Height of "Motherland" (sculpture). The history of the creation of the monument

Volgograd, May 8 - AiF-Volgograd. Phidias, Praxitel, Rodin - these names are known to the whole world. Thanks to the skilled turtle, the name of the sculptor Donatello is heard. But our history also had its own sculptors who received universal recognition. So, in Volgograd, for example, there are works by Vera Mukhina (on the dome of the Planetarium) and Yevgeny Vuchetich (Mamayev Kurgan and the statue of Lenin (until 1960 - Stalin) on the Fadeev embankment).

We are the envy of all bourgeois ...

By the way, Vuchetich is the author of two statues of the Motherland at once. The central figure of the memorial on Mamayev Kurgan is perhaps the pinnacle (in all respects) of the famous sculptor's work. Here the gigantism of Vuchetich's thinking fully showed itself.

“What did we want to say to people with this monument on, on the site of bloody battles and immortal deeds? - he said after the completion of the construction of the architectural ensemble. - We tried to convey, first of all, the indestructible morale of Soviet soldiers, their selfless devotion to the Motherland. The monument to the heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad is a monument to the greatest historical event. And that is why we were looking for large-scale, especially monumental solutions and forms, which, in our opinion, would most fully convey the scope of mass heroism. "

However, the size of the complex is determined not only by the author's vision, but also by Khrushchev's direct instructions: the Motherland should be higher than the American Statue of Liberty. Higher means higher. Business ...

Sisters in arms

After the death of Yevgeny Vuchetich, the construction of the second Motherland was completed: in Kiev. The statue itself is smaller than the one in Volgograd, but it stands on a 40-meter pedestal, inside which there is a museum. Therefore, the colossus is visible from afar.

Initially, it was planned to cover the figure with gold leaf, but then this idea was abandoned. In general, Vuchetich's project underwent some changes, since after his death, the Kiev master Vasily Borodai, who had his own vision, took up the business.

The metal statue was erected using a crane specially made for this construction site. By the time the object was delivered, they did not have time to dismantle that crane and simply cut it with an autogenous blowtorch. And the ends are in the water. In a literal sense: the metal skeleton was drowned in the Dnieper, so as not to plague the eyes of the party bosses.

Sometimes Volgograd and Kiev residents argue about whose Motherland is better. Residents of other cities of Russia and Ukraine are being drawn into the controversy. From sculpture they break into politics. But both buildings have their admirers. In addition, both "mothers" have one father: Evgeny Vuchetich. And he did not design his statues in order to play off peoples. After all, the Motherland at that time was one for everyone. And both "daughters" of Vuchetich, I think, calmly and affably look at each other. They know better from above ...

Sculpture "The Motherland Calls!" - the compositional center of the monument-ensemble "To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad" on the Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd. One of the tallest statues in the world.

A huge hill rises above the Square of Sorrow, which is crowned with the main monument - the Motherland Mother. This is a mound about 14 meters high, in which the remains of 34,505 soldiers - defenders of Stalingrad are buried. A serpentine path leads to the top of the hill to the Motherland of Mother, along which there are 35 granite tombstones of the Heroes of the Soviet Union, participants in the Battle of Stalingrad. From the foot of the mound to its top, the serpentine consists of exactly 200 granite steps 15 cm high and 35 cm wide - according to the number of days of the Battle of Stalingrad.

Mamaev Kurgan in the winter of 1945. In the foreground is a broken German cannon Cancer 40.

The end point of the path is a monument "The Motherland Calls!", the compositional center of the ensemble, the highest point of the mound. Its dimensions are enormous - the height of the figure is 52 meters, and total height of the Motherland - 85 meters(along with a sword). For comparison, the height of the famous Statue of Liberty without a pedestal is only 45 meters. At the time of construction, the Motherland was the tallest statue in the country and in the world. Later, the Kiev Motherland-Mother appeared with a height of 102 meters. Today, the tallest statue in the world is the 120-meter statue of Buddha, built in 1995 and located in Japan, in the city of Chuchura. The total weight of the Motherland is 8 thousand tons. In her right hand she holds a steel sword, which is 33 meters long and weighs 14 tons. Compared to the height of a person, the sculpture is increased 30 times. The thickness of the reinforced concrete walls of the Motherland is only 25-30 centimeters. It was cast layer by layer using a special formwork made of gypsum plaster materials. Inside, the rigidity of the frame is supported by a system of more than a hundred ropes. The monument is not fastened to the foundation, it is supported by gravity. The mother's homeland stands on a slab only 2 meters high, which rests on the main foundation 16 meters high, but it is almost invisible - most of it is hidden underground. To enhance the effect of finding the monument at the peak of the mound, an artificial embankment 14 meters high was made.

Stalingrad, Mamayev Kurgan. In the foreground is the Renault UE Chenillette, a light French armored personnel carrier in service with the Wehrmacht.

As soon as the cannonade died down in Stalingrad, the grateful country began to think about what a monument to the creators of this great victory should be. Drawings and sketches were sent not only by professionals, but also by people of completely different professions. Some sent them to the Academy of Arts, others to the State Defense Committee, someone personally to Comrade Stalin. Moreover, everyone saw the future monument as grandiose, unprecedented in size, to match the significance of the victory itself.

The All-Union competition was announced immediately after the war. All prominent Soviet architects and architects took part. The results were summed up ten years later. Although few doubted that the winner of the Stalin Prize, Yevgeny Vuchetich, would win. By that time, he had already created a memorial in Berlin's Treptower Park and enjoyed the confidence of the top officials of the state. On January 23, 1958, the Council of Ministers of the USSR made a decision to start construction of a monument-ensemble on the Mamayev Kurgan. In May 1959, the construction site began to boil.

In his work, Vuchetich addressed the theme of the sword three times - the sword is raised by the Motherland on the Mamayev Kurgan, calling for the expulsion of the conquerors; cuts the fascist swastika with a sword. The victorious warrior in Berlin's Treptower Park; the sword is forged on the plow by the worker in the composition “Let's Beat Swords into Plowshares”, expressing the desire of people of good will to fight for disarmament in the name of the triumph of peace on the planet. This sculpture was donated by the Vuchetech to the United Nations and was installed in front of the headquarters in New York, and its copy - to the Volgograd gas equipment plant, in the workshops of which the Motherland was born). This sword was born in Magnitogorsk (during the war, every third shell and every second tank was made of metal from Magnitogorsk), where the Rear Front monument was erected.

During the construction of the monument motherland many changes were made to the already finished project. Few people know that initially on the top of the Mamayev Kurgan on a pedestal there should have been a sculpture of the Motherland with a red banner and a kneeling fighter (according to some versions, the author of this project was Ernst Unknown). According to the original plan, two monumental staircases led to the monument. But later Vuchetich changed the basic idea of ​​the monument. After the Battle of Stalingrad, the country had more than 2 years of bloody battles ahead of it, and Victory was still far away. Vuchetich left his Motherland alone, now she called her sons to begin the victorious exile of the enemy.

He also removed the pompous pedestal of the Motherland of Mother, practically repeating the one on which stands his Soldier-winner in Treptower Park. Instead of monumental staircases (which, by the way, were already built), a serpentine path appeared at the Motherland. The Motherland Mother itself has "grown" relative to its original size - its height has reached 36 meters. But this option did not become final either. Soon after the completion of work on the foundation of the main monument, Vuchetich (on the instructions of Khrushchev) increases the size of the Motherland to 52 meters. Because of this, the builders had to urgently "load" the foundation, for which 150 thousand tons of earth were laid in the embankment.

In the Timiryazevsky district of Moscow, at Vuchetich's dacha, where his workshop was located and today the architect's house-museum, you can see working sketches: a reduced model of the Motherland, as well as a life-size model of the head of a statue.

In a sharp, impetuous impulse, a woman stood on the mound. With a sword in hand, she calls on her sons to defend the Fatherland. Her right leg is slightly laid back, the torso and head are vigorously deployed to the left. The face is stern and strong-willed. Drawn eyebrows, a wide open, screaming mouth, short hair blown out by gusts of wind, strong arms, a long dress that fits the shape of a body, ends of a scarf blown out by gusts of wind - all this creates a feeling of strength, expression and an irresistible striving forward. Against the background of the sky, she is like a bird soaring in the sky.

The sculpture of the Motherland of Mother looks great from all sides at any time of the year: in the summer, when the mound is covered with a continuous grass carpet, and on the winter evening, it is bright, illuminated by the beams of searchlights. The majestic statue, standing against the background of the dark blue sky, seems to grow out of the mound, merging with its snow cover.

The work of sculptor E.V. Vuchetich and engineer N.V. Nikitin is a multi-meter figure of a woman stepping forward with a raised sword. The statue is an allegorical image of the Motherland calling its sons to fight the enemy. In an artistic sense, the statue is a modern interpretation of the image of the ancient goddess of victory Nike, who calls on her sons and daughters to repulse the enemy and continue their further offensive.

The construction of the monument began in May 1959 and completed on October 15, 1967. The sculpture at the time of its creation was the tallest statue in the world. Restoration work on the Main Monument of the monument-ensemble was carried out twice: in 1972 and 1986, in particular in 1972 the sword was replaced.

The prototype of the sculpture was Valentina Izotova (according to other sources, Anastasia Antonovna Peshkova, a graduate of the Barnaul Pedagogical School in 1953).

68-year-old Valentina Izotova was a model in the creation of the famous Russian memorial "Motherland". For almost 40 years, she did not say that she was involved in its creation.

Could I refuse when the sculptors asked me to pose for a statue in memory of the huge losses suffered by the Red Army in Stalingrad? But I was horrified when they announced that I should pose nude.

It was the early 1960s, and decent women did not undress in front of anyone but their husbands. Artists, even such respected and famous as Lev Maistrenko, who worked on the memorial, meant nothing to the 26-year-old woman.

It was Lev who turned to me. I worked as a waitress in the main restaurant in the city, Volgograd - which is still there - and usually served the room reserved for high-ranking party officials and delegations. Lev said that I am beautiful and embody all the physical and moral qualities of an ideal Soviet woman. Of course, I was flattered, how could it be otherwise?

Curiosity got the better, and I agreed to pose. None of us had any idea how famous Motherland would be. Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad) is famous for this sculpture as well as for the battle fought here.

My husband did not like that I would pose for a group of artists sent from Moscow. He was terribly jealous and took me to every session in the studio they set up in the old gas apparatus factory.

After a while, it became the same work as any other, I hardly thought about standing in a swimsuit, and was glad that I was paid three rubles a day, because then it was a decent amount. But only six months later, I finally gave in to the persuasion of the sculptors to take off my bra and bare my breasts. But that was all. I was unshakable in my determination to maintain a vestige of modesty and not pose completely naked. It was inconceivable.

No one except relatives and closest friends found out about this. Soon after the sessions ended, I went to get my first higher education: I have two diplomas - economist and engineer. Then I left Volgograd and began to live and work in Norilsk.

After the opening of the memorial in 1967, I thought little about it and lived my life.

In October 2010, work began to secure the statue.

The sculpture is made of blocks of prestressed reinforced concrete - 5500 tons of concrete and 2400 tons of metal structures (without the base on which it stands).

The total height of the monument is 85-87 meters. It is installed on a concrete foundation 16 meters deep. The height of the female figure is 52 meters (weight - over 8 thousand tons).

The statue stands on a slab only 2 meters high, which rests on the main foundation. This foundation is 16 meters high, but it is almost invisible - most of it is hidden underground. The statue stands loosely on the slab, like a chess piece on a board.

The thickness of the reinforced concrete walls of the sculpture is only 25-30 centimeters. Inside, the entire statue is made up of separate cells, like rooms in a building. The rigidity of the frame is supported by ninety-nine metal cables, which are constantly in tension.

The sword, 33 meters long and 14 tons in weight, was originally made of stainless steel sheathed with titanium sheets. The huge mass and high windage of the sword, due to its colossal size, caused a strong swing of the sword when exposed to wind loads, which led to excessive mechanical stress at the place where the hand holding the sword was attached to the body of the sculpture. The deformations of the sword's structure also caused the titanium sheathing sheets to move, creating an unpleasant sound of clattering metal to the ear. Therefore, in 1972, the blade was replaced with another - entirely composed of fluorinated steel - and holes were provided in the upper part of the sword, which made it possible to reduce its windage. The reinforced concrete structure of the sculpture was reinforced in 1986 on the recommendation of the NIIZhB expert group led by RL Serykh.

There are very few such sculptures in the world, for example - the statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, "Motherland" in Kiev, the monument to Peter I in Moscow. For comparison, the height of the Statue of Liberty from the pedestal is 46 meters.

The most complicated calculations of the stability of this structure were carried out by Doctor of Technical Sciences N.V. Nikitin, the author of the calculation of the stability of the Ostankino TV tower. At night, the statue is illuminated by spotlights.

“The horizontal displacement of the upper part of the 85-meter monument is currently 211 millimeters, or 75% of the allowable calculations. Deviations have been going on since 1966. If from 1966 to 1970 the deviation was 102 millimeters, then from 1970 to 1986 - 60 millimeters, until 1999 - 33 millimeters, from 2000-2008 - 16 millimeters, ”said the director of the Federal State Institution“ State Historical and Memorial Museum-Reserve ” Battle of Stalingrad "" Alexander Velichkin.

Interesting Facts

• The sculpture "Motherland" is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest sculpture-statue in the world at that time. Its height is 52 meters, the length of the arm is 20 meters and the length of the sword is 33 meters. The total height of the sculpture is 85 meters. The weight of the sculpture is 8 thousand tons, and the weight of the sword is 14 tons (for comparison: the Statue of Liberty in New York is 46 meters high; the Statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro is 38 meters). At the moment, the statue is ranked 11th in the list of the tallest statues in the world.
• Vuchetich told Andrei Sakharov: “The bosses are asking me why she has an open mouth, it’s ugly. I answer: And she screams - for the Motherland ... your mother! - shut up. "
• There is a legend according to which a man was lost in the sculpture shortly after its creation; after that no one saw him. But this is just a legend
• The silhouette of the sculpture "Motherland" was taken as a basis for the development of the coat of arms and flag of the Volgograd region

During construction, Vuchetich made changes to the project more than once. Little-known fact: at first, the main monument of the ensemble was supposed to look completely different. At the top of the mound, the author wanted to put a sculpture of the Motherland with a red banner and a kneeling soldier. According to the original plan, two monumental staircases led to it. They managed to be built when Vuchetich went to Khrushchev, the then leader of the country, and convinced him that it would be better if people began to climb the serpentine path to the top.

But these are not all the changes that the master made to the already finished project. Valentina Klyushina, who was the deputy director of the memorial for many years, told me about how all this happened. During the years of the creation of the complex, she worked in the Volgograd City Executive Committee and oversaw the construction.

- "Motherland" Vuchetich decided to leave alone. He also removed the pompous pedestal, practically repeating the one on which stands his Soldier-winner in Treptower Park. The main figure has become taller - 36 meters. But this option did not last long either. As soon as the builders had time to make the foundation, the author increased the size of the sculpture. Up to 52 meters! In the competition between the superpowers, it was necessary for the main monument of the USSR to be taller than the American Statue of Liberty. We had to urgently "load" the foundation so that it could withstand an 85-meter (with a sword) sculpture weighing 8 thousand tons. At that time, 150 thousand tons of earth were laid in the embankment. And since the deadlines were running out, a military battalion was allocated to help the brigades.

There was a problem with the current Hall of Military Glory. It was supposed to install a panorama canvas there. As soon as the "box" of the building has been completed, Vuchetich decides that the panorama should be placed separately. And then they did. And in the finished structure along the perimeter of the walls there are mosaic banners with the names of the fallen defenders of the city. The author also quickly passed this question through the Central Committee of the CPSU.

There was also an embarrassment with these very banners. Here is what Klyushina said:

Masters from Leningrad worked with the mosaic. Art glass was supplied from the Ukrainian city of Lisichansk. Mosaic workers laid out the interior as the material arrived. When everything was ready and the scaffolding was removed, everyone gasped. The tones on the wall were so different that it looked like a chessboard. The date of completion of the object was approaching. And Vuchetich had no choice but to call "up". This time Brezhnev. He immediately dialed the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine Shelest and explained the problem to him. In a word, a few days later the cars delivered new glass to Volgograd.

Now imagine: it's June, four months are left before the opening of the memorial. And it is necessary to restore the forests again, prepare and lay more than a thousand square meters of multi-colored glass pieces. The legendary commander of the 62nd Army Vasily Chuikov helped a lot. He, by the way, was Vuchetich's chief consultant for the project. At the disposal of the headquarters of the construction site, 500 soldiers were seconded. The fighters worked in a Stakhanov way. Within three weeks, the interior of the hall took on its intended look.

But these are not all the difficulties that the creators of the complex faced. On one of the spring days of the same 1967, a critical situation arose with a 33-meter sword.

... As usual, the chief engineer of Volgogradgidrostroy, Yuri Abramov, went to work at the headquarters in the morning. On the way he came across a flock of boys arguing ... why is the sword swinging so strongly in the hand of the Motherland? Abramov raised his head and was horrified. They immediately carried out an operative, and the very next day a special commission arrived from Moscow. It soon became clear that the designers did not take into account the data of long-term observations of the wind rose. So it turned out that the sword turned out to be turned flat in relation to the wind. We urgently had to make several holes in it so that it could blow freely. In addition, the commission generally recommended replacing the heavy titanium sword with a lighter steel one.

At the very finish of the construction site, 50 powerful floodlights were required to illuminate the sculpture. They could not be obtained anywhere. The country at that time was preparing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution - and everything that was produced went to Moscow and Leningrad according to the order. Klyushina was sent to the capital to the chairman of the Moscow City Executive Committee Promyslov. He said that Moscow was not able to help. And he advised me to go to the manufacturing plant. And Klyushina rushed to the city of Gusev, which is in the Kaliningrad region. The director of "Electromash" also threw up his hands at the request. Then he thought about it and invited Valentina to speak on the factory radio in front of the workers and ask them to work beyond the norm. Two additional shifts were organized and the Saira searchlights left for Volgograd. On October 15, 1967 the monument-ensemble was inaugurated.

The construction lasted eight years and five months. The memorial has been standing for another forty years. He always looked dignified. Even when everything in the country collapsed and fell into disrepair, the grass was neatly cut on the mound. But only the people working here know what this order is worth. And how you have to knock out money from the bosses of all ranks in order to patch and repair a huge unique economy.

Someone inadvertently said that, they say, "Motherland" is so tilted that it may soon fall. This is nonsense. “Any structure of this type,” says the director of the memorial, retired general Vladimir Berlov, “can bend over. This is even foreseen by the designers. Let's say that the design of our monument is designed for a deflection of 272 millimeters. The figure, - continues Berlov, - is constantly examined for the formation of cracks, roughness, its position is analyzed. And the analysis of concrete chips, carried out in a German laboratory, showed an excellent state of the structure and the presence of the necessary margin of safety. From the inside, it is supported by 99 tension ropes. Believe me, says the director, this system will never allow the monument to tilt to a critical level. "

You can take a walk with Sergey Dolya inside the monument

And here is a walk with Artemy Lebedev

At the end of June 1941, perhaps the main graphic work of the Great Patriotic War was published, which was later included in all history textbooks - Irakli Toidze's poster "The Motherland Calls". By the artist's own admission, the idea of ​​creating a collective image of a mother calling her sons for help came to him quite by accident. Hearing the first message from the Soviet Information Bureau about the attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR, Toidze's wife ran into his studio shouting "War!" Struck by the expression on her face, the artist ordered his wife to freeze and immediately began to sketch the future masterpiece. In the future, the very concept of "Motherland" became almost the cornerstone of all Soviet propaganda, embodied in countless imitations and migrated to related fields of fine art, including monumental art.

The original article is on the site InfoGlaz.rf The link to the article this copy was made from is

1.Bronze statue of Buddha Ushiku Daibutsu, Japan.

Ushiku Daibutsu located in Ushiku, Ibaraki Prefecture in Japan, is the tallest free-standing bronze statue in the world. Built in 1995, total height 120m above ground, including 10m base and 10m lotus platform. The elevator lifts visitors to a height of 85m above the ground, where the observation deck is located.

2. Buddhist statue Guanyan, Sanya, China.

Sanya is located in the smallest province of the People's Republic of China, Hainian, on the country's southern coast. Yalong Wan is a local park located on the coast 7.5 km southeast of Sanya City. The main attraction of the park is the 108-meter statue of Guanyin.

This statue was completed in May 2005 and is one of the tallest in the world.

3. Yellow Chinese emperors Huangdi and Yandi, China.

The 103-meter-high statue is located in China and is a sculpture of two ancient Chinese emperors - Huangdi and Yandi

4. Motherland, Kiev, Ukraine.

Monument-sculpture Motherland, standing in Kiev on the high right bank of the Dnieper. The height of the Motherland-Mother sculpture is 62 meters, the total height with the pedestal is 102 meters.

5. Monument to Peter I, Moscow, Russia

The monument to Peter I by Zurab Tsereteli was erected by order of the Moscow Government on the spit of the Moskva River Island and the Obvodny Canal in 1997.

The total height of the monument is 98 meters.

6. Statue of Liberty, Liberty Island, New York, USA.

The World's Incarnation of Liberty, commonly known as the Statue of Liberty, is a colossal statue donated by the United States by France in 1886, installed on Liberty Island in New York at the mouth of the Hudson River.

7. Sculpture The Motherland Calls, Volgograd, Russia.

Sculpture "The Motherland Calls!" - the compositional center of the monument-ensemble "To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad" on the Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd. The work of the sculptor E.V. Vuchetich and engineer N.V. Nikitin. Built in 1967, height 84 meters.

8. Maitreya Buddha statue in Leshan, Leshan, China.

The statue is located east of Leshan City in Sichuan Province, at the intersection of three rivers, and has been under construction for 90 years. The height of the statue is 71 m, the height of the head is almost 15 m, the span of the shoulders is almost 30 m, the length of the finger is 8 m, the length of the toe is 1.6 m, the length of the nose is 5.5 m. It is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

9. Bamiyan Buddha statues, Afghanistan.

Two giant statues of Buddha (Buddha of Bamyan) - 55 and 37 meters, which were part of a complex of Buddhist monasteries in the Bamyan Valley in central Afghanistan, are located 230 km north of Kabul. The statues were savagely destroyed, despite the protests of the world community and other Islamic countries, in 2001 by the Taliban, who believed that they were pagan idols and should be destroyed. Japan, Switzerland and UNESCO, among others, have expressed support for the restoration of the statues.

10. Statue of Christ the Savior, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Christ the Redeemer - a huge Art Deco statue of Jesus Christ, 32m high and weighing 1000 tons, is located on the 710m summit of the Corcovado mountain overlooking the city.

A powerful symbol of Christianity, the statue has become an icon of the city of Rio de Janeiro.

Without a doubt, the obelisk Shtyk, Brest, Belarus deserves our attention.

A bayonet - an obelisk (an all-welded metal structure lined with titanium; height 100 m, weight 620 tons) is part of the memorial complex Brest Fortress - Hero.

What monument to put on the grave? CJSC "Antik" will help in resolving the issue. The factory offers a huge catalog of gabbro products - monuments and gravestones. Come in and make your choice.

Large and tall statues have been built since ancient times. For example, the Great Sphinx, built by the ancient Egyptians, was 20 meters high. However, over the past century, a number of statues have been built that are much higher in height than the ancient wonders of the world. In this list, I will list the 7 tallest statues in the world at the moment.

7. Sculpture Motherland in Kiev

This is a monument in honor of the Great Patriotic War, calling for patriotism. The creation of the sculpture was completed in 1981, the statue itself rises by 62 meters, and together with the general structure, the height is 102 meters. The weight of the statue is 560 tons. Interestingly, the sculpture Motherland Mother in Volgograd, on Mamayev Kurgan, is much more famous, but its height is 54 meters

6. Sculpture of the emperors Yan and Huan

This sculpture was carved into the rock, taking over two decades to complete. We finished its creation in 2007. the total height of the sculpture is 106 meters. For those who do not know, the sculpture is dedicated to the two very first emperors of China - Yan Di and Huan Di

5. Statue of Kuan Yin in China

The 108 meter high statue of Bodhisattva Huan Yin is located on the southern coast of Hainan Island in China. It took 6 years to create the statue, the work was completed in 2005

4. Statue of Krishto Rei (110 meters)

This statue was inspired by the famous Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro in 1959. It took 10 years to build, and the size of the statue is exactly the same as the statue in Rio. the total height of the monument is 110 meters

3. Statue of Ushiku Daibutsu in Japan (120 meters)

The Ushiku Daibutsu statue is dedicated to Buddha Amitabha and is located in the city of Ushiku in Japan. It was built in 1995. This is the third tallest statue of the world, the total height of the monument is 120 meters. There is an elevator inside the statue, which takes you to the observation platform at the top of the statue.

2. Laykyun Setkyar in Myanmar (130 meters)

This statue is the second tallest in the world. It is built on Kaung Hill in central Myanmar. At his feet is also the largest oblique Buddha statue in the world. The reclining Buddha was built in 1991 and the tall Laykyun Setkyar in 2008

1. Buddha of the Spring Temple (153 meters)

It is the largest and tallest statue in the world. The total height of the entire monument is 153 meters. The construction of this sculpture began after terrorists blew up the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan. The statue was completed in 2008

The graph below clearly demonstrates the size of the Spring Buddha in relation to the Statue of Liberty, the Motherland in Volgograd and Christ the Redeemer.

I sincerely hope that those who do not need this article, especially those under 30, are in the majority. Hopefully, but not really believing. But even if so, I publish it all the same for this lesserness. There is never too much patriotism.

So let's go:

If you ask the average inhabitant of any country a question about the tallest statues in the world, he will most likely remember the Buddha statues carved out of rocks, the Statue of Liberty in New York, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio - well, the one from the TV series; Perhaps someone will remember the Kolos of Rhodes - it must have been huge, why not remember ... And, perhaps, that's all. In Russia, the older generation will still remember Mamaev Kurgan, but probably not everyone will remember the Motherland-Mother of Kiev, at least in the context of the largest in the world. Where there is ours to theirs, to the Western (aspirated). Vaughn, Christ the Redeemer in 2007 was recognized as one of the seven New Wonders of the World, the Statue of Liberty in the finalists of applicants for this honorary title, And ours are not even close there. The Kremlin just got into the finalists of the contenders.

Statue of Liberty. NY. Who has not dreamed of visiting Liberty Island, or at least taking that famous free ferry and sailing right next to Liberty Island an infinite number of times. Yes, dreams ...

We know everything about her. We know that its full name is "Freedom Illuminating the World". When and who created it, when and where a hand with a torch was exhibited separately, by what date the entire statue was donated and by whom. We even know that we were 10 years late with her. Without exaggeration, the Statue of Liberty can be called the most famous statue in the world and our man is no exception here. He knows more about this overseas beauty than about his relatives.

How huge - look at the little people at the base of the statue - they are practically invisible, unless you look closely. She stands on the broken chains, holding a torch and a tablet with the date of July 4, 1776 in her hands. Visitors walk 356 steps to the crown of the Statue of Liberty or 192 steps to the top of the pedestal. There are 25 windows in the crown, which symbolize earthly gems and heavenly rays that illuminate the world. The seven rays on the crown of the statue symbolize the seven seas and seven continents (the western geographical tradition has exactly seven continents). She is not just a symbol of the United States, she is a symbol of a global scale. But, in my opinion, today it is a symbol of the ending world order, and a monument on the grave of freedom, which, in fact, never existed.

But back to the facts. So.

Most of our compatriots do not even think that our statues will be more massive than Western ones. Moreover, after such propaganda pictures that hundreds are walking on net, we have no thought to doubt this.

What a huge embracing Christ the Redeemer statue. And in the last picture - the Statue of Liberty looks even larger than the statue of the Kiev Motherland, which even here is 9 meters higher.

Is this so? In the next photo we will see the real size of the Statue of Liberty in New York compared to the figure in Volgograd and the same hugging statue in Rio, and we see that this Christ, if he could hug anyone, would definitely not be our girls. With its size, it could only embrace the monuments to Lenin fleeing from Ukraine.

And in the next photo we will see the actual dimensions of the statues without pedestals. In addition to the New Wonder of the World - the statue of Christ the Redeemer, which, apparently, had to leave the pedestal so that it would not be the smallest in the photo. After all, even with a pedestal, it is only 38 meters high. The facial expressions of Vladimir Ilyich in this photograph, of course, are hard to see, but it seems to me that he is grinning.

Now someone, of course, will say that our statues still fall short of the huge Buddhist ones. It's hard to argue here, because the numbers speak for themselves. But I, with your permission, will allow myself to argue with the level of complexity of the construction of these statues. So, the sculpture Motherland Calls is the ONLY DYNAMIC statue of this size in the WORLD! ! ! I emphasize - the only one !!!

The statue, by sculptor Vuchetich and engineer Nikitin, is made of 5500 tons of concrete and 2400 tons of metal structures. The height of the monument is 86 meters, the height of the sculpture itself is 53 meters. Moreover, the thickness of the walls of the sculpture is no more than 30 centimeters. The sword in the hand of the Motherland weighs 14 tons and is 33 meters long. It is said that a car fits freely in the palm of the statue. In 2008, the statue of the Motherland on the Mamayev Kurgan was recognized as one of the Seven Wonders of Russia.

In 1972, restorers replaced the sword in the statue's hand with a lighter stainless steel. They also made holes in it to reduce the wind pressure. The old sword was made of titanium and thundered in the wind. In the mid-sixties, when the monument was unveiled, it was the tallest monument on the planet. The Statue of Liberty has never been anything "the most", except, perhaps, the most recognizable in the world.

At the moment, the statue is among the ten tallest statues in the world. The motherland is threatened with collapse due to groundwater. Experts say that if the tilt of the statue increases by another 300 mm, it can collapse due to any, even the most insignificant reason.

A 70-year-old pensioner Valentina Ivanovna Izotova lives in Volgograd, with whom the sculpture "The Motherland Calls" was sculpted 40 years ago. Valentina Ivanovna is a modest person, at that time she worked as a waitress in the Volgograd restaurant. For more than 40 years she was silent about the fact that as a model she posed for sculptors who sculpted perhaps the most famous sculpture in Russia - the Motherland. She was silent, because in Soviet times, talking about the profession of a model was, to put it mildly, indecent, especially for a married woman raising two daughters. Now Valya Izotova is already a grandmother and willingly talks about that distant episode in her youth, which has now become perhaps the most significant event of her entire life.

I thought for a long time, - recalls Izotova, - then the times were strict, and my husband forbade me. But then the husband had mercy, and I gave the guys my consent. Who in his youth did not embark on various adventures?

The gamble turned into a serious work that lasted two years. Valentina's candidacy for the role of Motherland was approved by Vuchetich himself. After listening to the arguments of his colleagues in favor of a simple Volgograd waitress, he nodded his head in the affirmative, and it began. Posing turned out to be very difficult. Standing for several hours a day with arms outstretched and left leg outstretched was exhausting. As conceived by the sculptors, a sword was supposed to be in the right hand, but in order not to tire Valentina too much, they put a long stick in her palm. At the same time, she had to give her face an inspired expression that called for deeds.

The guys insisted: "Valya, you have to call people for you. You are the Motherland!" And I called, for which I was paid 3 rubles per hour. Imagine what it would be like to stand with your mouth open for hours.

There was also one piquant moment during work. The sculptors insisted that Valentina, as befits a model, pose naked, but Izotova resisted. Suddenly the husband comes in. First, we agreed on a separate swimsuit. True, then the upper part of the swimsuit had to be removed. Breasts should be natural. By the way, the model was not wearing any tunic. It was only later that Vuchetich himself threw a flowing robe on the "Motherland". Our heroine saw the finished monument a few days after its official opening. It was interesting to look at myself from the side: face, arms, legs - everything is native, only made of stone and 52 meters tall. More than 40 years have passed since then. Valentina Izotova is alive and well and is proud that a monument was erected to her during her lifetime. For a long life.

So, the height of the female figure of the sculpture Motherland Calls! 52 m, the height of the Statue of Liberty is 46 m and this is before the torch. That is, the figure itself is not more than 40 meters there.

And the last thing. Purpose.

The Statue of Liberty is known all over the world and many, as I already wrote, dream of seeing it in reality. Seeing, at least, people feel a kind of emptiness - that's all? is this the "great statue"? and, at most, they feel disappointed. There is no soul there. Perhaps Americans are feeling the influx of patriotism under or v this statue, but our man, most certainly, does not feel anything like that.

And the diametrically opposite can be said about our Native statue. It has the opposite effect. The calling Motherland has an amazing property of psychological impact on everyone who sees it. There are so many feelings that no one can fail to notice them. After the first meeting with the appearance of their homeland, people walk under the impression for a long time. How the author managed to achieve this is anyone's guess.

I think it's in our blood. Check it out?

No matter how much you turn on the song Khasbulat Udaloy (the US anthem), the impact of the Freedom Monument on a person does not increase.

On the other hand, I will quietly turn on our patriotic little letters for you, and in your heads, like Babakhnet now, for everyone who is a true patriot in their spirit !!!

get up the country is huge

rise to mortal combat. ... ...