The Chesme Column is a symbol of the valor of the Russian fleet

For two and a half centuries Russia has been at war with the Ottoman Empire - first for reaching the Black Sea, and then for the purpose of strengthening its positions in the Caucasus. In this respect, Empress Catherine II successfully continued the foreign policy begun by Peter the Great.

During her reign, the Russian Empire not only received free access to the Azov and Black Seas, but also added the Crimean peninsula, becoming a real sea power. In honor of the victories of Russian weapons, talented architects and sculptors created memorable monuments. One of them is the Chesme Column in St. Petersburg.

Prehistory

In the middle of the XVIII century, Turkey continued to reign supreme in the Black Sea. Despite the attempts made by Peter I to consolidate on its shores, at that time Russia did not have either the Black Sea or Azov flotilla. Therefore, the government of Catherine II in foreign policy considered the southern direction to be a priority.

Nevertheless, Russia did not start the war. The Turks and the Crimean Tatars allied to them in the end of 1768 invaded the northern Black Sea coast. To strike Turkey from the rear, and also to support the uprising of the Christian uprising in the Balkans, it was decided to send the ships of the Baltic Fleet to the Mediterranean.

In the summer-autumn of 1769 two Russian squadrons, led by Admirals Grigory Spiridov and John Elphinston, emerged from Kronstadt. The general leadership of the expedition was entrusted to Count Alexei Orlov.

Swimming around Europe for Russian sailors was not an easy test. The first ships entered the Mediterranean in November, and in the spring of the following year the two Baltic squadrons united and began to prepare for the battle, as the Chesme Column reminds of in Tsarskoe Selo.

Victory over the brilliant Porta

The first major battle took place in the Chios Strait on June 24, 1770. The Turkish fleet was twice the number of the Russian squadron, besides, it occupied a favorable strategic position. Despite this, after a hard battle the Turks retreated to Chesmenskaya Bay, which was considered almost impregnable.

On the same day, the military council decided to complete the rout of the Turkish fleet directly in Chesme. Russian ships blocked a narrow exit from the bay and around midnight the battle began, which was later recognized as one of the largest in the history of the sailing fleet.

On the night of June 26, the Turkish fleet was completely destroyed, the crews of the ships and the garrison of Chesma fled to Smyrna. Such a thing in Europe did not expect. In honor of the triumph of the Russian fleet, a rostral Chesme column was later installed in the Catherine Park of Tsarskoe Selo.

All the participants of the famous battle were decorated with the decree of the Empress with commemorative medals. In St. Petersburg, the Chesme Palace and the church were built, an obelisk was erected in Gatchina, and in Tsarskoe Selo a column.

Antique prototype

While Russia entered the war with the Ottoman Empire, work began in Tsarskoe Selo to break up the park. When the news of the victory at Chesme reached St. Petersburg, Catherine II instructed the architect Rinaldi A. to create a pillar like a rostral pillar set in Rome in honor of the victory of consul Gai Douilia over the fleet of Carthage.

It was decided to establish a monument in the middle of the Great Pond, dug earlier by Swedish prisoners of war. Work continued for several years. During this time, changed the contours of the coastline of the pond, to give them the outline of the Aegean Sea.

The Chesme Column was executed according to a sketch, approved personally by Catherine II. The Empress was not mistaken: majestic and at the same time nobly-restrained antique forms of the monument could not be better suited to express the triumph of the Russian fleet, which predetermined the outcome of the war.

Short description

The Chesme Column is the work of the Italian architect Antonio Rinaldi, who was on the Russian service, and the sculptor Johann Schwartz, who created the bronze elements of the monument: the eagle and bas-reliefs.

The granite pedestal rising from the water is made in the form of a truncated pyramid, and the column itself is made of solid Ural marble. Crowned by a bronze eagle monument, aimed at the Turkish crescent. On the one hand, it symbolizes Russia-winner, and on the other hand - Count A. Orlov, who received the right to be called Orlov-Chesmensky.

On the rostra there are visible relief images of various symbols of the East: turban, bunchuk, quiver, spear, Turkish saber, standard. Bronze bas-reliefs are dedicated to three victorious battles in the Aegean Sea, in honor of which the Chesme Column was erected.

History and modernity

In 1996, the 300th anniversary of the creation of the Russian Navy was celebrated. Over the course of three centuries, many glorious victories were won, including battles in the Aegean Sea during the Russo-Turkish War. By this date it was decided to restore the bronze bas-reliefs that had previously adorned the Chesme Column.

After the Great Patriotic War, some of them were raised from the bottom of the Great Pond, where they fell as a result of the vain attempts of the Hitlerites to demolish the marble monument. In 1994-1995 years. Sculptor Kozenyuk V. recreated the missing elements, and today the Chesme column looks the same as in the days of Empress Catherine II, who ordered this monument to be created by the valor of the Russian fleet.