Column of Nelson: history, architecture and interesting facts

The famous square of England's King William IV, located in the heart of the British capital, was named Trafalgar because of the grandiose victory of England at the Spanish cape of Trafalgar. In the center of the square stands the Nelson's column majestically. At the top of the famous column stands a statue of H. Nelson.

History

Architect W. Ralton in the middle of the XIX century. Designed the design of the monument. The height of the Trafalgar column was about 46 meters (without a statue). British sculptor Edward Bailey made a sandstone statue of General Nelson in height 16 feet (5.5 meters). Construction lasted 3 years and ended in 1843. Its pedestal is decorated with panels of bronze. They depict the brilliant victories of General Nelson. Such sculptors as Ternaus, Carew, Watson and Wooddington worked on the creation of relief frescoes. The column of Admiral Nelson cost the government 47,000 pounds (now about 3.5 million pounds).

Architecture

The height of the Nelson column is 167 feet (51 meters). The bronze leaves of the acanthus adorn the top of the Corinthian column. They are cast from trophy Napoleonic guns. The column of Nelson at the base is cast from artillery guns of the English ship Royal George. The statue of the general looks southward towards the naval department of Britain. On four sides the column is decorated with frescoes from bronze.

A talented sculptor of the Romantic era Henry Landseer poured bronze sculptures of lions. Around the column majestically sat four bronze lions. They were added 24 years after the completion of the construction of the column. The area where Nelson's column is located is surrounded by important buildings: the National Gallery, the Admiralty Arch, made of Portland stone, the famous St. Martin's parish church with a golden crown on the spire. In the middle of XX century. Around the famous column appeared several fountains.

Interesting Facts

• In the beginning of XX century. Arthur Ferguson, a swindler from Scotland, estimated the monument to Lord Nelson at 6 thousand pounds (8 thousand dollars). In 1925, Nelson's column was "sold" to a naive tourist from the United States. Interestingly, Ferguson managed to sell Big Ben (or the Tower of Elizabeth) for a thousand pounds, rented for a hundred thousand pounds, the White House and even sold the Eiffel Tower for scrap. By the way, a trusting Texan "rented" the White House for almost a hundred years.

• Nelson's column is where we are, we know. But where, if not in Berlin, did Adolf Hitler dream of seeing her? He wanted to secretly take her away from Britain. For the dictator, she had a sacred meaning.
• In the capital of foggy Albion, in the naval museum you can see the model of the monument. It is less than the original more than 20 times.
• At the end of XX century. The column was "subdued" two times. John Nuks dared to climb the column first, and 19 years later - Gary Wilmot. Both cases took place during the filming of the BBC.
• More than a hundred years ago, lightning struck the left hand of the statue of the famous admiral Nelson. In mid-2006, the general's limb was "cured".
• The extreme highest point of the column is the quartz feather on the Admiral's headdress.
• In Dublin (Ireland) was built a column in honor of Nelson. The monument in Dublin was extremely similar to the column in London. The height of the column was about 40 meters. In 1966 it was blown up.

Restoration of the column

At the beginning of the 21st century, Nelson's column was restored. It cost the government of Foggy Albion at 520 thousand dollars. The work began in late July 2006 and lasted four months. This was the first restoration in the last 20 years. The laser revision of the statue found that it is 5 meters lower than previously thought. In the London guidebooks it was previously indicated that the memorial of H. Nelson is more than 56 meters in height. However, after a thorough restoration, it was confirmed that the column of the famous general was reduced to real indicators - 51 meters.