Mikhailovsky column, Memorial monument in Izhevsk, Russia.
The Mikhailovsky Column is a cast-iron column in Izhevsk, rebuilt in 2007 to a height of 19 m. Its shaft is clad in tiers of three 120° granite segments, tapering from 1.6 m to 1.3 m, and is topped by a bronze angel by sculptor Pavel Medvedev. It stands in the courtyard of the State Russian Drama Theatre, facing the plant.
The column was unveiled on 8 November 1852 by order of Nicholas I, honouring Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich, head of Russia's military industry and chief of the Izhevsk arms factory, who died in 1849. Funded by factory officers and craftsmen and designed under chief architect I. T. Kokovikhin, it was destroyed in 1918 after the October Revolution. A replacement was unveiled on 4 November 2007.
The column carries the inscription "To the unforgettable General-Feldzeugmeister from grateful subordinates", chosen by the workers and officers of the Izhevsk arms factory who paid for it. The original stood near the factory guardhouse, where public floggings with rods took place. The rebuilt column now stands in the courtyard of the State Russian Drama Theatre and faces the factory.
The column stands in the courtyard of the State Russian Drama Theatre in the Pervomaysky district, on the bank of the Izhevsk pond, and faces the former arms factory. The 2007 reconstruction used anchor joints only, without mortar, and four types of granite for the pedestal.
The 2007 reconstruction is not a replica: it stands 19 m instead of the original 28.3 m, the angel was remodelled by sculptor Pavel Medvedev from surviving photographs and faces the opposite direction, and the four crowned eagles on the pedestal were made by Alexander Dresvyannikov. The column now stands in the courtyard of the State Russian Drama Theatre, facing the plant.
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