Statue of the Duc de Richelieu in Odesa, Bronze statue at Prymorskyi Boulevard, Odesa, Ukraine
The Statue of the Duc de Richelieu is a bronze figure mounted on a pink granite pedestal at the top of the Potemkin Stairs. The sculpture portrays the governor in a Roman toga holding a scroll and faces toward the harbor where ships enter the port.
The monument was installed in 1828 to honor Armand Emmanuel du Plessis, who served as governor of Odesa from 1803 to 1814 and developed the city into a trading hub. During the Crimean War in the mid-1800s, a cannonball struck the bronze and the repair patch is still visible today.
The statue represents the first public monument erected in Odesa, designed by architects Avraam Melnikov and Francesco Boffo with classical artistic elements.
The statue stands on Prymorskyi Boulevard directly above the Potemkin Stairs and is freely accessible throughout the day. From this spot you get a wide view over the Black Sea and the port facilities below the cliff.
The bronze figure was the first public monument in the city and was designed by Avraam Melnikov and Francesco Boffo. The classical depiction in Roman toga was unusual at the time for a French aristocrat and 19th-century politician.
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