Before you start studying the topic "Monument to Yaroslav the Wise (Russia, Yaroslavl)", you need to familiarize yourself with the life story of this great Russian ruler.
Memorial Day of Yaroslav the Wise in the Orthodox Church is celebrated on March 4 on the day of his death. After baptism, he received the name George, the years of his life date back somewhere from the 978th or 989th to 1054. He was the second son of Prince Vladimir of Kiev equally from the wife of Rogneda - Princess of Polotsk.
His father, during his lifetime, nine-year-old Yaroslav planted the rule in Rostov. There is a legend that when the prince baptized the Volga, local pagans allegedly released a holy bear on him, but the brave Yaroslav was not at a loss and killed the beast with an ax. After the death of Vysheslav, his own brother, he began to rule Novgorod, and then refused to pay tribute to his father in Kiev. And then Vladimir was planning a campaign against Yaroslav, but he soon became ill and died.
The ruler of the Russian land
In 1035, during the internecine wars, Yaroslav took control of all of Russia and began to improve it. He began to populate the border steppes and build new cities. Among them: Yuryev (modern Tartu), Yaroslavl, Yuryev (modern Bila Tserkva), Korsun, Trepol, Torchesk and others.
He had ten children, his three daughters became queens: Anna - Queen of France, Elizabeth - of Norway, Anastasia - of Hungary. He passed them off as foreigners to strengthen ties and relations with other countries.
Today you can see a magnificent monument to Yaroslav the Wise in Yaroslavl. A description of it will be presented below. But not only in this city honor his memory. The statues of Yaroslav the Wise adorn many cities (Kiev, Novgorod, Kharkov, etc.). The Kiev monument is presented in the photo below.
Monument to Yaroslav the Wise (Yaroslavl)
On December 8, 2005, with the blessing of Patriarch Alexy II, the name of the Right Prince was introduced into the month of the Russian Orthodox Church.
What appeared to the monument to Yaroslav the Wise? Yaroslavl has been preparing for this moment for a long time. It should be noted that the monument to the Grand Duke was erected in the city center on the Epiphany Square. He faces the people entering the city from the Moscow direction, as if he is meeting guests, this moment also symbolizes close ties with the capital.
The place for the monument was chosen long enough, and options were considered on Strelka in the place where the Kotorosl river flows into the Volga or the Medveditsky ravine, where according to legend the prince fought with a pagan bear. As a result, the choice fell on the central Epiphany Square.
The sculptor O. Komov created a monument to Yaroslav the Wise. Yaroslavl was ready for its opening on October 23, 1993. Even the then President of Russia B. Yeltsin participated in the celebration.
Epiphany Square
It was not for nothing that this square was chosen, it is a central place, very crowded and has always been a place for visiting strings of wedding processions. It is very strange, but has anyone really thought of building a monument to Yaroslav the Wise before? The Yaroslavl old-timers, however, recall another pyramid-shaped stone monument, arranged in a ravine, which was dismantled by order of Nicholas I - it was considered not appropriate. Then, at the beginning of the 20th century, they began to raise money for a new monument, but they were spent on the anniversary of the Romanov dynasty.
Wise ruler
The wise king received his nickname thanks to the books: he was the first prince to comprehend a letter, read on his own, studied foreign languages. He created the first library in Russia, books into which were brought from Europe and Byzantium, where they were carefully rewritten and stored.
Yaroslav the Wise stands on a pedestal with a lowered sword in one hand, which means his peaceful policy, and with a small layout of the future city in the other hand. This decision is due to the fact that the Grand Duke was the creator, builder and, if necessary, the defender and not only of the city of Yaroslavl, but of the whole of Russia.
A very beautiful bas-relief decorated a monument to Yaroslav the Wise. Yaroslavl remembers the story with the she-bear, so the creators - the sculptor O. Komov and architects A. Bobovich and N. Komova - decided to include this legend in the basis of the coat of arms of the city.
Yaroslav himself is depicted on the monument according to the icon-painting canon, with a well-groomed beard, as in Christ, in complete peace and quiet.
According to more ancient Varangian canons, the Grand Duke was depicted with short hair or shaven bald, (where only a tuft of hair was left, which symbolized nobility), a Scandinavian-type face, with a small beard and long mustache.