One of the most mysterious artifacts of St. Petersburg is the Alexander Column and its appearance.
The Alexander Pillar (Alexandrinsky) is a monument to Alexander I, the winner of Napoleon in the war of 1812-1814.
The column, erected by the design of Auguste Montferrand, was installed on August 30, 1834. It is crowned with the figure of an Angel (similar in appearance to Emperor Alexander), made by the sculptor Boris Ivanovich Orlovsky.
The Pillar of Alexandria is not only an architectural masterpiece in the Empire style, but also an outstanding achievement in engineering. The tallest column in the world made of monolithic granite.
Its weight is 604 tons. The height of the monument is 47.5 meters, the granite monolith is 25.88 meters. It is higher than Pompey's column in Alexandria, Trajan's column in Rome and the Vendome column in Paris - a monument to Napoleon.
Examining the quality of the column's manufacturing, its shape and weight, we can definitely conclude that it is impossible to make it without mechanisms and machines. But even today in the world there is no such machine in which it would be possible to fix a stone block and carve something like that out of it. Moreover, we do not have the technology to extract such a monolith from the quarry, and most importantly, we cannot simply transport it to the processing site, and then to the installation site.
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And now let us critically analyze what historians tell us about the erection of the Column on Palace Square.
Officials under Tsar Nicholas I invited the architect Auguste Montferrand to erect a monument in honor of the victory of Russia and the previous emperor Alexander I over Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1834, according to Montferrand's project, a pink granite column was installed in the very center of the square. For delivery to St. Petersburg in 1832, a special barge was constructed. The Alexandrian pillar, in addition to its size, is also unique in that it stands not fixed and supported by anything. For more than a century and a half it has been held upright by its own weight and the calculations of a talented architect. It is incredible not so much that the column does not fall (its base is wide enough), but that the foundation did not shrink for a century and a half, and there was no deviation from the vertical.
The installation work went quickly. The column was raised to a vertical position in a little more than an hour and a half. Almost 2.5 thousand soldiers and workers were involved in the operation. As levers (on the advice of Archimedes), 1250 pine logs were used.
Everything is very smooth and understandable. But only in theory….
Let's start from the end - the stage of delivery and installation of the column. The method is more than controversial: build a platform out of matches, and then roll a pound weight on it. Will it withstand?
The lifting technology is even more doubtful - the technical and mathematical model of such an operation does not stand up to criticism.
We pass to the manufacturing stage. The weight of the processed column was over 600 tons. How much then did the workpiece weigh under it? Who processed such monoliths and when?
A few words about who historians call the creator of the Alexandrian Column. The name of the master is Sukhanov Samson Semyonich. It turns out that due to the development of a technology of stone processing unknown today, the former serf Samson dressed the whole of St. Petersburg in granite, including becoming a manufacturer of columns for all famous cathedrals and many monuments. “The peasant's son Samson Sukhanov (the historian writes) … at first he worked with his brother-in-law, adopted stone-cutting skills, got used to a hammer and a chisel. I got used to it - the work went easily. Playfully Samson moved the heavy blocks, and they willingly succumbed to him. As if he had discovered a secret: where to aim with a chisel, with what force to hit."
According to historians, Samson Sukhanov near the village of Pudost, near Gatchina, found a deposit of a magic stone, which, while lying in the ground, is soft as butter, that you can cut it with an ordinary hacksaw. “And take it out of the ground - it turns out differently: the more there is in the air, the harder it becomes. It is easy to work the stone, but its strength is like marble."
Apparently, historians studied fairy tales well, but it was lazy to study technical sciences, or it was simply unprofitable. After all, if they more often turned to engineers for advice, then the official version of history would have long ago crumbled like a house of cards.
We return to the Alexandrian column. The column is made of pink granite, weight - 604 tons, it is crowned with an angel with feminine features (supposedly with the face of Alexander I). The pedestal of the monument is decorated with bronze bas-reliefs with ornaments of bronze armor, as well as allegorical images of the victories of Russian weapons.
If the Alexander Column was erected in honor of the victory of Russian arms over Napoleon, why are there so many Roman gods, angels and symbols on the bas-reliefs? Why is there "sphinx" and "all-seeing eye". Did they all take part in the hostilities?
This is the same if, for example, gliders of the First World War or Persian chariots attacking German trenches were drawn on the panorama of the Battle of Stalingrad. And angels flew over all. Maybe, after all, the old monument was simply redone, leaving acceptable details, adding some new ones to them? …
Perhaps in 1834 it was not installed, but was opened after restoration, with a new sculpture at the top and patches at the base. The foundation was also renewed, adding elements of Russian weapons and armor to the Roman gods and goddesses.
History says: the opening of the monument took place on August 30 (September 11), 1834 and marked the end of the work on the decoration of the Palace Square. The ceremony was attended by the sovereign, the royal family, the diplomatic corps, the hundred thousandth Russian army and representatives of the Russian army.
The most active part in the installation of the Alexander Column was taken by Lieutenant General A. A. Betancourt, an architect and engineer, organizer of construction and transport in the Russian Empire. The author of the technology for laying the foundation of St. Isaac's Cathedral. We read the encyclopedia: In December 1829, the place for the column was approved, and 1250 six-meter pine piles were driven into the base. Then the piles were cut under the spirit level, forming a platform for the foundation, according to the original method: the bottom of the pit was filled with water, and the piles were cut at the level of the water table, which ensured the horizontal platform. This method was proposed by A. A. Betancourt. By July 1832, the monolith of the column was on its way, and the pedestal had already been completed. Now is the time to begin the most difficult task - placing the column on a pedestal. This part of the work was also carried out by Lieutenant General A. A. Bettencourt. In December 1830, he designed the original lifting system. It included: scaffolding 22 sazhens (47 meters) high, 60 capstans and a block system. To bring the column to a vertical position on Palace Square, engineer A. A. Betancourt needed to attract the forces of 2,000 soldiers and 400 workers, who installed the monolith in 1 hour and 45 minutes. It's better to stop here. See the same Wikipedia, the column was installed in 1834. Now let's look at the personality of A. A. Betancourt: "Born on February 1, 1758 - died on July 14 (26), 1824) - Spanish, then a Russian statesman and scientist." Now let us compare the date of A. A. Betancourt's death with the date of the column installation. In 1834 he was alive and well, according to historians, after that he died suddenly in 1824 … Isn't it, strange?In December 1830, he designed the original lifting system. It included: scaffolding 22 sazhens (47 meters) high, 60 capstans and a block system. To bring the column to a vertical position on Palace Square, engineer A. A. Betancourt needed to attract the forces of 2,000 soldiers and 400 workers, who installed the monolith in 1 hour and 45 minutes. It's better to stop here. See the same Wikipedia, the column was installed in 1834. Now let's look at the personality of A. A. Betancourt: "Born on February 1, 1758 - died on July 14 (26), 1824) - Spanish, then a Russian statesman and scientist." Now let us compare the date of A. A. Betancourt's death with the date of the column installation. In 1834 he was alive and well, according to historians, after that he died suddenly in 1824 … Isn't it, strange?In December 1830, he designed the original lifting system. It included: scaffolding 22 sazhens (47 meters) high, 60 capstans and a block system. To bring the column to a vertical position on Palace Square, engineer A. A. Betancourt needed to attract the forces of 2,000 soldiers and 400 workers, who installed the monolith in 1 hour and 45 minutes. It's better to stop here. See the same Wikipedia, the column was installed in 1834. Now let's look at the personality of A. A. Betancourt: "Born on February 1, 1758 - died on July 14 (26), 1824) - Spanish, then a Russian statesman and scientist." Now let us compare the date of A. A. Betancourt's death with the date of the column installation. In 1834 he was alive and well, according to historians, after that he died suddenly in 1824 … Isn't it, strange?scaffolding 22 sazhens (47 meters) high, 60 capstans and a block system. To bring the column to a vertical position on Palace Square, engineer A. A. Betancourt needed to attract the forces of 2,000 soldiers and 400 workers, who installed the monolith in 1 hour and 45 minutes. It's better to stop here. See the same Wikipedia, the column was installed in 1834. Now let's look at the personality of A. A. Betancourt: "Born on February 1, 1758 - died on July 14 (26), 1824) - Spanish, then a Russian statesman and scientist." Now let us compare the date of A. A. Betancourt's death with the date of the column installation. In 1834 he was alive and well, according to historians, after that he died suddenly in 1824 … Isn't it, strange?scaffolding 22 sazhens (47 meters) high, 60 capstans and a block system. To bring the column to a vertical position on Palace Square, engineer A. A. Betancourt needed to attract the forces of 2,000 soldiers and 400 workers, who installed the monolith in 1 hour and 45 minutes. It's better to stop here. See the same Wikipedia, the column was installed in 1834. Now let's look at the personality of A. A. Betancourt: "Born on February 1, 1758 - died on July 14 (26), 1824) - Spanish, then a Russian statesman and scientist." Now let us compare the date of A. A. Betancourt's death with the date of the column installation. In 1834 he was alive and well, according to historians, after that he died suddenly in 1824 … Isn't it, strange?Betancourt needed to attract the forces of 2,000 soldiers and 400 workers, who installed the monolith in 1 hour and 45 minutes. It's better to stop here. See the same Wikipedia, the column was installed in 1834. Now let's look at the personality of A. A. Betancourt: "Born on February 1, 1758 - died on July 14 (26), 1824) - Spanish, then Russian statesman and scientist." Now let us compare the date of A. A. Betancourt's death with the date of the column installation. In 1834 he was alive and well, according to historians, after that he died suddenly in 1824 … Isn't it, strange?Betancourt needed to attract the forces of 2,000 soldiers and 400 workers, who installed the monolith in 1 hour and 45 minutes. It's better to stop here. See the same Wikipedia, the column was installed in 1834. Now let's look at the personality of A. A. Betancourt: "Born on February 1, 1758 - died on July 14 (26), 1824) - Spanish, then Russian statesman and scientist." Now let us compare the date of A. A. Betancourt's death with the date of the column installation. In 1834 he was alive and well, according to historians, after that he died suddenly in 1824 … Isn't it, strange?then a Russian statesman and scientist. " Now let us compare the date of A. A. Betancourt's death with the date of the column installation. In 1834 he was alive and well, according to historians, after that he died suddenly in 1824 … Isn't it, strange?then a Russian statesman and scientist. " Now let us compare the date of A. A. Betancourt's death with the date of the column installation. In 1834 he was alive and well, according to historians, after that he died suddenly in 1824 … Isn't it, strange?
Someone Samson (Semyonovich or Ksenofontovich) Sukhanov with his team dressed the city in granite in two decades, the embankment, canals, building foundations - these are millions of tons. He made antique columns, monuments and statues three pieces a day. Then he disappeared without a trace and died in poverty, although no one saw him during his lifetime (there are simply no memories of his contemporaries). The first mentions of such a significant master appeared only at the beginning of the 20th century; in the 19th century, historians did not hear anything about him.
Someone V. P. Yekimov casted grandiose statues (for some reason, all in the same antique style), however, no one saw him either, apparently he was very modest.
The well-known A. A. Montferrand, being just an artist (in his notes, Vigel characterized Montferrand only as a good draftsman, more), without hesitation, he took on the most ambitious architectural projects.
A. A. Betancourt, like a Phoenix bird, resurrects ten years after death, to install the most grandiose monument - the Alexander Column, flashes here and there, leads the builders and troops, celebrates wherever possible.
… there are so many inconsistencies that historians would have to agree among themselves. But this was written at different times, by different authors, sometimes unaware that another story was being written nearby. At the end of the work, an acceptable version was chosen that suited the customer, and it was decided not to pay attention to the roughness.
Based on materials by Alexey Kungurov and ZigZaga