Field of Mars (Saint Petersburg)
The Field of Mars in Saint Petersburg is an approximately twelve hectare green space in the city center between the Moika Canal and the Summer Garden . Above all, the graves of 180 fallen soldiers of the Russian February Revolution are located on it, and an eternal flame burns there .
Emergence
By draining boggy soil, a large, dusty, sandy desert-like area was created in the 19th century. Until the beginning of the 20th century, this was used as a place for entertainment and diversion for the upper class of the time, for example for powerful fireworks (originally called the Lustwiese or Zarinnenwiese ) or - especially under Paul I - for organizing war exercises and military parades. On the west side of the square, Paul had the barracks of the Paul regiment built by the builder Vasily Petrovich Stassov . These barracks, designed in the style of classicism, have been used by the Petersburg municipal utilities (“Lenenergo”) for many years, and numerous personalities who have lived here are honored on the outer walls. There are also references to events of the February Revolution.
Between 1798 and 1801 monuments to Rumyantsev and Suvorov were erected on the square . The obelisk for Rumjanzew was moved to a new location on Vasilievsky Island in 1818, and the Suvorov monument, in which the general is depicted as Mars, the god of war , was moved to the edge when the revolutionary monument was built . It is located on a traffic island in front of the Troitsky Bridge.
The fallen of the February Revolution of 1917 were buried in April (old: March 23) 1917 to the sound of Chopin music and accompanied by salvos from the Peter and Paul Fortress on this square in a mass grave. Other graves bearing the names of the dead were later laid out.
In May 1920, 13,000 volunteers built the memorial, which can still be visited today, as part of a subbotnik . This goes back to design drafts by the architect Iwan Fomin . The mass grave was covered with an enormous granite slab and the entrances to the center were bordered with strict dark red granite blocks. The granite blocks form a square, in the middle of which is the "Revolution Monument", which was built in 1919 according to plans by the architect Rudnjew. An "Eternal Flame" has been burning here since 1957 and commemorates the dead. During the Soviet era, the Field of Mars was one of the most beautiful garden squares in Europe .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Leningrad - A small travel guide; Lenisdat 1966, pages 42/43
Web links
Coordinates: 59 ° 56 ′ 36 ″ N , 30 ° 19 ′ 55 ″ E