The Chesme Column () is a

rostral column A rostral column is a type of victory column originating in ancient Greece and Rome, where they were erected to commemorate a naval military victory. Its defining characteristic is the integrated prows or Naval ram, rams of ships, representing ...

(a type of

victory column A victory column, or monumental column or triumphal column, is a monument in the form of a column, erected in memory of a heroic commemoration, including victorious battle, war, or revolution. The column typically stands on a base and is crowned ...

) in the

Catherine Park The Catherine Park () is the large landscaped area to the south of the Catherine Palace, located in the town of Tsarskoye Selo ( Pushkin), 25 km south-east of St. Petersburg, Russia. The park has two parts: a formal 18th century Dutch-style g ...

at the

Catherine Palace The Catherine Palace (, ) is a Rococo palace in Tsarskoye Selo ( Pushkin), located south of St. Petersburg, Russia. It was the summer residence of the Russian tsars. The palace is part of the World Heritage Site Saint Petersburg and Re ...

, a former Russian royal residence at

Tsarskoye Selo Tsarskoye Selo (, , ) was the town containing a former residence of the Russian House of Romanov, imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the center of Saint Petersburg. The residence now forms part of the Pushkin, Saint Peter ...

, a suburb of

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. The column commemorates three Russian naval victories in the 1768–1774

Russo-Turkish War The Russo-Turkish wars ( ), or the Russo-Ottoman wars (), began in 1568 and continued intermittently until 1918. They consisted of twelve conflicts in total, making them one of the longest series of wars in the history of Europe. All but four of ...

: the Battle of Chios, the

Battle of Chesma The naval Battle of Cheshme (also the Battle of Chesma, Chesme or Cesme Bay) took place on 5–7 July 1770 during the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) near and in Çeşme (Cheshme, Chesma, or Chesme) Bay, in the area between the western tip of An ...

and the Battle of Mytilene. It was constructed from 1774 to 1778 in the large pond of the landscape park of the Catherine Palace to Antonio Rinaldi's designs. The column is decorated with the

rostra The Rostra () was a large platform built in the city of Rome that stood during the republican and imperial periods. Speakers would stand on the rostra and face the north side of the Comitium towards the senate house and deliver orations to t ...

of three ships' bows, and crowned by a bronze figure of an eagle (a symbol of Russia) crushing a crescent (a symbol of Turkey). The column stands on a grey marble pedestal, on three sides of which are bronze

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

s illustrating the Russian victories, while the fourth side is inscribed with a description of the battles. The bas-reliefs were destroyed by the Germans during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and subsequently replaced using old photographs. The column was reopened in June 1996, commemorating the 300th anniversary of the Russian Navy. The pedestal rests on a stepped

pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...

-like granite platform, with an arched opening with a grille leading to a flight of steps providing access to the pedestal.

Gallery

File:Catherine_II_walking_by_V.Borovikovskiy_(1794,_Tretyakov_gallery).jpg,

Catherine II Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter III ...

strolling in the park at

with the Chesme Column in the background, painting by

Vladimir Borovikovsky Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky ( – ) was a Russian artist of Ukrainian Cossack origin. He served at the court of Catherine the Great and dominated portraiture in Russia at the turn of the 19th century. Biography Vladimir Borovikovsky was born i ...

File:Marblebridge.jpg, Marble Bridge in Tsarskoye Selo (1774). The Chesme Column is seen in the distance File:Чесменская (Орловская) колонна, Царское Село.JPG, Side view shows an entrance leading into the base pedestal.

References

{{Coord, 59.7100, N, 30.3937, E, display=title Monumental columns in Russia Monuments and memorials in Saint Petersburg Buildings and structures in Pushkin Victory monuments Buildings and structures completed in 1778 Sculptures of eagles Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Saint Petersburg Animal sculptures in Russia Outdoor sculptures in Saint Petersburg