Tomas de Thomon, having built the Exchange in St. Petersburg, made a breakthrough in European architecture. He turned the body of water into an area, thus closing the main Petersburg triangle, the peak of which became the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Winter Palace, rostral columns and the Exchange.
Start of development
Peter the Great, beingware of an attack from the sea, at the beginning of the XVIII century ordered to lay a seaport for merchant ships on Vasilyevsky Island, and not on the shores of the Gulf of Finland. The royal decree was executed in 1710. However, by the end of the century it became obvious that the port needed to be expanded.
The rounded outlines of the cape of Vasilyevsky Island, the largest in the Neva Delta, were called "arrows". At the beginning of the 19th century, there was nothing but a wasteland. At the place where the Exchange building is located today, there was a swamp, and in the place of the current rostral columns, the Neva waters splashed at all.
With the thought of trading
When the architect de Thomon began building the island, he raised the coast and pushed it forward more than 100 meters. Thus, the entire architectural composition was completed. However, the French architect pursued not only an aesthetic goal.
His main concern was the construction of a convenient port on Vasilyevsky Island. For this reason, this entire territory was built up with purely functional buildings: warehouses where goods were stored, customs, Gostiny Dvor, and the Exchange.
In the first third of the 19th century, the arrival of foreign ships at the port was a real event. On the embankment, where rostral columns towered, a huge number of metropolitan residents gathered to examine overseas goods. Vasilievsky Island was the venue for all trade operations, until in 1885 the port moved to Gutuevsky Island.
History of creation
In the course of work, the arrow was raised by adding soil to avoid flooding of the Neva waters. In addition, the river was "pushed back" by about 100 meters.
According to the design of de Tomon, lighthouse columns were included in the architectural ensemble. The French architect carefully and for a long time worked on the perfection of their proportions. Rostral columns in St. Petersburg on Vasilyevsky Island were installed in 1810. One of them showed the ships the way to the Big Neva, the other served as a beacon for the ships sailing along the Malaya Neva.
Everything connected with the rostral columns, construction and design work was controlled by the Council of the Academy of Arts, headed by the famous architect Zakharov. Everything was discussed: both the practical purpose and the artistic appearance, which testified to the importance of these structures.
According to the initial project of de Thomon, the lighthouse columns were small and were located closer to the Exchange building. The architect Zakharov rightly pointed out this flaw to him. Later, the project was amended, the lighthouses regained their current height and were installed further from the Exchange.
Powerful columns with an expressive silhouette and clear proportions loomed well against the background of the northern sky and were visible from distant perspectives. Lighthouses were lit in foggy weather and at night, for this purpose they were used until 1885.
Why rostral columns
Even in ancient times, elements of enemy ships were used as parts of ceremonial structures. Rostrum called the front of the bow. From Latin, this translates as "beak." It was used as a ram during an attack on an enemy ship.
Initially, rosters adorned the rostrum of speakers installed at the ancient Roman forum. Then they began to decorate the triumphal columns, which were used to celebrate naval victories. They were decorated with the noses of captured enemy ships.
Similarly, rostral columns in St. Petersburg served as an allegory of the triumph of maritime navigation of Russia, they symbolized the power of the country as a trading and military power.
general description
When creating the lighthouses, de Tomon used the pillars of the Doric order, the appearance of which is determined by restraint, rigor and lack of base. Rostral columns in St. Petersburg are made of stone and reach a height of 32 meters. Inside them there is a spiral staircase, on the upper platform there is a metal tripod that holds the lamp holder, as was done in ancient altars.
Burning wicks of lamps served as beacons. Initially, these were tar torches, then they tried to burn hemp oil in braziers, but red-hot spray fell on the heads of passers-by. Electric lamps were connected to the luminaires in 1896, but this method of lighting was rejected because of the high consumption. Finally, in 1957, powerful gas burners were installed in the luminaires.
Since then, bright orange 7-meter torches have been lit on rostral columns in St. Petersburg during the holidays. On ordinary days, these are simply symbols of the Northern capital known to the whole world.
Decoration
At the foot of the columns are monumental sculptures. Seated two female and two male figures symbolize 4 rivers: Volkhov, Dnieper, Volga and Neva. The statues were made according to the models of Jacques Thibault and Joseph Camberlin, French sculptors, whom architect de Thomon knew well. Initially, he wanted the statues to be cast in bronze. However, no one wanted to take on such a complex project.
As a result, they were made of pudost stone - soft and supple during processing, but with one drawback: it is very easily destroyed. Ultimately, it became a virtue of sculptures. Although some of their parts sometimes crumble, but this is precisely what gives them a certain antiquity.
Samson Sukhanov, the legendary stonemason participated in the creation of the triumphal lighthouse columns. He carved figures sitting at the base of the columns from stone. At that time, Sukhanov collaborated with the most famous architects of the capital, but then went broke and died in complete obscurity.
The columns are also decorated with rosters in memory of how Peter the Great waged a war with Sweden for 20 years for access to the Baltic Sea. Below is the first pair, fortified in such a way that one ship's nose is facing the Exchange, and the other is facing the Neva. These rosters are decorated with figures of winged mermaids. The second pair is perpendicular to the first, it is decorated with seahorses, a crocodile head and fish. The third pair is decorated with a head of water, and the fourth, the highest, with images of seahorses.
