191 years ago on September 11, 1834 in opening ceremony for the Alexander Column took place in St. Petersburg.
It marked the end of the work on the decoration of the Palace Square. The column was erected by architect Auguste Montferrand by decree of Emperor Nicholas I in memory of the victory of his elder brother Alexander I over Napoleon.
The column is not dug into the ground and is not reinforced by a foundation, it stands on a granite base without any additional support. It stands unwavering for nearly two centuries only by precise calculation of Montferrand and the influence of its own gravity. That is to say it is balanced perfectly. The total weight of the structure is hefty 704 metric tons. To initially erect the column on the Palace Square, engineer A. Betancourt constructed scaffolding and a complex wheeled structure.
The ascent took place in September 1832 and lasted almost 2 hours. They system required the brute force of 2,000 soldiers and 400 manual laborers. More than 10,000 people gathered to watch this unusual spectacle, and foreign guests came specifically to bear witness to the event.
Image above: The scale of the parade was beyond description
The opening was accompanied by a solemn service at the foot of the column, which was attended by troops and the Emperor himself. Then a military parade was held on the square. About one hundred thousand people participated in it. The regiments that were involved distinguished themselves in The Patriotic War of 1812. This was a truly titanic parade for its time and a symbol of the power of the Russian state.
Image above: This is what the column looks like today
Here is a description from the memoirs of the poet Vasily Zhukovsky:
“… no pen can describe the greatness of that moment when, following three cannon shots, columns of the Russian army suddenly marched out of all the streets, as if born from the ground, in slender masses, with drumming thunder, to the sounds of the Parisian march… This magnificent, unique sight in the world lasted for two hours… In the evening, noisy crowds roamed the streets of the illuminated city for a long time, finally, the lighting went out, the streets were empty, and a majestic colossus alone with his sentry remained in the deserted square.”