Yermak Monument
| Памятник Ермаку | |
 |
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| Location | Novocherkassk, Rostov Oblast, Russia |
|---|---|
| Designer |
Mikhail Mikeshin, Vladimir Beklemishev |
| Material | bronze, granite |
| Height | 4 metres (13 ft) |
| Beginning date | 1903 |
| Completion date | 1904 |
| Opening date | 6 May 1904 |
| Dedicated to | Yermak |
Yermak Monument in Novocherkassk (Russian: Памятник Ермаку в Новочеркасске) ― a sculptural work in honor of Yermak Timofeevich, a Cossack Ataman who began Russia's conquest of Siberia. The monument is considered to be an object of cultural heritage of federal importance.
1870 was the year of the 300th anniversary of Don Army. On May 21, during the festivities held in Novocherkassk, the Cossacks, represented by the Chief of the Army Staff, Major-General Nikolai Leonov handed a memo to Alexander III (who was at that time the heir to the Russian throne) with a request of construction of a monument to the legendary conqueror of Siberia in Don Cossacks capital. In the same year the highest resolution on the satisfaction of the petition and a decree on the opening of a subscription to collect the necessary funds was issued. However, the subscription was delayed because of Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. Cash in the amount of 92,000 rubles had been being collected for 27 years, and the rest of the sum (about 40,000 rubles) the Cossack Army Administration donated from its treasury.
1889 saw the establishment of a special commission on construction of Yermak monument, with several philanthropists and state officials having taken part in it. In whole Russian Empire a competition for the best project of the monument was announced. Several projects had been considered.
The first project of the monument was designed by sculptor Mark Antokolsky in 1891, but this project was not approved. The project of the sculptor Mikhail Mikeshin, who also designed the monument "Millennium of Russia" in Novgorod (1862) was also did not approved, because of the fact that Yermak towered over the Two-headed eagle, the Tsar's emblem. The layout of this project is now on display in the Museum of the History of Don Cossacks.
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Wikipedia