Dekabristov (Decembrist's) Square
1768-82. Sculptor E.-M. Falconet
         
 In |Senatskaya Square|Custom1|O:279| the first monument in our 
city was erected - that to Peter I, the founder  of 
Petersburg. This monument, that was 
commemorated by Pushkin in his poem The 
Bronze Horseman, is one of the best  samples of 
the world monumental sculpture, one of the 
symbols of Petersburg.
The ceremony of the opening took place on 
August 7, 1782. On each side of the pedestal 
there is an inscription done in Russian and in 
Latin reading: “To Peter the First - Catherine the 
Second”.
The Bronze Horseman, a monument remarkable 
for its perfect composition and masterful 
workmanship, is an integral part of the ensemble 
of central Petersburg. The author himself 
interpreted the symbolic meaning of the rearing 
horseman. “The monument will be simple, - he 
wrote. - I shall limit myself to the statue of this 
hero, and I am treating him neither as a great 
marshal, nor as a victor, though he was both.