Moscow is not just the capital of the Russian Federation, it is a magnificent city with an incredibly interesting history, ancient architectural monuments, modern shopping centers and vibrant life, which many provincial residents dream of. Moscow can rightly be called one big attraction. Here, wherever you look - everywhere there is a place of great interest to tourists: the Kremlin, Red Square, Arbat, the Tretyakov Gallery and many, many other objects. One of these is the “Tragedy of Nations” - a monument that is located on Poklonnaya Hill. It is here that we will make our journey today.
Poklonnaya Gora
There is a place in Moscow dedicated to the victory over the German fascists. His name is Poklonnaya Gora. It is a gentle hill, which is located in the western part of the capital, between two rivers - Setunyu and Filka. Already in the XVI century, the existence of Poklonnaya Gora was first mentioned. But in those days, it was not located in Moscow itself, but far beyond its borders.
Today, scientists continue to struggle to unravel the origin of the name of the attraction. With the name "mountain" it is more or less clear: in the Central Russian strip every place was called so that at least rose a little above the ground. And about the word "Poklonnaya" various theories are put forward: one of the most common versions is the proposition that the name "bow" appeared from the word "bow". It was a bow in those centuries that it was customary to express one's respect and respect. Travelers, arriving or leaving Moscow, bowed to the city at the place where the monument is located.
Poklonnaya Gora has experienced a lot in its lifetime: the meeting of the ambassadors of the Crimean Khan Mengli Giray in 1508, and the camp of Polish troops in 1612, when they were going to storm Moscow. And in 1812, here Napoleon was waiting for the keys to the capital of Russia.
Today it is a memorial complex in which there are many monuments dedicated to victory in the Great Patriotic War. "The Tragedy of the Peoples" is a monument located on Poklonnaya Hill and deserving the most respect.
Tsereteli and his brainchild
Before the description of the monument “Tragedy of Peoples” appears in our article, I would like to say a few words about its creator Zurab Tsereteli. The monument is dedicated to millions of those people whom death overtook in gas chambers, concentration camps and ditches. Tsereteli decided to perpetuate the memory of the victims of the Holocaust. The sculptor created his masterpiece solely from his own motives. Neither the state nor the municipality of Moscow ordered the sculptor to create such a statue. Tsereteli poured this composition out of bronze exclusively for his money and by order of his own soul and memory. Zurab survived the war as a child, he saw the death camps and remembered those soldiers who were not destined to return home.
Tsereteli decided to create a monument on Poklonnaya Hill during his work in Brazil.
Description of the monument
The sculptural composition reaches a height of almost eight meters. It was installed in 1997. “The Tragedy of the Peoples” is a monument depicting an endless series of people sentenced to death. The gray line consists of naked and emaciated women and men, old people and children. These people differ in their growth, and their shaved heads, their frozen faces, invisible empty eyes and lowered hands make them look alike. All of them are doomed and silently stand in line for death.
The monument on Poklonnaya Hill begins with three figures. This is a man, woman and their teenage son. The family must be the first to accept death. Husband and wife are trying to somehow protect their child: mom covered his eyes with his palm, dad also made an attempt to protect him. But all in vain: no one will survive. The rest of the line follows, does not notice each other. Everyone thinks about theirs - these are their last seconds on Earth.
The last figures are attracted by the earth, they become conditional and resemble stones and merge with granite steles. On these 15 plates, in different languages of the republics that were part of the USSR, the words "Let the memory of them be sacred, may it be preserved for centuries!" And on the last, 16th stele, these words are written in Hebrew.
Scandal around the composition
"The Tragedy of the Peoples" is a monument that caused mixed opinions among the population of Moscow. It even wrote an appeal to the then measure of the city of Luzhkov with a request to move the monument to another place. Citizens motivated their desire by the fact that the sculpture causes melancholy, catches up mournful sensations, and in general, provokes depressing feelings.
The people simply demanded that the building be removed away from human eyes, if it can not be destroyed at all. As a new haven for the monument, they called the backyard of the museum. In their opinion, there is the place for him, since not all guests will visit this territory.
He will live forever
Poklonnaya Gora (monument “Tragedy of Peoples”), despite the discontent of Muscovites, continues to amaze the minds of guests of the capital with its monumentality and grandeur. The powerful work of Tsereteli is called to live forever. The strong composition has withstood the difficult test, like the people to whom it is dedicated, and continues to exist, despite all the oppression and intentions to destroy it and break it.