Monuments to cats can be found around the world. These are animals that have been accompanying humans for several millennia, they have a special friendship with us. In the old days, cats were often revered. For example, in ancient Egypt, even equated with the gods. Many sculptures of tailed and striped can be found in our country. We will talk about the most famous and entertaining of them in this article.
St. Petersburg
This city has several monuments to cats. For example, on Malaya Sadovaya Street there are immediately two small but very remarkable sculptures - the cat Elisha and the cat Vasilisa.
They were cast from bronze by the sculptor Vladimir Petrovichev. Initially, they were with businessman Ilya Botka, and in the early 2000s they were donated to the city. Cat Elisha sits on the ledge of house number 8, watching passers-by, and Vasilisa is located opposite him, at the level of the second floor of house number 3. Graceful and dreamy, she looks up at the clouds floating away.
It is believed that this monument to a cat and a cat in St. Petersburg is gratitude for saving from rat invasion during the siege of Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War. As soon as the famine began in the city, not a single cat remained, the rats began to destroy food supplies, nothing could be done about them. Then several thousand tailed people were specially brought to the Northern capital, who quickly coped with the mission assigned to them.
This is the most famous of the monuments to cats and cats. Sculptures are popular among tourists. It is believed that if a person tosses a coin so that it falls on the ledge next to Elisha or Vasilisa, then luck will surely await him.
Experiments on cats
Another cat monument in St. Petersburg can be seen in the courtyard of the main building of the local state university on Vasilyevsky Island. It was installed in 2002, and is called the "Monument to the experimental cat."
The sculpture appeared on the initiative of students and teachers of the Department of Physiology and Anatomy. The author of the cat’s monument is Anatoly Dema. The sculpture is made of granite, mounted on a high pedestal.
This is a token of gratitude to all laboratory cats that have brought invaluable benefits to humanity.
Girlfriend "Mitkov"
Another cat monument in St. Petersburg is associated with hooligan artists from the Mitki group. Interestingly, its author is also Vladimir Petrovichev. In 2005, the sculpture of a cat was donated to the leader of the creative association "Mitki" Dmitry Shagin. Artists immediately dressed her up in their traditional vest and gave the name Matroskina. She took pride of place on the ledge of house number 16 on Pravda Street, where their workshop was located at that time.
Her name was chosen at the competition. Silence or Silence won. When in 2007 the Mitki club moved to a new place, the cat monument went after him. Today it can be seen on a stand near the window of the second floor on 36 Marat Street. Now there is also a workshop of artists.
Feline island
There is a monument to a cat in St. Petersburg on Kanonersky Island near house number 24. There is a small sculpture in the courtyard of the port office - a cat dressed in trousers, a short cloak and boots. On the head of a well-fed animal a checkered cap.
Locals call it "Cat on a Stone". In general, it serves as a reminder that this place used to have the Finnish name Kissaisaari, which literally translates into Russian as "cat island".
Alabrys cat
Monuments to cats in Russia have been placed everywhere in recent years. In 2009, such a sculpture appeared in the capital of Tatarstan, near the Kazan Hotel. This is a metal monument, whose height is three meters, and the width is less than a couple of tens of centimeters.
Its author is the sculptor Igor Bashmakov. He claims that the prototype was the famous mouse catcher Alabrys, thanks to which Kazan cats today guard the Hermitage.
The monument has a very interesting story. They say that even the Russian Empress Elizabeth I during a visit to Kazan noticed that there are almost no mice in the city, which was not typical for other cities. She ordered that cats and cats be brought from Kazan to St. Petersburg so that they could catch all the mice in her imperial palace. They were even assigned to the civil service in the Life Guard, having appointed full content. Today it is believed that the descendants of those cats live in the Hermitage, now protecting works of art from mice and rats.
It is noteworthy that another monument to Alabrys was erected in Kazan. It is located near Lake Raifa, near the walls of the monastery of the same name.
Cat Semen
In 2013, a monument to the local comrade Semen was erected on the shore of Lake Semenovsky. According to urban legend, one day he went with his masters to Moscow. In a huge metropolis, he quickly got lost. The owners looked for him for a long time, but as a result they despaired, deciding that he had disappeared forever.
Only the cat Semyon himself didn’t think so, who spent six years getting from Moscow to Murmansk and arriving at the threshold of his native apartment. How he managed to overcome two thousand kilometers, and even in the harsh northern climate, remains a mystery.
True or not, it is not known for certain, but the residents of Murmansk convincingly tell this story to all visitors.
On the street Lizyukova
In 2003, a sculpture of a kitten from Lizyukova Street was discovered in Voronezh. This happened in a festive atmosphere, because the eponymous cartoon is familiar to everyone and loved.
The modern tale of Vyacheslav Kotenochkin was released in 1988. It was a fascinating story about a kitten Vasily who lived in Voronezh on Lizyukova street. He constantly had to flee from stray dogs, so his main dream was to turn into an animal that everyone would be afraid of.
In this he was helped by a crow, with the help of which the kitten appeared in Africa in the body of a hippopotamus. There he met with an elephant and other exotic animals, but was not enthusiastic about his new image. Longing for his homeland in faraway Africa, he began to hang street signs on the trees, just like in his Voronezh. When he again met a raven-witch, he asked to be returned back.
The idea to create such a monument belongs to the chief editor of the newspaper "Young Communard" Valery Maltsev, who was supported by colleagues and the city administration. A competition for the best project was announced, the schoolgirl Irina Povarova became its winner, and her sketch was realized by the sculptor Ivan Dikunov, who was helped by his sons. In Voronezh, everyone is convinced that if you tickle the kitten on the heel, making a wish, it will certainly come true.
La Murka
From this article you will find out where the monuments to cats are. Several sculptures of this animal were immediately installed in Kaliningrad. An elegant monument weighing 20 kilograms in 2010 appeared on the territory of the Fish Village.
The iron figure was forged by the Frenchwoman Karol Theruz-Kraverker, who owns a blacksmith's profession, which is unique for the fair sex. She became a participant in the ethnographic fair, which was held in Kaliningrad, and then made this sculpture. It took her only six hours to do this work, but could not do without the help of the masters of the Forge yard. The townspeople were fascinated by this work of art, which was born right before their eyes.
And in the central square of the city, a cat with sausages in its mouth can be seen on the roof of a Ukrainian restaurant called "Borsch and Salo".
Cat city
In terms of the number of monuments to cats, photos of which are in this article, the Kaliningrad region is generally among the leaders. One of the cities of the amber region, Zelenogradsk, located on the shores of the Baltic Sea, simply considers this animal to be its symbol. Therefore, monuments with mustachioed and striped are found at almost every step.
More recently, a monument to the cats of Zelenogradsk appeared here. It is a figure of a cat sitting in a window right at the intersection, on Kurortny Prospekt. The main feature is that the sculpture almost constantly rotates around its axis. She became a real decoration of the resort town.
Another well-fed cat stands on the boardwalk, at the entrance to the pier. And now, artists and sculptors are completing work on another project. The new monument is planned to be installed in the square, in which local residents traditionally feed stray animals. It will be a large plate with fish a little less than a meter in diameter, around which cats in full size will sit. It is assumed that animal lovers will not put food on the lawn or tile, but directly on the plate. Now the work on the creation of this sculpture is already at the final stage.
Cat Vasily
In the courtyard of the complex "House on Taganka" you can see the most famous cat monument in Moscow. It is located at the intersection of Broshevsky Lane and Talalikhin Street. It is quite small (about a meter in height), but, thanks to its originality, leaves no one indifferent.
This funny sculpture is loved by many Muscovites. Its prototype is one of the heroes of the famous cartoon "The Return of the Prodigal Parrot" - the cat Vasily. He is famous for his legendary phrase: "We are fed well here."
In Moscow, the cat impressively settled not far from the picturesque flowerbed. With one paw he leans on the ground, and in the second he holds a sausage. It is known that the monument was among the most unusual sculptures of the Russian capital, tourists and visitors are happy to take pictures next to it.
Many consider him a symbol of the Soviet era, in which cartoons were a vivid parody of hard everyday life.
Car victims
"Cats and dogs injured by cars" - this inscription adorns the monument to cats in Kostroma.
The sculpture weighs about a ton, Andrey Lebedev came up with it. According to him, he had to revise many cartoons until he had this image. The work went on for more than a year, the monument was cast in bronze, and the pedestal is made of concrete.
According to the authors, it is dedicated to all animals involved in an accident. A piggy bank is installed next to the cat, in which anyone can leave a donation. The money will be sent to help the wounded animals in a charity fund.
Siberian cats
The whole cat square can be found in Tyumen. It is located in the area of Pervomaiskaya Street. Once upon a time there was an inconspicuous alley, but now local residents and tourists admire the beauty and grace of Siberian cats.
The composition consists of twelve sculptures. They were cast from cast iron, and then covered with special paint. The author of the project is Marina Alchibaeva. The square was opened in 2008, coinciding this event with the City Day.
The composition was directly associated with the blockade of Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War. Kotov, to save the Northern capital from rats, was then collected throughout the country. Siberian cats in the rescue of Leningrad food took an active part. In the streets of Tyumen, policemen caught homeless animals, some residents of the city themselves brought their pets to the assembly point. In total, five thousand Siberian cats and cats were collected then.
