The mermaid sits on a stone. Monument to the Little Mermaid: when fairy tales come to life

A few meters from the shore on the beach in Miskhor you can see one of the most touching sculptural monuments of Crimea - a bronze mermaid with a baby in her arms. The girl sadly looks at her native land, which she had to leave. The sculptural composition is continued by a fountain installed on the embankment. The monuments illustrate the legend of the unfortunate girl Arzy, who was stolen and sold into slavery to the Turkish Sultan.

Mermaids in art

Everyone famous fairy tale Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" leaves no one indifferent. Sad story about a sea Diva in love tells about boundless love and devotion, about betrayal, loneliness and heartache. These feelings are familiar to each of us, so when reading the famous fairy tale, we sincerely empathize with its heroine.

Many legends are dedicated to the seductive inhabitants of the deep sea. The insidiousness that they sometimes possess does not in the least touch their charm. Therefore, all over the world, monuments are erected to the little mermaids, poems and paintings are dedicated to them.

The mermaid has a twinkling gaze,
Midnight's dying gaze
It shines, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter,
When the winds of the sea scream.
The mermaid has a charming look,
The mermaid has sad eyes.

This is how Nikolai Gumilev describes the attractive beauty of the mermaid.

There is a whole galaxy of mermaid statues. One of the most famous is Copenhagen. It was ordered by the sculptor Edward Erikson by Carl Jacobsen, the founder of the Carlsberg brewery. People loved the Danish “Little Mermaid” so much that copies of it appeared on the embankments of Tokyo, Amsterdam, Sydney, as well as in non-marine cities - Rome and Paris.

Warsaw also got a couple of its own sculptures. One is located on the banks of the Vistula, the other is on Rynok Square. The popularity of the sea siren is so great that its image is even present on the coat of arms and symbols of the Polish capital.

Almost all legends about mermaids are sad. There is a well-known legend from the 6th century about the love of a Scottish monk and a water maiden. The girl dreamed of finding a soul, and the monk prayed to God to fulfill her aspirations. However, the sea did not let go. The bitter mermaid's tears turned into pebbles, which the Scots have since called "mermaid's tears."

Another story tells of a Scotsman who fell in love with a sea nymph. The lovers lived happy family until their son found his mother's fish skin. Obeying the inexorable call of the ocean, the mother turned into a mermaid and swam away forever.

There is also a Crimean version of the story about the mermaid. It tells the story of the Crimean Tatar girl Arzy. Her house stood in the place where the Miskhor embankment is located today. Many matchmakers came to the beauty’s father, but they returned with nothing. Among the rejected fans was a certain Ali Baba, famous for his robber lifestyle. Arzy dreamed of a guy whom she once met at the fountain. One fine day, matchmakers came from her lover. The girl's parents gave their consent to their marriage. Happy Arzy went down to the seashore to say a final goodbye to her favorite fountain. Immersed in her own dreams and memories, she did not notice the pirates who grabbed her and, like precious prey, dragged her to the boat. The organizer of the kidnapping was the same Ali Baba, to whom Arzy gave a turn. The robber decided to take cruel revenge on the girl by kidnapping and selling her to the Turkish Sultan.

Arzy was very homesick for the harem. And when she had a boy, it brought her no comfort. In a moment of despair, Arza and her child climbed the seraglio tower and threw themselves into the waters of the Bosphorus. That same evening, a mermaid and a child swam to the Miskhor fountain. Since then, once a year on the day when Arzy was kidnapped, the fountain flows stronger, and from depths of the sea a mermaid appears with a baby in her arms.

Little Mermaid in Crimean

Having once heard a sad tale about poor Arzy, the Estonian architect, academician St. Petersburg Academy artist Amandus Adamson decided to immortalize the girl and create her image in bronze. The sculptor realized the idea on own funds and installed the statue on the Crimean coast in 1907. By the way, it was Adamson who is the author of the Monument to Sunken Ships in Sevastopol

The first mermaid “lived” on the stone for about two years. Unfortunately, it was washed away by a storm. Adamson's students created a copy of it based on the surviving models, adding the inscription “According to Adamson.” The second mermaid also held a child in her arms, but, unlike the first, she had a tail. Today this version can be seen on the territory of the Yalta Museum “Glade of Fairy Tales”.

In 1980, the bronze figure was damaged again; strong waves carried it into the depths of the sea. By the time the sculpture was pulled out of the water, it was already pretty damaged. When moving, the mermaid lost her arm, as well as her main attribute - her tail. Riddled with bullets during the Second World War, disfigured by corrosion, it presented a pitiful sight. Therefore, it was decided to cast another copy, and it is this one that pleases tourists in Miskhor today.

Located in close proximity to the shore, the Crimean mermaid gathers adults and children around her. There is a belief that if you whisper your deepest desire into a mermaid’s ear and then touch her breast, it will certainly come true!

The fact is that in 1909 on the stage of the Danish Royal Theater The premiere of the ballet “The Little Mermaid”, written by Danish composer Fini Henriques based on Andersen’s fairy tale, took place. The main role was performed by the leading ballerina of the troupe, Ellen Price.

Jacobsen was fascinated beautiful dancer and ordered a statue of the Little Mermaid from Eriksen, stipulating that Ellen Price be the model for it. But the ballerina did not want to pose naked, and the sculptor’s wife, Eline Eriksen, became the model for the image of the Little Mermaid.

There is a version that to create the image of the Little Mermaid, the sculptor still used the facial features of Ellen Price, although his descendants claim that both the face and the figure of the statue completely repeat the appearance of Eline Eriksen. However, all this has long ceased to matter. The main thing is that Eriksen managed to create an image eternal femininity, embodied in the fragile and touching heroine of Andersen’s fairy tale.

The bronze statue, weighing 175 kg and 125 cm high, was donated to Copenhagen. They decided to install it on a granite pedestal at the Langelini pier. Since then she has become unofficial symbol Danish capital. The beautiful and sad Little Mermaid sits on a stone with a sprig of seaweed in her hands and yearns for her lost lover.

The Little Mermaid is a victim of vandals

City authorities are tired of constantly restoring the statue. Proposals were made many times to move the monument a few meters from the shore, but they were never brought to life.

And yet the Little Mermaid still sits on her pedestal. Every year the monument is visited by about a million tourists, for whom the Little Mermaid is the main attraction of Copenhagen. Many of them believe that the statue brings good luck and try to touch it. As for the residents of Denmark themselves, they are absolutely sure: as long as the beautiful mermaid meets them at the port, peace and tranquility will reign in the country.

Everyone undoubtedly knows the tender and sad fairy tale about the Little Mermaid, who lost her voice for the sake of love for a handsome prince. However, not many people know that a monument has been erected to the heroine of this story. Moreover, the monument to the Little Mermaid exists not only in the homeland of the great storyteller. Only the other sea beauties that inspired the sculptors are not related to the legend glorified by Andersen. Who are they - the mysterious Mermaids, immortalized in stone and metal, where do they live and why were they given such an honor?

Monument to the Little Mermaid in Denmark: a fairy-tale symbol of the country

Anyone who has ever been to the port of Copenhagen on the Langelinje embankment has had the opportunity to admire with their own eyes the main character one of the most famous fairy tales Andersen. The bronze beautiful Little Mermaid sits sadly on a basalt boulder protruding from the water itself. Clutching a sprig of seaweed in her hands, she thoughtfully looks into the distance, yearning for her unrequited love.

The monument to the fairy tale “The Little Mermaid” is considered a symbol of Copenhagen and the entire Danish community solemnly celebrates its anniversaries by organizing festivities on the embankment and decorating the sculpture with wreaths of flowers. Numerous tourists also love to be photographed against the backdrop of the Little Mermaid - the beauty is always the center of attention. Unfortunately, vandals do not ignore it either: the monument was repeatedly doused with paint, individual parts were sawed off from it, and even dressed in Muslim clothing. However, every time the Little Mermaid is lovingly restored and brought into proper form.

The story of the Danish Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid monument in Denmark was erected in 1913, seventy-six years after the fairy tale was written. The bronze daughter of the sea king was made by master Edward Eriksen, and the customer unusual sculpture became Karl Jacobsen, the son of the founder of the famous Danish According to legend, Jacobsen was passionately in love with the prima ballerina of the Royal Danish Ballet, the beautiful Juliet Price, but she did not respond to his feelings. He ordered a monument to the Little Mermaid from Eriksen, stipulating that Juliet would be the model for it. However, the ballerina flatly refused to pose, and then the sculptor, without thinking twice, sculpted the Little Mermaid, looking at his own wife. Having received the completed order, Carl Jacobsen presented the beautiful statue to his hometown.

Since then, the sad sea princess has been sitting thoughtfully on a stone a meter from the capital's embankment, defenseless and touching in her quivering beauty.

Monument to the Little Mermaid in Crimea: the legend of the kidnapped beauty

In the water, near the embankment of the small village of Miskhor, a mermaid with a baby in her arms stood frozen in the middle, leaning on a stone. This sculptural composition embodies one of the ancient Crimean legends - about the beautiful Tatar girl Arzy, who on the eve of her wedding was kidnapped and taken to Istanbul by the treacherous robber Ali Baba. In Turkey, the beauty ended up in the harem of the Sultan himself. She was cared for and cherished, but she wasted away before her eyes, yearning for her lover, left in the distant native land. Even the birth of a son did not relieve Arza from mental anguish. Seizing the moment, she and the baby threw themselves from the tower into the cold waters of the Bosphorus... That same evening on the Miskhor coast, people noticed a mermaid climbing out of the water. In her arms was Small child. The sad Mermaid looked for a long time at the village where Arzy once lived, sat by her favorite fountain, and then just as quietly swam back into the sea. Since then, once a year, on the day when the beautiful Tatar woman was kidnapped, the Mermaid and her baby appear on the shore, and Arza’s favorite fountain begins to flow more powerfully.

How did Rusalka appear in Miskhor?

While vacationing in Crimea at the beginning of the last century, the Estonian sculptor Amandus Adamson heard the sad Tatar legend. She inspired the master so much that he created and installed two sculptural compositions: the girl Arzy and the robber Ali-baba carved in stone near the legendary fountain mentioned in the legend, as well as a monument to the Little Mermaid in the sea on the Miskhor embankment.

Famous Little Mermaids from Warsaw: legendary defenders of the city

Poland is another country where the monument to the Little Mermaid has become a symbol of the capital and is even depicted on its coat of arms. In fact, there are three sculptural groups in Warsaw depicting sea beauties. The most famous Mermaid with a sword and shield stands in the Old Town in the middle of the famous Market. The second monument can be found at the Świętokrzyzski Bridge over the Vistula. The third is located on the viaduct on Karova Street.

According to legend, once a mermaid, swimming from the sea past the Old City, got out of the water, wanting to rest. She liked the place so much that she decided to stay. The fishermen living nearby were at first unhappy that someone was constantly tangling their nets and releasing fish into the wild, but when they heard the mermaid singing, they changed their anger to mercy and did not disturb her. And when a rich merchant who was walking in these places accidentally saw the mermaid, treacherously kidnapped her and imprisoned her in a wooden shed, the son of one of the fishermen and his friends helped her free herself and escape. In gratitude, the mermaid gave the fishermen her word that she would always stand up for them when they needed it. Since then, the monument to the Little Mermaid in Warsaw has regularly stood guard over the city and its inhabitants.

Israeli mermaid from Kiryat Yam: in search of sensation

In the suburbs of the Israeli city of Haifa, Kiryat Yam, a monument to the Little Mermaid was also erected not so long ago. The sea beauty, chastely covering her nakedness, reclines in a huge shell on a pedestal in the very center of the promenade of the embankment.

This sculpture appeared in Kiryat Yam in connection with rumors, which are growing more and more every day: supposedly real mermaids were repeatedly spotted in the sea near the city coast...

Journalists constantly visit the town in search of sensation, but so far no one has been able to confirm the rumors - or, however, to refute them. So the mysterious look of the Mermaid from Kiryat Yam once again attracts the attention of tourists to the mystery, one way or another connected with this town.