The famous square of King William IV of England, located in the very center of the British capital, was named Trafalgar thanks to the grand victory of England at the Spanish cape Trafalgar. In the center of the square is a majestic Nelson column. At the top of the famous column is proudly a statue of G. Nelson.
History
Architect W. Railton in the middle of the XIX century. designed the construction of the monument. The height of the Trafalgar column was about 46 meters (without a statue). The British sculptor Edward Bailey made a 16-foot (5.5 meter) statue of General Nelson from sandstone. Construction lasted 3 years and ended in 1843. Her pedestal is decorated with bronze panels. They depict the brilliant victories of General Nelson. Such sculptors as Ternaus, Carew, Watson and Wooddington worked on the creation of relief frescoes. The column of Admiral Nelson cost the government $ 47 thousand pounds (now it is about 3.5 million pounds).
Architecture
The height of the Nelson column is 167 feet (51 meters). Acanthus bronze leaves adorn the top of the Corinthian column. They are cast from captured Napoleonic cannons. The Nelson column at the base is cast from the artillery pieces of the English ship Royal George. The statue of the general is looking south towards the naval department of Britain. On four sides the column is decorated with bronze frescoes.
The talented sculptor of the Romantic era, Henry Landsir, poured lion sculptures from bronze . Four bronze lions sit majestically around the column. They were added 24 years after the construction of the column. The square where the Nelson’s column is located is surrounded by important buildings: the National Gallery, the Admiralty’s arch made of Portland stone, the famous parish church of St. Martin with a golden crown on a spire. In the middle of the XX century. several fountains appeared around the famous column.
Interesting Facts
- At the beginning of the XX century. Arthur Ferguson, a scammer from Scotland, estimated the monument to Lord Nelson at 6 thousand pounds (8 thousand dollars). In 1925, the Nelson column was "sold" to a naive tourist from the United States. Interestingly, Ferguson managed to sell Big Ben (or the Elizabeth Tower) for a thousand pounds, leased the White House for one hundred thousand pounds, and even sold the Eiffel Tower for scrap. By the way, the gullible Texan “rented” the White House for almost a hundred years.
- Nelson’s column where we are, we know. But where, if not in Berlin, did Adolf Hitler dream of seeing her? He wanted to secretly take her from Britain. For the dictator, she had a sacred meaning.
- In the capital of foggy Albion, in the Maritime Museum, you can see the model of the monument. It is less than the original by more than 20 times.
- At the end of the XX century. the column was "conquered" twice. The first to dare to climb the column was John Nux, and after 19 years - Gary Wilmot. Both cases occurred during the filming of the BBC channel.
- More than a hundred years ago, lightning struck the statue of the famous Admiral Nelson in the left hand. In mid-2006, the general’s limb was “cured”.
- The highest point of the column is a quartz feather on the admiral's headdress.
- In Dublin (Ireland), a column was built in honor of Nelson. The monument in Dublin turned out to be extremely similar to the column in London. The height of the column was about 40 meters. In 1966 she was blown up.
Column restoration
At the beginning of the XXI century, the Nelson column underwent restoration. It cost the government of Misty Albion $ 520 thousand. Work began at the end of July 2006 and lasted four months. This was the first restoration in 20 years. A laser audit of the statue found that it was 5 meters lower than previously thought. In London guidebooks, it was previously indicated that the G. Nelson Memorial is more than 56 meters in height. However, after a thorough restoration, it was confirmed that the column of the famous general was reduced to real figures - 51 meters.