Monument to Yuri Dolgoruky in Moscow

Monument to Yuri Dolgoruky in Moscow is a sculptural monument on Tverskaya Square, depicting the founder of the capital, the Grand Duke of Kiev, sitting on a horse. Installed in 1954 on the initiative of Stalin, today this bronze statue has become one of the recognizable symbols of Moscow, although in the early years of its existence it was an object of popular dislike and often became a cause for jokes.

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The story of the monument’s creation: how the warrior prince defeated the creator prince

The idea to erect a monument to Yuri Dolgoruky came to the “leader of the peoples” in 1946. A year later, the government planned to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the capital, which would distract the Soviet people from the memories of the past war, and at the same time would be a kind of rehearsal for the subsequent celebration of the 30th anniversary of the October Revolution. Well, and to give the celebration greater significance in the eyes of ordinary citizens, it was decided to combine the city day with the opening of a sculptural monument to the prince-city-builder.

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In September 1946, a competition was organized for the best design of the monument to Yuri Dolgoruky, which was attended by several sculptors known in the Soviet Union. Among others claimed to win and the variant proposed by Vera Mukhina, depicting Yuri Dolgoruky in lavish princely attire, leaning on a lowered sword and extending forward the palm, indicating the place of foundation of the future capital. The historical character appeared as a good-natured hero, calm and wise ruler. However, by a strange coincidence, the victory was awarded to Sergei Orlov – a little-known sculptor who specialized in small plastic and had no experience in the field of monumental art. There were rumors that Orlov’s candidacy was approved by Stalin himself, who melted from the flattering comments of the American ambassador about the creations of the Soviet sculptor. The sketch proposed by Orlov, cardinally differed from the romantic image of Yuri Dolgoruky, drawn by Mukhina. Formidable prince-warrior, chained in armor, and even on horseback was a model of brutality and latent aggression, which, apparently, and “caught” addicted to such things dictator.

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September 6, 1947 was laid the foundation of the future monument, but after that the matter stalled, as Orlov managed not only to quarrel with his co-authors (AP Antropov, N. L. Stamm and V. S. Andreev), but also fell into disfavor with the ruling top. The main stumbling block was the inscription “To the Founder of Moscow from the Soviet government”, which the sculptor stubbornly refused to place on the monument to Yuri Dolgoruky. By the way, the stubborn artist defended his position, and the text was modified. The work was slowed down by the General Secretary’s fascination with the new project, which involved the construction of high-rise buildings in Moscow. As a result, the bronze horseman appeared on Tverskaya Square only in 1954. The monument was cast in Mytishchi near Moscow and cost the capital budget an astronomical amount for those times – 5.5 million rubles.

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Casualties and historical inconsistencies

The celebration in honor of the 800th anniversary of the founding of Moscow in 1947 was nothing but an artificially inflated anniversary. In fact, 1147 is not the date of the founding of the capital, but only the year in which the settlement began to appear in the annals. And certainly, Yuri Dolgoruky could not be considered the founder of the city, which appeared at least 200 years before his birth.

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Initially, the opening of the monument to the Grand Duke was planned to be combined with the ceremony of reburial of his remains. In 1946, Stalin even equipped an archaeological expedition to Kiev, which was tasked with finding the grave of Yuri Dolgoruky and extract his ashes from it. The idea was a failure, because, as it turned out later, the burial place of the founder of the capital turned out to be an ordinary fake.

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There is an opinion that in the first version of the statue of Yuri Dolgoruky sat on horseback, but after the “father of nations” criticized such an idea, Orlov remade the horse into a stallion.

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Appearance of the sculptural composition

Since no authentic lifetime images of Yuri Dolgoruky have survived, the creators of the monument decided to stop at a collective image, turning the prince into a mighty bogatyr. The sculptors paid special attention to the military armor: helmet, chain mail, baidana – all the elements of equipment were made with maximum historical accuracy. The rider standing up in the stirrups stretches forward his right hand, thus pointing to the land on which one of the greatest Russian cities would later grow. The left hand of the prince is covered by a shield with St. George the Victorious depicted on it, the patron saint of Moscow. The pedestal on which the monument is located is decorated with intricate ornamentation with clearly traceable motifs of Slavic mythology. For example, here you can see images of the mysterious bird Sirin, winged griffins and frozen in threatening poses basilisks.

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Legends and curious facts about the monument to Yuri Dolgoruky

For a long time, Muscovites treated S. Orlov’s creation with a fair share of negativity, as the place where the sculpture was erected was considered “unlucky” and monuments did not linger on it. For example, in 1912, the central zone of Tverskaya Square was occupied by a monument to General Skobelev, which in 1917 was demolished by order of Lenin. An obelisk glorifying the Soviet constitution was immediately erected in place of the monument to the national hero, but by the 30s, the sculptural group, which had been made by some means, began to deteriorate, and 11 years later it was removed. The townspeople were already counting the days until the moment when the monument to the founder of Moscow will share the fate of its fellows, but, contrary to expectations, the “bronze Yuri” was not going to leave its place.

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There is a legend that the statue disliked Khrushchev himself. Allegedly, once passing by the monument to Yuri Dolgoruky, the First Secretary was extremely indignant that the “dignity” of the princely stallion attracts too much attention. To please the picky politician, the sculpture was adjusted, depriving the animal of “gender identity”. Ironized about the princely appearance and historians who considered his figure improbably ideal. The fact is that according to the surviving descriptions the founder of Moscow was stunted, ugly thick and long-armed in the truest sense of the word. Moreover, the nobleman suffered from osteochondrosis, which was not conducive to horseback riding.

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People’s attitude to the monument remained emphasized indifferent exactly until the beginning of perestroika. The democratization that took over the country brought with it new traditions, which first of all affected the celebration of the city day, which began to be celebrated more lavishly and precisely at the monument to Yuri Dolgoruky. The statue became a recognizable brand, and its image began to be printed on posters, postcards, jubilee coins and medals.

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How to get there

You can get to the monument to Yuri Dolgoruky by metro. To do this, you need to get off at the station “Tverskaya” (as an option – station “Okhotny Ryad”). The next 500 meters will have to be overcome on foot: get off at Tverskaya and move along it in the direction of the City Hall building, opposite which the sculpture of the founder of Moscow is located.

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