In several large cities of the world there is an area under the strange name of the Field of Mars. What does it mean?
All these places are named after Campus Martius of ancient Rome, and therefore, to understand the meaning of the numerous Mars fields, we cannot do without an in-depth excursion into history. Let's figure out where this phenomenon came from, what form it has taken now.
Champ de Mars: history
In ancient times, no one but a guard was allowed to enter the city with weapons. But what about the army? For her, in fact, barracks were built outside the walls. In fact, these were real military camps: in addition to the barracks, there was a hospital, weapons workshops, an arsenal, a field for training and training battles. All this together was called the campus (campus in Latin). Since the camp was occupied by the military, he was under the auspices of the god of war - Mars. In Rome, this place was located on the left bank of the Tiber, occupying a lowland between the hills of Capitol, Pintius and Quirinal. At the center of the campus was a small altar to a militant god.
After the era of the Tarquinians, especially during the late republic, the Field of Mars changed its status and appearance. Public meetings began to take place on it, sometimes military shows, sports competitions (centuriate comitia) were held, and even executions were carried out. Each year, Equirius was celebrated here with horse racing and a cavalcade of chariots. Since the field was huge, several events took place at the same time, and many spectators could find entertainment to their liking.
The fate of the Field of Mars
When Julius Caesar began to rule Rome, the military town moved to Celio Hill. The ordinary civilians of the city began to settle on the Champ de Mars. But the name is preserved in place names. Subsequently, this huge crescent-shaped space began to be actively built up. Many interesting architectural structures were erected on it, for example, the Pantheon. Since the territory of the original military camp included a cemetery where the remains of soldiers who died for the fatherland were stored, later citizens continued to honor their heroes in this place, for which the Pantheon temple was built, which adorns the Field of Mars. Rome lost a large undeveloped space, but sacredly keeps the memory of this glorious place.
Other fields dedicated to fallen heroes
By analogy with the Campus Martius in Rome, similar places began to be created in other big cities. It is noteworthy that initially their mission was the same as in the Eternal City. They performed a military function for the soldier’s drill and ceremonies. And only then, centuries later, they began to be perceived as memorials of glory to the heroes who fell for the Fatherland.
In some cities, eternal flame is lit on such squares . Naturally, altars to Mars were no longer erected in such places, but the name remained. Perhaps because there was a fashion for antiquity. Thus, the fields dedicated to the god of war appeared in very distant lands from Rome. In what cities is the Field of Mars? Paris, Athens, Nuremberg and even St. Petersburg. The most interesting in both historical and architectural terms is Champ de Mars in the capital of France. And the most instructive is in the German city of Nuremberg.
Paris parade ground for military maneuvers
In 1751, the king of France Louis XV ordered the construction of a military school on the left bank of the Seine. Boys from impoverished noble families were supposed to study there (it is known that young Napoleon Bonaparte was one of the cadets in this institution). The school was adjoined by a vast, even meadow, intended for military exercises. Here the king also hosted parades. This space near the Louvre was called the Field of Mars.
Paris appreciated this vast venue, suitable for gathering a large number of people. Here they swore allegiance to the first constitution. Some events of the French Revolution of 1791 also occurred on this field. A large undeveloped space almost in the center of the city was used by Parisians for various needs. Here, not only festivities were held, but also the first experiments were made to master the airspace. In 1784, Blanchard, a pioneer in this area, ascended from the Field of Mars to the sky in a controlled balloon.
Successful addition. Majestic monument
The Field of Mars, spread over more than twenty hectares along the Branly embankment, unlike its Roman counterpart, remained undeveloped. It played the role of an urban hippodrome in 1833-1860, then exhibitions of world-wide scientific achievements began to be held here. Therefore, when Gustave Eiffel gave Paris the design of his tower, it was decided to erect it precisely at the Field of Mars. The iron lacy design surprisingly blended with the green frame of the lawns. In order to view and photograph the Eiffel Tower with Champ de Mars, millions of tourists are now flocking to the city. The golden dome of the building for the Disabled and the Military School serve as a natural edging of the field. Therefore, the Parisians themselves like to have picnics on the grass, coming to the field even in the evening with candles.
Champ de Mars in Athens
This memorial in the Greek language is called Πεδίον του Άρεως (Pedion tou Areos). It was built in 1934 to honor the heroes of the national liberation revolution of 1821. By analogy with the Parisian Field of Mars, the monument was dedicated to the god of war - Areos. It is noteworthy that you will not see his statue anywhere, but the sculpture of Athena Pallas crowns the memorial of glory. Unlike the green meadow of the capital of France, this monument is a shady park. The microclimate of the green zone in the very center of the city (only a kilometer from here to Omonia Square) is such that in summer the temperature here is two degrees lower than everywhere in Athens. In front of the main entrance there is a statue of the Greek king Constantine I on a horse. In the park, in addition to the busts of twenty-one heroes of the revolution, there is also the grave of British, New Zealand and Australian soldiers who fell in battles for Greece during the Second World War.
History of the Field of Mars in St. Petersburg
A century after St. Petersburg was founded, the Field of Mars was also created in this city. However, it was initially called Poteshniy, since festivities took place on Maslenitsa in the undeveloped territory. It was located just west of the Summer Garden. In the XVIII century, this place was called the Big Meadow.
The name and the functions of the place changed when Empress Elizabeth Petrovna ascended the throne . The field was respectfully dubbed the Tsaritsyn Lug. It hosted military shows and parades. And since Russia has always had a fashion for Paris, at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries it was decided to call Tsaritsyn Lug the Field of Mars. Paul I ordered to enclose part of the rapidly developing space with a wrought-iron grate, to set up a park with lawns and alleys. In 1801, on the orders of the same emperor, monuments to the commanders Suvorov and Rumyantsev were erected.
Transformation from meadow to square
Years passed, Petersburg developed, and with it the changes affected Mars Field. Two sculptures adorning him moved to other places in the city. So, the monument to the commander P. A. Rumyantsev by the architect V.F. Brenn was transferred in 1818 to Vasilyevsky Island. And during the reign of Emperor Alexander I, the sculpture of the great Field Marshal was also moved. Now she stands opposite the Trinity Bridge, next to the Marble Palace and the Count's House of Saltykov. In fact, this is also part of Tsaritsyn meadow, only isolated in a separate area, named after the field marshal.
The monument to Suvorov on the Field of Mars, at the Moika, is worth mentioning especially. In the Russian Empire, this was the first monument to an uncrowned person. Sculptor M.I. Kozlovsky, who worked on the monument by decree of Paul I in 1799-1800, did not particularly care about the portrait similarity of the statue and the original. It is, rather, a collective, epic image of a victorious military leader. The bronze figure on a pedestal is dressed in antique toga. She holds a sword in her right hand, and a shield in her left. Suvorov appears before us in the guise of Mars, the god of war.
Transformation into a Memorial of Glory
After the Field of Mars lost the monuments of two commanders, nothing else indicated the attitude of this place to war and battles. However, the name remains. Therefore, when the question arose of where to bury the people who fell during the February Revolution of 1917, there was no other proposal: the mass grave should be located on the Champ de Mars. Later new burials of workers killed in the Yaroslavl uprising in the summer of 1918, participants in the city’s defense against Yudenich’s troops, as well as perished revolutionaries M. Uritsky, V. Volodarsky, Latvian riflemen and others began to appear there. The memory of the heroes, it was decided to perpetuate the opening of the memorial. It was built of gray and pink granite. The opening was timed to the second anniversary of the October Revolution. But the field itself was renamed the Victims of the Revolution Square.
Victory Arena, a place of shame
In March 1935, fascist Germany decided to acquire its own Field of Mars. This was to be not just a place for maneuvers and drill training of the Wehrmacht troops. It was planned to hold party congresses, as well as a parade in honor of the liberation of the world from the "plague of communism and Semitic dominance." And therefore it had to be a construction site of the century - the largest field of Mars in Europe. The photos of those years show that the space allocated for the parade ground was equal to the size of eighty football fields! In the same spirit of gigantomania were the stands, designed for 250 thousand spectators. Twenty-four towers were to surround the arena (eleven of them were built by 1945), and the Fuhrer tribune was to be crowned by the sculptural group of the victory goddess Victoria and the soldiers. And what came of it? We will only say that the grand parade ground for the parades was conceived in Nuremberg, where, as you know, hearings were held on the process of the Nazis accused of crimes against humanity. A truly instructive story!