Among all the cities of Russia, Sochi is one of the most popular among tourists. Not surprisingly, city officials are striving to give the resort a personality. And monuments play an important role in this. There are more than 60 of them, the most original, perhaps, are: “A horse in a coat”, “March cat”, “Shop of lovers”, “Diamond hand”. Busts, monuments, memorials are installed in parks, in squares, along the promenade, near administrative buildings, cultural and sports facilities.
Monument "Horse in a coat"
The sculptor Hakob Khalafyan from a small Armenian village has been pleasing residents and guests of Sochi with creative compositions from “improvised” materials for decades. The assistants, of course, conditionally. To create even seemingly simple monuments, funds are required, and not small.
An example of this is the funny composition “Horse in a Coat”. Made of a piece of iron water pipe and a handful of imagination, it will not leave indifferent even the most gloomy person in the world. The hero of the famous saying, imposingly sitting on the bench, cordially greets passers-by with a glass of virtual wine. By tradition, passers-by throw coins “for good luck” into the vessel.
Despite the apparent simplicity, the installation of the monument in 2007 cost 120,000 rubles. Nevertheless, except for the pipe, many kilograms of color were used. You can get acquainted with a cheerful horse in the resort heart of the city - on Teatralnaya Street of the Central District.
By the way, A. Khalafyan prepared a lot of sculptural surprises for citizens and tourists. His works can be found in the most unexpected corners of the resort. Monuments in Sochi, such as the Bremen Town Musicians, the Quartet, the Goat and Ostriches, and Where from, differ with a fresh look at the architecture of small forms. From a camel! ”,“ Janitor Petrovna ”and others.
"Lieutenant Rzhevsky"
How could you ignore the legendary hero of jokes lieutenant Rzhevsky? Perhaps, customers and the author of a unique monument in Sochi thought so. By the way, workmanship is by no means anecdotal. The project was carried out with the highest degree of detail, despite the fact that the composition was cast from a material difficult to work - cast iron.
It all started with the idea of ​​the owners of the “Art Hotel Lieutenant Rzhevsky” to place a monument at the entrance that would personify the hero of folk tales, and the movie character “Hussar Ballad” performed by Yuri Yakovlev, and the real hussar Rzhevsky, who lived in the Napoleonic era. Surprisingly, the sculptor Konstantin Girev was able to perfectly realize all the ideas. Our hero, sitting on the edge of a bench, fervently twists his mustache, and a cunning squint of his eyes gives out an experienced and dashing hussar who is not alien to a sense of humor.
Work on the creation of one of the most interesting monuments in Sochi was carried out “in an adult way”, in compliance with all technological chains. First, a trial scaled-down model was made, then a large-scale model was molded from plasticine, a gypsum copy was made, which served as the object for the manufacture of the mold. Direct smelting was entrusted to employees of the Kaslinsky Iron Foundry with relevant experience. Workmanship was excellent. Today everyone can sit down and talk to Rzhevsky heart to heart.
IN AND. Lenin
In almost every city of the USSR, a monument to Vladimir Lenin was erected. Sochi, although it is not the cradle of the revolution, the leader of the proletariat proudly shows the current generation a direction towards a brighter future. One can have a different attitude to the events of 1917, but it was ideological revolutionaries who advocated universal education and industrialization of the once technologically backward agrarian country.
We must pay tribute to the authors of the monument to Vladimir Lenin in Sochi - the sculptor Z. Vilensky and the architect L. Rudnev. The founder of the first socialist state does not look pompous and does not belittle the monumental size. Before us on a pedestal of red marble appears the thoughtful Vladimir Ilyich, who is probably arguing about serious things.
The bronze sculpture is located in the Central District near the promenade near the Sochi Hotel. Established on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Revolution back in 1957. It is gratifying that the townspeople do not demolish the monuments and honor all the stages of their history.
Breaking Arrows
Another visible symbol of the Soviet era. It demonstrates the people's desire for universal peace and the rejection of wars. The reinforced concrete composition is a rider girl, taming a horse standing on its hind legs. With arms raised above her head, she breaks the murder weapon - arrows.
Monument “Breaking arrows” by V. Glukhov was installed in 1976. Like the previous compositions, it is located in the park area of ​​the Central District, opposite the monument to V.I. To Lenin.
"Anchor and gun"
The monument is designed to perpetuate the memory of the foundation in 1838 of the city of a new outpost of the Russian Empire on the Black Sea. This is one of the oldest monuments in Sochi, the installation of which took place in a festive atmosphere on 04/23/1913.
The composition is a stylized gun mounted on a concrete base, in front of which a ship anchor is placed. Thus, the descendants are left with a reminder at what a difficult price the region was recaptured from Turkey in 1829.
Yuri Gagarin
The monument to Yuri Gagarin in Sochi is located on the street, also named after the first cosmonaut, in the Central District. Unlike Vladimir Lenin and Peter I, the legendary astronaut visited the city.
Yuri Alekseevich and his family came to rest in Sochi 25 days after the space flight. He actively spent time, met with residents, participated in events. In the park (now named after Gagarin), he personally planted the Himalayan cedar. By the way, the tree has taken root and today reaches the height of a five-story building. Under the canopy of his branches, a bust of Yu.A. Gagarin.
Other monuments
Of course, this is only a fraction of the existing memorial sites and sculptural compositions. Examples of other nominal characters:
- Vladimir Vysotsky;
- Nikolai Ostrovsky;
- Sergey Kirov;
- Aidamir Achmizov;
- Mikhail Lazarev;
- Maxim Gorky;
- Peter I;
- Fevronia and Peter Muromsky;
- Alexander Pushkin;
- Catherine II;
- Stalin, Churchill and Ruvelt;
- Ivan Pavlov;
- Nikolai Panin-Kolomenkin.
Symbolic compositions:
- "Tourist";
- "Snail Bench";
- "March cat";
- "Gray Yeti";
- "Neptune";
- "Lovers";
- “Sochi teachers”;
- "The Golden Fleece";
- "Make a wish";
- "Matsesta";
- "Gambusia fish";
- "Housing and communal services worker";
- dedicated to the heroes of the film "Diamond Arm";
- a series of compositions dedicated to the Sochi Olympics.
Memorials:
- “A feat in the name of life”;
- “To the victims of the A-320 disaster”;
- “To the victims of the Caucasian war”;
- "Order Carrier City";
- “To the liquidators of the Chernobyl NPP”;
- "Zavokzalny";
- “To the heroes of the Great Patriotic War”;
- “Sochi Soldiers”;
- The Afghan Knot;
- “To victims of political repression.”
Each year, this list is replenished with new sculptural works.
Reviews
Needless to say, both Sochi and guests are happy with the transformation of the city. The pathos and monumental monuments are being replaced by creative compositions with a twist.
Sochi’s real decoration was a sculptural group dedicated to the heroes of the cult comedy “The Diamond Arm”: the entire Gorbunkov family, as well as the criminal duo Papanov and Mironov. Many thematic monuments dedicated to sports were erected on the eve of the Olympics held in Sochi in 2014.