorated with illustrations by the famous Sidney Page. And he is almost at home - the joke is that the townspeople gladly renamed the nearby street after the name of the London “sister”, and opened a museum in whose name it is clear. And the monument appeared in 1987 - also, it seems, surprisingly late.
And after giving yourself some thought to Sherlock Holmes and smoking a pipe, you can go to the outskirts of this town, where the beautiful Reichenbach Falls, the one from the book, is located. It is unlikely, of course, that your own Moriarty will be waiting for you there, but there is a memorial plaque on a stone with the profile of the brave detective - yes.
Karuizawa, Japan
A tiny town in Japan is clearly the place where you least expect to stumble upon a sculpture in which you unmistakably recognize the most famous British detective. The surprise intensifies even more when you find out that the local monument to Sherlock Holmes is the second one erected in the world in order, and it was only a month behind its Swiss counterpart. The choice of such a strange place for the monument to the British was due to the fact that it was in this town that the famous translator of Arthur Conan Doyle’s novels into Japanese, Nobuhara Ken, lived.
Edinburgh, Scotland
It’s no joke, but in terms of the speed of installation of the monument to Sherlock Holmes, the British were outdone even by their sworn friends from Scotland, which, however, is not at all surprising when you consider that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born in the country of the Highlanders, in Edinburgh. The sculpture, which pays tribute to both the London detective and his author, perches on a platform in Picardy Place, where the famous writer was born.
Moscow, Russia
The Russian capital also paid tribute to the memory of either Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, or Vasily Livanov and Vitaly Solomin. The monument to Watson perched on a bench with a notebook in his hand and Holmes standing proudly above him with a pipe appeared on Smolenskaya Embankment in 2007 according to the design of the eminent sculptor Andrei Orlov.
On the Smolenskaya embankment in Moscow, not far from the newly built British Embassy building, there is an unusually beautiful and surprisingly believable sculpture dedicated to Sherlock Holmes and his faithful companion Watson, who are among the famous heroes of the literary world.
The grand opening of the monument took place in April 2007 and was dedicated to the 120th anniversary of the first release of the book “A Study in Scarlet” by Arthur Conan Doyle, who managed to create a story about the famous detective. The international charitable public foundation “Dialogue of Cultures – One World” proposed the project “Folk Heroes in Sculptural Compositions”. A monument to famous detectives was erected as part of this project.
This is the only sculpture in the world where the legendary pair of detectives is represented together. The figures of the characters in Conan Doyle's works are depicted in human size. Next to Dr. Watson, who is sitting on a bench, stands Sherlock Holmes, holding a pipe in his right hand, an integral attribute of his image, and politely holding his left hand behind his back. Apparently, he is expressing to a colleague some of his thoughts about a certain investigation.
The installation of the monument was preceded by a closed competition among Moscow architects, who competed to create the best sculptural personification of popular literary characters. The winner of the competition was A. Orlov. According to him, he took inspiration from the original illustrations of the artist Sidney Paget, who first depicted Holmes in a hunting hat, and from the images of heroes created by cinematographers Vitaly Solomin and Vasily Livanov
Fans of the detective genre who are fond of reading the works of Conan Doyle and love his heroes treat the installation of such a monument with pride and admiration. He once again reminds them of the exciting events and fascinating moments in the books of the famous author.
Sherlock Holmes came from the light pen of Arthur Conan Doyle. He wrote 56 short stories and 4 novellas about the adventures of an astute London detective, from whose eyes not a single detail escapes, thanks to which he solves the most intricate crimes.
The first work about the famous detective, the story “A Study in Scarlet,” was written by Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887. The last collection, The Archive of Sherlock Holmes, was published in 1927.
London, Great Britain)
There is a Sherlock Holmes Museum on Baker Street in London. After all, according to the stories, he and his friend Dr. Watson lived in an apartment at 221b Baker Street. Initially there was no such address. Later, when Baker Street was extended, this number was among the numbers 215 to 229 assigned to the Abbey National building society. For this reason, for many years, Abbey National was forced to maintain a special secretary to handle the volume of letters constantly arriving in the name of Sherlock Holmes. When the museum was created, the company 221b Baker Street was specifically registered. Subsequently, however, the house still received an official postal address of 221b, Baker Street, London. The first floor of the museum is occupied by a gift shop and a small entrance hall. On the second floor there is a living room and Holmes' room adjacent to it, on the third - Watson and Mrs. Hudson's rooms. On the fourth floor there are wax figures of heroes from various works about Sherlock Holmes. The interior of the house exactly corresponds to the descriptions present in the works of Arthur Conan Doyle about Sherlock Holmes. Here you can see Holmes' violin, his hat, a hunting whip, a Turkish slipper with tobacco, letters pinned to the mantelpiece with a penknife, and equipment for chemical experiments. And on September 24, 1999, a monument to Sherlock Holmes was unveiled at the Baker Street metro station. As conceived by the author, English sculptor John Doubleday, the three-meter bronze Holmes thoughtfully looks into the distance, he is dressed for the rainy London weather - in a long raincoat, a hat with small brims, and holds his famous pipe in his right hand. By the way, the museum is open daily from 09:30 to 18:00. Entrance fee per adult is £8, and free photography and video shooting is permitted.
Meiringen (Switzerland)
However, the first monument to Holmes appeared in 1988 in Switzerland, in the small village of Meiringen, located near Brienz. Near the village there is the Reichenbach Falls (according to the works of Professor Moriarty and Sherlock Holmes died in the abyss of the Reichenbach Falls). The statue is installed near the railway station, Sherlock Holmes sits with a pipe on a bench, just like alive. You can take a photo next to it for free as a souvenir. A little further down the street is the Sherlock Holmes Museum.
Edinburgh (Scotland)
Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh. On June 24, 1991, a monument to his most famous hero was unveiled on Picardy Place, at the writer’s birth address. The statue was dedicated to the fortieth anniversary of the founding of the Edinburgh Federation of Builders. Sculptor Gerald Lang depicted the detective looking brooding in a raincoat, cap, and pipe in hand.
Moscow, Russia)
The fact that works about the London detective were popular in the USSR is evidenced by the fact that Lenfilm filmed their own film version of “The Adventures of Sherlock Hill and Dr. Watson” with Vasily Livanov and Vitaly Solomin in the lead roles. In April 2007, Conan Doyle's characters appeared in Moscow. The monument was erected on Smolenskaya Embankment, near the British Embassy. This was the first monument where Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are depicted together. The author of the work is Andrey Orlov. By the way, the faces of Livanov and Solomin can be seen in the sculptures.
Installed in 2007 in Moscow near the British Embassy in honor of the 120th anniversary of the publication of the first novel about the London detective by Arthur Conan Doyle.
Five Soviet films directed by Igor Maslennikov about Sherlock Holmes, filmed in 1979-1986, earned love and recognition not only in Russia, but also in England itself. In 2006, Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain ordered that Vasily Livanov be awarded the title of Commander of the Order of the British Empire for “the most authentic Holmes in world cinema.”
There are many monuments to Sherlock Holmes - in Switzerland, Japan, Scotland and, of course, on Baker Street in London. Plaques mark iconic places associated with Watson, such as in Afghanistan, where the fictional hero was shot in the arm. Memorial plaques hang in the Criterion bar in Piccadilly, in the chemistry laboratory of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, where the heroes first met, in the vicinity of the Swiss Falls in Reichenbach. Since 1990, the address 221B finally appeared on Baker Street, which previously did not exist, which did not stop fans of the author of the deductive method from sending countless letters to him for more than a hundred years. Now a museum-apartment has been opened at this address, and the British government has declared the house an architectural monument.
In Russia, the famous couple of Conan Doyle's characters have always been the personification of an impeccable English style worthy of imitation. Their main features - a bright mind, elegant humor, self-irony, aristocracy, incorruptibility, ideal style - formed the standard image of a British gentleman. Historically, Russian-English friendship has developed best precisely because of mutual cultural interest, and the monument to Watson and Holmes at the British Embassy in Moscow is a symbol of dialogue between the two countries.
Anglo-Russian history
Mutual understanding between Russians and English over the centuries has been facilitated not only by literary images and cultural associations, but also by the similarity of views on some problems of world politics. Despite the fact that Russia and England more than once found themselves on opposite sides of the front, their military and state interests often coincided, and as a result, they repeatedly became political and economic allies. Since 1698, when Peter I visited the British Isles, a new era of diplomatic and trade relations between the two countries began. Following the trade agreement of 1736, England and Russia fought together in the Seven Years' War. Cooling under Catherine the Great, who was skeptical about the “American campaign” of George III, gave way to unity in the fight against the French Revolution (both England and Russia sent troops to France, unsuccessfully trying to restore the fallen monarchy), and then in the war against Napoleon. All this gave rise to a surge of Anglomania in Russian diplomatic circles and a passion for “everything English” in the high society of St. Petersburg.
Sherlock Holmes was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the most popular movie character in the world. Over a hundred films have been made about him. The first was filmed by Arthur Marvin in 1900 in America. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a Scotsman by birth, a ship's doctor and a versatile writer, created the epic about Sherlock Holmes from 1887 to 1926. He was upset by such close public attention to such a frivolous hero. The murder of Sherlock in a fight with Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls caused a storm of indignation. According to legend, having received a letter from Queen Victoria, the writer succumbed to persuasion and revived the hero again.
But at the beginning of the 19th century, mutual sympathy was replaced by suspicion again. As soon as Alexander I returned from Europe, where he was celebrated as the conqueror of Napoleon, a Russophobic wave broke out in London due to the Russian suppression of the Polish uprising of 1830-31. The famous English call in the Crimean War “We will not give up Constantinople to the Russians!” speaks of a gigantic disagreement in the “Eastern Question,” which in those years became a stumbling block for the whole of Europe. It seemed that for the British, Russia was becoming a principle enemy. But only a few years passed, and the common enemy in the form of the Ottoman Empire, as well as the tour of the Russian Imperial Ballet in London, reconciled the two powers and dispelled the myth of a ruthless barbarian from the East threatening Europe. And the great tour of Nicholas II with his wife Alexandra Fedorovna across Europe in 1896 ended with a visit to Queen Victoria, Alexandra’s grandmother. As a result, according to the Anglo-Russian agreements of 1907, the powers became allies as part of the military-political bloc “Entente”, which united them during the First World War.
The aggression of the Hitlerite coalition forced the anti-communist Churchill to prefer Stalin to Hitler. And in 1945, the Potsdam Conference of the Big Three with Harry Truman, Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill determined the fate of Europe for many years.
Russia and Britain are still the most important players and potential partners on the world stage. Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, located opposite the British Embassy, are witnesses to this.
What to do at the monument
1. To make an important decision or find a way out of a difficult situation, you need to sit between two detectives and hold on to Watson’s notebook. You cannot touch Sherlock Holmes's smoking pipe - according to Moscow tradition, this promises nothing but trouble.
2. You can stroll along the embassy building and appreciate the intellectual minimalism of the architectural project created under the leadership of Richard Burton. The main idea of the monument is the proximity of English and Russian cultures, expressed, for example, in the combination of traditional stone and wood with environmental materials used by English designers in the process of creating interiors. The grand opening of the building on May 17, 2000 was attended by Princess Anne of Great Britain. About the new building, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said: “It will become not only Britain’s window to Eastern Europe, but also Russia’s window to Britain.”
The British in Russia and about Russia
Until the 16th century, England knew nothing about the Moscow principality - instead of it, endless Tataria stretched out on the geographical maps of Europe. In August 1553, the only ship surviving from the English expedition, sent to the Arctic Ocean by King Edward VI, landed in St. Nicholas Bay, at the walls of the Nikolo-Korelsky Monastery (later the city of Severodvinsk was founded in its place). This is how the British first set foot on the Russian coast. The captain of the ship Chancellor, delivered to Moscow, had with him a letter from Edward VI in several languages, in which the English monarch asks for permission to trade. Ivan IV found the proposal mutually beneficial and gave the go-ahead. The first English trading company, the Moscow Company, founded in 1555, had enormous privileges, which were curtailed only under Peter I. For the British, John granted chambers in Kitai-Gorod, next to the Kremlin, on the territory of which exclusively English laws were in effect.
The memoirs of the English pioneer Chancellor have been preserved, where he describes the luxury of dinners, a red brick castle with nine churches, where the tsar lives: “Moscow itself is a great city. It seems to me that it will be larger than London with a suburb, but at the same time it is wild and stands without any order... Such people, accustomed to a harsh life, are no longer anywhere under the sun, for they are not afraid of any cold.” In his notes, the Englishman also pays great attention to the size of the Russian army that amazed him.
Ivan the Terrible, having kept his guests for about a year, became imbued with sympathy for England and sent the expedition home with rich gifts and assurances of friendship. A few years later, he was inspired not only by the idea of an alliance with a powerful maritime state, but also by his love for Elizabeth I. In the process of sophisticated diplomatic negotiations related to matchmaking, England achieved a virtual trade monopoly with Russia at sea, and Elizabeth, having heard about polygamy and the waywardness of the Russian monarch, still escaped the move to the Kremlin.
Russian Anglomaniacs and Dandies
In the 19th century, Anglomania swept the capitals of Europe, including St. Petersburg and Moscow. From about the 1840s, it became not only fashionable to read Walter Scott and Dickens, but also to travel to the British Isles for no business purposes. Upon their return, Counts Pyotr Shuvalov, Mikhail Vorontsov, and the Golitsyn princes laid out regular English parks, decorated their estates with colonial British artifacts and gathered English important people in their salons. After the German Settlement in Moscow burned down in 1812, Anglican services were held in the house of the famous Anglophile Anna Golitsyna on Tverskaya. In those same years, noble youth, following Pushkin, loved to surprise secular society, imitating the English dandies Byron and Brummel, and some eccentrics, returning from fashionable London dressed in extravagant tailcoats and starched ties, turned away their boots and assumed a special English accent in their speech, pretending pretending to be foreigners, as M. Pylyaev mentions in his book about the Russian aristocracy, “Wonderful eccentrics and originals.”
The British in Moscow
The first Englishmen, merchants of the Moscow Company, began to settle in Moscow from the time of Ivan the Terrible. Under Alexei Mikhailovich, they were located in the German settlement. Since the era of Peter the Great, a British subject in the Russian Empire was no longer a rarity. An important event of the 19th century was the construction in Moscow of the Anglican Cathedral of St. Andrew (1878) in Voznesensky Lane. Already in our time, since the 1990s, Moscow for the British has again become one of the centers of attraction in eastern Europe. They are brought here by business, art and private life. At the beginning of the 10s of the 21st century, about 25,000 British people lived in Moscow, of which about 1,000 were students.
