1. ALEXANDER COLUMN

3. The Alexander Column is the focal point of Palace Square. The column is a great monument to the Russian victory over Napoleon. The Alexander Column got its name in honour of the emperor Alexander I, who ruled Russia between 1801 and 1825.

4. It was designed by the architect Auguste Monferrand and built between 1830 and 1834. Auguste Monferrand (1786-1858)

5. The granite column weighs more than 600 tons. The monolith of red granite was found near Vyborg.

6. The column is 25.58 m high and 3.56 m in diameter. The total high of the monument is 47.5 m. It stays in place by its own force of gravity. It stays in place by its own force of gravity.

7. There were a lot of people when 2000 soldiers and 400 workmen using 60 lifting mechanisms put the column on its base in 1 hour 45 minutes. 1250 6-metre piles were sunk in the base of the pedestal.

12. On the top of the column there is a figure of an angel whose cross tramples a snake – a symbol of victory of good over evil, the allegory of the peace that came to Europe after the Russian victory over Napoleon.

13. The angel’s face is made to look like Alexander I. The angel’s face is made to look like Alexander I.

14. THE END