Chizhik-Pyzhik, Bronze monument near Fontanka River, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Chizhik-Pyzhik is an 11-centimeter bronze siskin that sits on a narrow pedestal along the Fontanka embankment wall. The tiny sculpture shows a small bird positioned directly above the water near the First Engineer Bridge.
The bronze siskin was installed on 19 November 1994 at the Fontanka embankment near the First Engineer Bridge. Writer Andrey Bitov proposed the idea at the 1994 Golden Ostap satire festival, and sculptor Rezo Gabriadze created it with architect Vyacheslav Bukhaev. The figure recalls the students of the Imperial School of Jurisprudence, housed at Fontanka 6 from 1835 to 1918, whose green and yellow uniforms inspired the nickname.
The name comes from a children's song about little birds drinking spirits by the river, referring to the green and yellow uniforms worn by law students. Tossing a coin onto the pedestal and making a wish has become a popular local habit.
The bird sits on the embankment wall near the First Engineer Bridge at water level, reachable on foot from the Mikhailovsky Garden or the Summer Garden area. Because of its size, you need to look carefully to spot it among the stones on the riverside wall.
The pedestal sits below street level, and the figure was stolen seven times between 1994 and 2014, each time returning to its place or being remade. The idea came from writer Andrey Bitov at the 1994 Golden Ostap satire festival; sculptor Rezo Gabriadze and architect Vyacheslav Bukhaev carried it out.
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