Monument to Nicholas I, St. Petersburg

Located on Isaac Square (Russian: Isaakievskaya Ploshchad) is the Neo-Baroque bronze monument of Nicholas I. The latter ruled Russia with an iron hand and was not particularly a popular sovereign. Nicholas's death left mixed opinions regarding his legacy. Some of his undisputed accomplishments included granting access to education for all, establishing Kiev University, and paving way for the abolition serfdom which the Tsar disliked and wanted to get rid of, but failed to do so for political reasons.

At Nicholas's personal request, his son Alexander II saw that the sculpture depicted him as a prancing knight, dressed up in full military uniform – as a long-time chief of the Horse Guard regiment. The majestic monument rests on a marble-granite pedestal adorned with allegorical bas-reliefs personifying virtues, modeled on Nicholas's daughters: Grand Duchesses Maria, Olga, Alexandra and Elizabeth, as well as his wife Empress Charlotte.

Designed by the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand in 1856, the equestrian six-meter statue is supported by the horse’s two rear hooves only, which was a technical feat when unveiled in 1859. The statue faces Saint Isaac's Cathedral, with the horse's rear towards the Mariinsky Palace – residence of Nicholas's daughter, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolayevna, which reportedly caused her some discomfort.

Contemporaries also noticed that the monument was set at an almost same distance from the Cathedral as the “Bronze Horseman” statue of Peter the Great, whom Nicholas I clearly admired and tried to imitate. This juxtaposition produced a city legend that the day after the monument's inauguration, on a foot of the horse was found a wooden tablet which said: "You won't catch up!" This entailed jokes like "Nicky's chasing Pete, but Isaac gets in his way!" or "The fool races after the clever one, but is held back by the monument!”.

Another legend circulated during the Soviet era was that the monument's unique axle load distribution was attained by lead shot. However, when the monument underwent restoration in the 1980s, no trace of any lead shot was discovered.

Tip:
Beautiful views of both St. Isaac’s and St. Paul’s Cathedrals open from here, but watch out for the traffic whilst taking the pics.