Монумент «Глобус», Steel monument in Penza, Russia.
The Globe Monument is a steel structure at Friendship Square in Penza, Russia, topped with a large sphere made of aluminum plates shaped to show the continents and coordinates of the Earth. The sphere rotates slowly on its axis, which is visible if you watch it for a few moments.
The monument was unveiled in December 1972 to mark 50 years since the founding of the Soviet Union. It was erected at the corner of Suvorov and Bekeshskaya streets, which later became part of Friendship Square.
The sphere shows all continents except Antarctica, with coastlines and geographic coordinates pressed into the aluminum surface. Visitors can walk slowly around it and read the details of the globe at close range.
Friendship Square is in central Penza and easy to reach on foot from most parts of the city center. The open space around the monument makes it a good starting point for exploring the surrounding streets.
The structure was designed and built entirely by engineers from Penza's Research Institute of Chemical Engineering, with no architects or artists involved. It is rare for a public monument of this size to be conceived and executed by a technical institute alone.
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