Памятник Петру I в Петрозаводске
A monument to the Reformer Tsar who visited Petrovskaya Sloboda (known as Petrozavodsk since 1777) in 1719, 1721, 1722 and 1724 was conceived on the eve of the 200th birthday of Peter I which was celebrated on May 30, 1872. The Governor of Olonets Province Grigory Grivoriev requested Alexander II for a permission to install a monument to Peter I in Petrozavodsk. The permission was obtained and announced by Grigoriev to the Petrozavodsk City Duma on June 9, 1871.
However, on May 30, 1872, the monument was not completed and only its foundation was laid. Peter’s anniversary was celebrated with much solemnity in Petrozavodsk. Many buildings in the area between the St. Peter and Paul’s Cathedral and the Kruglaya (Circular) Square (known as Petrovskaya Square since May 30, 1872) were decorated with flags, greenery garlands, carpets and fabric. An ancient portrait of Peter I decorated with red drapery was set on the building of the Provincial Boys’ High School. The celebrations began with a cross procession from the St. Peter and Paul’s Cathedral to the monument foundation site in Petrovskaya Square.
The foundation laying ceremony was accompanied by a celebratory gunfire of 31 cannon shots. A quarter-size model of the monument was exhibited in the Governor’s house. In the evening, a public festival with songs performed by singers and choirs took place in Petrovskaya Square. An amateur performance of the play “Grandfather of the Russian Fleet” by Nikolai Polevoy was staged in the theatre.
A 4.5-meter tall pedestal made of gray Sortavala granite with Baroque-style cartouches was installed by Stepan Ilyin’s workmen’s association in early October 1872. The pedestal was made to the design of academician Ippolit Monighetti by cutter Barinov in St. Petersburg. The inscription on the pedestal reads: “To the Emperor / Peter the Great / the founder of the Petrozavodsk / 1703 / 1672–1872”.
The two-meter tall figure of the Tsar was cast in bronze to a model made by sculptor academician Ivan Schroeder at the Adolphe Morand Bronze Works.
The inauguration of the monument took place on June 29, 1873. This day, known as St. Peter’s Day, was the main city festival in Petrozavodsk before the 1917 Revolution in Russia. Lots of peasants from neighboring areas arrived in the city on the eve of the holiday and the choir of the Preobrazhensky Life Guard Regiment came to the city on the “Tsarina” steamship. The celebrations began with a parade of the provincial battalion and a cross procession from the St. Peter and Paul’s Cathedral, and also featured a celebratory gunfire of 31 cannon shots.
Several photographs were taken during the festival by photographer Johann Monstein who was specially invited from St. Petersburg. On the same day, a “museum of works from Olonets Province” to feature “monuments of Peter the Great’s stay in the Olonets Land” was opened in a hall of the Governor’s house. A brochure “Emperor Peter the Great and His Activities in Olonets: A Historical Essay for People” written by regional historian Alexander Ivanov was distributed during the public festival in Petrovskaya Square. The festival was closed with a fireworks display from the “Tsar” and “Tsarina” steamships.
The monument to Peter I has become one of the city’s main attractions. It was described by poet Konstantin Sluchevsky who visited Petrozavodsk as a member of the entourage of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich in 1884 as follows: “The monument is not bad. The Emperor’s appearance is much more striking than that of the monument found near the Monplaisir Palace in Peterhof”.
The monument stood in Petrovskaya Square until 1918. It was thrown off the pedestal on the eve of the first anniversary of the October Revolution, remained lying in the Governor’s Garden for several years and was later hidden in the stocks of the Local Lore Museum.
In 1940, the monument was re-installed near the Local Lore Museum (currently the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral) and in 1978 it was moved to a public garden built to the design of architect Vyacheslav Bugashev near the Water Station on the embankment of the Lake Onega. The bronze figure of the Tsar was moved to the new site together with the old pedestal. The previously lost sword and text on the pedestal were restored at the same time. The monument is protected by the state as a monument of federal significance.
