Dekabrchilar rafiqalari yodgorligi, Bronze memorial complex in Tobolsk, Russia.
The Monument to the Wives of the Decembrists is a bronze figure of a woman in a long dress holding a small child, mounted on a low dark base. It stands on a paved square within a circular colonnade of eight smooth white columns with gold bands near their tops and bases, set on a low stepped platform of reddish-brown stone edged with grey. The columns support a wide white ring with a raised rim.
The monument was erected in 2008 and unveiled in July, on the eve of the city's annual celebrations. It commemorates the wives of the Decembrists who chose to follow their husbands into Siberian exile. The site was chosen because in the 1830s fifteen Decembrists lived in Tobolsk, and several of their wives are buried in the nearby Zavalnoye cemetery.
The monument honors the wives of the Decembrists, who chose exile in Siberia to join their husbands after the 1825 uprising. In the 1830s fifteen Decembrists lived in Tobolsk, and some of their wives are buried in the nearby Zavalnoye cemetery, which is why the memorial stands beside it.
The memorial stands in a public garden beside the historic Zavalnoye cemetery, not on a street. The bronze figure is 2.4 metres tall. The surrounding ground is paved, and the cemetery is best visited in daylight.
The bronze figure was made by sculptors from Perm, a city far to the west of Tobolsk, brought in specifically for this commission. The rotunda surrounding the statue draws on classical Russian memorial forms but was cast using modern techniques.
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