Peter the Great Statue: 98 meters of bronze, steel and copper

The monument “300 years of the Russian Fleet,” which is better known as the Peter the Great Statue in Moscow, was built by Zurab Tsereteli in 1997 upon the order of the Moscow government on the elongated island formed between the Moscow River and the Obvodny canal. On September 28, 2010 when Yury Luzhkov was dismissed as Moscow mayor, gallery owner Marat Gelman said the monument could be demolished. On October 4, Acting Moscow Mayor Vladimir Resin suggested transferring the monument to another site.

The total height of the monument is 98 meters. This is the highest in Russia and one of the tallest sculptures in the world. It is made of bronze, stainless steel and copper.

The bronze of the highest quality was used for the monument; it was initially exposed to sandblasting, then patinated and covered by special wax and lacquer protecting it from bad weather.

The roll which Peter I holds in his hands is gilded.

The St. Andrew crosses on the flags, made like weathercocks, are also gilded.

This monument, according to the mass media, was originally statue a statue of Columbus, which Tsereteli unsuccessfully offered to the United States, Spain and Latin America countries in 1991-1992, to mark the 500th anniversary of the discovery of continent by Europeans.

The monument to Peter I technically represents a unique engineering construction. The supporting frame of the monument is made of stainless steel, with bronze details of facing hung on it. The bottom part of the monument, which forms a pedestal, the ship and Peter's figure were assembled separately from each other; the latter were mounted on the pedestal when they were already made.

According to preliminary estimation, the dismantling of the monument could cost one billion rubles.

Earlier the member of the Public Chamber and the director of the Perm museum of the modern art, Marat Gelman, told RIA Novosti that the transfer of the statue could be carried out using sponsor’s money, not budgetary, and guaranteed that he will find the required funds.