The Alexander Column: from the Finnish cliffs, through Kronstadt to the Winter Palace

185 years ago, on September 11, 1834, the long-expected event happened on Palace Square in St. Petersburg. After several years of meticulous work, the Alexander Column was opened and became one of the symbols of the Northern capital. A separate collection of the Presidential Library is dedicated to the famous monument, including a detailed description of all stages of its manufacture and installation, as well as images of the column at different times.

Back in 1829, Emperor Nicholas I announced a competition for the creation of a monument in memory of his unforgettable brother, the winner of Napoleon, Emperor Alexander I. The project was won by Auguste Montferrand, the builder of St. Isaac's Cathedral (a separate collection of the Presidential Library is also dedicated to another symbol of St. Petersburg).

The monument was based on a granite cliff in Finland, which was then part of the Russian Empire.

The column was separated from the cliff in September 1831, exactly three years before the opening of the monument on Palace Square. This story is covered in the book “Monument to Alexander the Blessed” (1833).

The "fall of the mass" on the woody litter took only seven minutes, but "one can imagine that the rumble was quite strong".

The difficulties did not end there. The most serious efforts were not just to “roll off” the granite monolith from the rock, but “to turn it completely on its side”.

Then several components of the Alexander Column were loaded onto special barges and were delivered to St. Petersburg through Kronstadt. This voyage is described in the publication “Image of a Column Erected in Memory of Emperor Alexander the Blessed” (1832).

The column was raised to a pedestal in the middle of Palace Square on August 30, 1832 - on the day of the namesake of Alexander I. 1250 piles were previously driven under the pedestal. A column weighing about 600 tons was lifted by almost 2.5 thousand soldiers.

Two years later, on September 11, 1834 (August 30, according to the old style), a completely finished monument was solemnly opened for everyone.

The book by I. G. Butovsky “On the Unveiling the Monument to Emperor Alexander the First” (1834) notes that for residents of the capital of Russia “two years passed in anticipation and in preparation for a national celebration, before the forests obscuring the monument fell and the column appeared in all its greatness".

The famous Russian poet V. A. Zhukovsky left his own memories of this event, which are also available on the Presidential Library’s portal. At least 100 thousand people took part in the military parade dedicated to the opening of the monument.

““Montferrand, Montferrand ...” – the crowd swept through”, - P. Dobel writes in his book “August 30, 1834, or Feelings and Thoughts in the Contemplation of a Column dedicated to the Immortal Memory of Emperor Alexander I” (1834).

The Alexander Column with a total height of 47.5 meters is the tallest solid granite monument in the world. Moreover, it does not have special supports, but stably stands only due to its own weight.

The Presidential Library’s collection contains many images of this miracle of architecture, made in the XIX – XXI centuries.