Ruble for the opening of the monument to Emperor Alexander II in the Moscow Kremlin. Monument to Emperor Alexander II in the Kremlin
Thanks to reforms in the military sphere, Russia received a powerful and well-equipped army. Under Alexander II, it was possible to regain the lost position in the international arena: during the Balkan War of 1877-78, Turkey was crushingly defeated, the many years of the Caucasian War ended with the annexation of a number of strategically important territories, and preparations began for the active promotion of Russian interests in Central Asia.
The emperor's life was tragically cut short on March 1, 1881 as a result of a terrorist attack organized against him. At the site of his murder in St. Petersburg stands the Cathedral of the Savior on Spilled Blood.
Monument to the Emperor
The monument to Alexander II in Moscow was opened in 2005 in the park between Volkhonka Street, Vsekhsvyatsky Proezd and Prechistenskaya Embankment near the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Created on the initiative of the public with the direct participation of the Moscow Government. The authors of the monument are sculptor Alexander Rukavishnikov, architect Igor Voskresensky and artist Sergei Sharov.
In the Moscow City Duma, the Commission on Monumental Art discussed several times where in the city to install the monument. Initially it was planned to do this in the Alexander Garden, but it turned out to be impossible to install a sculpture more than six meters high on the territory of the Moscow Kremlin and in its environs. Then it was decided to erect the monument where it is now.
The grand opening took place on June 7, 2005. The monument was consecrated by Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II. The ceremony was attended by the Minister of Culture of Russia Alexander Sokolov, the mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov, the manager of the affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan of Kaluga and Borovsk Kliment, Metropolitan of Omsk and Tara Theodosius, Archbishop of Istra Arseny, Bishop of Dmitrov Alexander, as well as state, political and public figures, representatives of the creative intelligentsia.
Alexander II is depicted in full growth in military uniform and with a royal robe. The Tsar-Liberator looks at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior from the side of All Saints Passage. The bronze figure of the emperor, more than six meters high and weighing seven tons, is installed on a three-meter marble pedestal, which lists his services to Russia.
Destroyed in 1918
Story
After three years of excavation work, the laying of the first stone took place on May 14, 1893. Construction lasted five years, and on August 16, 1898, the grand opening took place in the presence of Emperor Nicholas II.
The monument was created by sculptor A. M. Opekushin, artist P. V. Zhukovsky, and architect N. V. Sultanov. The construction of the monument was supervised by the architect V.P. Zagorsky.
The monument was a memorial complex consisting of a statue of the emperor, a tent-roofed canopy above it and a colonnade.
The dark bronze statue depicted Alexander II in full height, in a general's uniform, in purple, with a scepter. On the rectangular pedestal was the inscription “To Emperor Alexander II for the love of the people.”
The tent canopy was lined with Finnish granite and decorated with bronze and gilding. The roof was made of gilded bronze sheets filled with dark green enamel and topped with a double-headed eagle. The chronicle of the king's life was placed in the dome of the canopy.
Alexander Opekushin (1838-1923, sculpture), category:Nikolay Sultanov (1850-1907) , Public DomainThe statue was surrounded on three sides by an arched gallery. On its vaults were located 33 mosaic portraits of Russian rulers, from Vladimir to Nicholas I.
The portraits were made according to the sketches of P. V. Zhukovsky. On the frieze of the colonnade it was written:
“Constructed by the willing support of the Russian people.”
Memory
To commemorate the opening of the monument on August 16, 1898, Emperor Nicholas II signed a decree according to which the right to wear medals established in connection with the peasant reform became hereditary - the eldest direct descendants of the recipients, exclusively in the male line, received the right to wear these medals as their own. If there were no direct heirs, the medal had to remain in the custody of other descendants of these persons. In this way, the order of wearing the following medals was supplemented: “For work on the liberation of the peasants”, “For work on the organization of appanage peasants”, “For work on the organization of peasants in the Kingdom of Poland”, “For work on the organization of the military-factory population”.
In memory of the opening of the monument, a special table medal and token were minted, as well as a coin with a face value of 1 ruble and a circulation of 5,000 copies.
The monument was popular among Muscovites. The Moskovskie Vedomosti newspaper wrote:
“More than a month has already passed since the opening of the monument to Emperor Alexander II, and yet every day you see the same lines, almost crowds of people around it. It is instructive to observe the mood of the crowd. This is not a simple inspection, the public walks quietly, with some kind of reverence, the conversation takes place almost in a low voice.”
This is what one of its authors N.V. said about this monument. Sultanov:
“Every statue would be lost between two giants: Ivan the Great and the Spasskaya Tower. The Russian people, weaned over nine centuries by Eastern Orthodoxy from sculptural images of the Divine and Saints, have completely forgotten how to understand one sculpture in its pure form, and therefore one statue usually says nothing to its mind and heart, which alone can explain the dull desolation of our monuments.” .
At the same time, Count A. A. Ignatiev, who took part in the opening ceremony of the monument, indicates in his memoirs that on the eve of the opening someone left an inscription on the adjacent fence:
“The mad builder’s mediocre plan was chosen - to put the Tsar-Liberator in a bowling alley”
In the spring of 1918, the statue of the emperor was removed; in 1928, the monument was completely destroyed.
The opening ceremony of the monument to Emperor Alexander II took place on August 16 in the presence of Their Imperial Majesties the Sovereign Emperor and Sovereign Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, who deigned to arrive in Moscow along with the Most August Children on the eve of the celebration, on August 15, at 6 o’clock in the evening.
On August 16, at 8 o'clock in the morning, five cannon shots from the Tainitskaya tower of the Kremlin announced to Moscow the onset of the opening ceremony of the monument to Emperor Alexander II. But already before the shots were fired, a strong movement of people around the Kremlin began. Especially a lot of people gathered on the Sofia embankment opposite the Kremlin, from where the fence of the monument and the upper part, the head of the statue of the emperor, under a majestic canopy are visible. The main façade of the entire structure faces the Kremlin cathedrals.
The canopy rising high above the gallery is made of dark pink Finnish granite and decorated with decorations made of dark green bronze with gold highlights.
The four-sided roof of the main canopy, rising steeply upward, is made of chased bronze sheets, gilded through fire and decorated with low-relief ornaments with the background filled in with dark green enamel. In its general appearance, the roof resembles a colossal brocade tent. The tent of the main canopy is topped with a large bronze gilded double-headed eagle. The height of the canopy from the surface of the square to the top of the eagle is 17 fathoms. In the center of the dome of the middle canopy is an image of the Imperial crown in golden rays. Along the edges of the dome there is the following inscription in gold letters: “Born on April 17, 1818. Accessed the throne on February 19, 1855. Crowned on August 26, 1856. Reposed in Bose on March 1, 1881.” 
The statue of the emperor is placed under a canopy on a four-sided pedestal made of red granite. Created by professor of sculpture A. M. Opekushin, the statue is cast from dark green bronze; its height is 7 arshins. Emperor Alexander II is depicted in the attire in which he was crowned king, in full general uniform and in the Imperial purple. On the front side. pedestal; the inscription was made: “To Emperor Alexander II with the love of the people” (fig. on page 697)…
All collectors interested in the imperial period know about the rare memorial ruble, minted in 1898, on the occasion of the opening of the monument to Emperor Alexander II in Moscow. Its circulation was only 5,000 pieces. In numismatic jargon, this ruble is called “Dvorik”.
On the obverse is the profile of the emperor and the inscription in a circle: “ALEXANDER II EMPEROR AND AUTODERCH OF ALL RUSSIAN born April 17, 1818 died March 1, 1881.” On the reverse there is an image of the monument, under it the denomination “RUBLE.” and an inscription in a circle “laid down by EMPEROR ALEXANDER III in 1893” “opened by EMPEROR NICHOLAY II in 1898” “in the Moscow Kremlin.” On March 1, 1881, a monstrous event occurred - a terrorist attack that claimed the life of God’s anointed Emperor Alexander II. The new emperor, his son Alexander III, immediately after coming to power sharply turns the country's internal policy from the liberal reforms of his father to the strengthening and consolidation of the people around the autocracy. He is personally actively involved in many spheres of the country's life. “Minds began to feel the need for a national historical perspective, and this direction received special strength during the reign of Emperor Alexander III. ‹…› A national turn occurred in architecture, sculpture, and painting 1 ". Naturally, a government order is received to perpetuate the memory of the innocently murdered monarch. Monuments were commissioned in many cities of the empire. In Moscow, it was decided to install it in the Kremlin on a slope descending to the Moscow River. In the competition for the construction of a monument to Emperor Alexander II in Moscow, a project in a mixed style, but still closer to the original Russian traditions, wins. The creators of the majestic ensemble were the sculptor A. Opekushin, the architect N. Sultanov and the artist P. Zhukovsky. Design lasted from 1889 to 1897. Alexander III personally controlled the creative process.
Sketch by P. Zhukovsky.
Sketches of monument projects that did not pass the competition.
The process of building a monument.
The grand opening of the monument to Emperor Alexander II took place on August 16, 1898, in the presence of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, who arrived in Moscow along with the Most August Children.
Opening of the monument.
Unfortunately, this monument has not survived to this day; photographic documents from those times remain, but they do not show all the beauty of its interior decoration. This is what Niva magazine writes for 1898. “The monument to Emperor Alexander II, built according to the Highly approved project of N.V. Sultanov and N.V. Zhukovsky, is a fusion of two styles: in general appearance and in the shape of the roofs it is a completely Russian structure, and in details it is a building in the Renaissance style , consistent in shape and color of its materials with the general character of the Italian-Russian, white-stone, golden-domed Kremlin. The monument was built on the southern slope of the Kremlin hill, opposite the Small Nicholas Palace, occupying an area of 323 square meters. fathoms (688 sq.m.) If you look at the monument from Zamoskvorechye or from the Spassky and Borovitsky Gates, then the entire structure seems to be growing out of the lower Kremlin garden, adjoining its upper area to the outer edge of the parade ground. On the sides of the monument, two high stone stairs descend from the parade ground along the hillside, ending with a common platform and a wide ramp leading to the garden near the Church of St. Konstantin and Elena. In appearance, the monument consists of a 8-foot-long protrusion rising above the slope of the Kremlin hill. (17 m.) height, framed at the top on three sides by a through gallery, with a statue of the emperor placed in the middle under a high canopy or canopy with a tent top. The arches and vaults of the gallery are supported by 152 columns arranged in two rows. Along the frieze of the gallery, starting from its left side, there is an inscription carved: “Constructed by the voluntary support of the Russian people. Laid in the summer of the Nativity of God the Word 1893 by our great Sovereign Emperor Alexander Alexandrovich and completed under our great Sovereign Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich in the summer of 1898.” There are two entrances to the gallery, in the form of a vestibule; above the roof of the right entrance is the coat of arms of the Romanov house, representing a griffin with a sword and shield, and above the left entrance canopy is the coat of arms of the city of Moscow, depicting St. George the Victorious. The gallery vaults are decorated with gilded mosaic ornaments in the style of the Italian Renaissance, in the form of rosettes and stars. This mosaic serves as a patterned background, on which are located, in the very middle of the vaults, large medallion mosaic portraits of Russian sovereigns, starting with St. Vladimir and ending with Emperor Nicholas I; a total of 33 portraits. On the sides of the portraits are depicted the beginning and end of the reign of each sovereign. Sketches of portraits and ornaments of the gallery vault were written by the artist P. B. Zhukovsky. Based on these sketches, the mosaic of the portraits and the entire gallery was made in Venice. In the side entrances and in the corners of the gallery, four bronze gilded candelabra are suspended from the arch for electric lighting of the monument. The canopy rising high above the gallery is made of dark pink Finnish granite and decorated with decorations made of dark green bronze with gold highlights. The four-sided roof of the main canopy, rising steeply upward, is made of chased bronze sheets, gilded through fire and decorated with low-relief ornaments with the background filled in with dark green enamel. In its general appearance, the roof resembles a colossal brocade tent. The tent of the main canopy is topped with a large bronze gilded double-headed eagle. The height of the canopy from the surface of the square to the top of the eagle is 17 fathoms. (36.2m.). In the center of the dome of the middle canopy is an image of the Imperial crown in golden rays. Along the edges of the dome there is the following inscription in gold letters: “Born on April 17, 1818. Accessed the throne on February 19, 1855. Crowned on August 26, 1856. Reposed in Bose on March 1, 1881.” . The statue of the emperor is placed under a canopy on a four-sided pedestal made of red granite. Created by professor of sculpture A.M. Opekushin, the statue is cast from dark green bronze; its height is 7 arshins (4.97 m). Emperor Alexander II is depicted in the attire in which he was crowned king, in full general uniform and in the Imperial purple. On the front side of the pedestal; the inscription was made: "To Emperor Alexander II, love of the people"» (Sazhen 1=2.13 m. Arshin 1=0.71 m.)
Photos of the monument.
Drawing by M. M. Peretyatkovich.
General view of the Kremlin.
Perhaps the very first “repressed” monument was this monument. On February 26, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars decided to transfer the capital from Petrograd to Moscow. The government decided to reside in the Kremlin and, naturally, proximity to the monarch was considered inappropriate. The monument was dismantled in a short time. The colonnade itself was finally destroyed in 1928.
Demolition of the monument.
On June 7, 2005, on the initiative of the Union of Right Forces party and with the support of the Moscow government, a monument to Emperor Alexander II was erected near the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The author of the monument is sculptor A. Rukavishnikov, architect I. Voskresensky, artist S. Sharov.
Monument to Emperor Alexander II near the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
At the end of the memorial inscription the phrase “DIED ON MARCH 1, 1881 AS A RESULT OF A TERRORIST ACT.” So the “heroes of the People’s Will,” whose names are given to streets in many cities of our country, are terrorists and criminals, and this is attested.
1 Prakhov A.V. Emperor Alexander III as a figure of Russian artistic enlightenment // Artistic treasures of Russia. - 1903. - No. 4 - 8. P. 136.
