The Monument to the Heroes of the Air ( ro, Monumentul Eroilor Aerului), located in the Aviators' Square, on Aviators' Boulevard,

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, was built between 1930 and 1935 by sculptors (1885–1944), and by . The structure, 20 m (65.6 ft) high, is made up of

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

s resting on an

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...

-shaped stone

pedestal A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ci ...

, which in turn stands atop four

trapezoid A quadrilateral with at least one pair of parallel sides is called a trapezoid () in American and Canadian English. In British and other forms of English, it is called a trapezium (). A trapezoid is necessarily a Convex polygon, convex quadri ...

al prisms linked to each other by arcs. Beneath this entire complex is a circular stone base. Attached to the top of the obelisk, which reaches 15 m, is a 5-meter, 5-ton statue depicting a flying man, his wings outstretched. The folds of a shawl fall from his waist onto the obelisk. Three

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

s, each in a different stage of flight attempt, are depicted around the base of the obelisk. On the pedestal are the aviators' insignia, helmet and equipment, as well as engraved plaques with the names of Romanian airmen who had crashed to their deaths by the time the monument was built. These men died pursuing various goals: skill development, performance, adventure and fighting in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The first name is that of Gheorghe Caranda, killed on 20 April 1912 on an airfield during a training flight; the last is that of Sava Rotaru, killed on 29 May 1934 in thick fog in the hills around

Cernavodă Cernavodă () is a town in Constanța County, Northern Dobruja, Romania with a population of 20,514. The town's name is derived from the Bulgarian ''černa voda'' (черна вода in Cyrillic), meaning 'black water'. This name is regarded by ...

. After the official dedication, 99 additional names have been posted on the North bottom side of the pedestal.

History

In 1927 a committee was formed for the construction of the Aviators' Monument. This body was made up of Prof. I. Cantacuzino; General Vasile Rudeanu; Victor Atanasiu, a colonel in the

Romanian Air Force The Romanian Air Force (RoAF) ( ro, Forțele Aeriene Române) is the air force branch of the Romanian Armed Forces. It has an air force headquarters, an operational command, five airbases and an air defense brigade. Reserve forces include one ai ...

's medical corps; and the pilots Cornel Olănescu and Mihai Oromolu. The committee initiated a contest for designing the monument, and invited interested artists, painters and sculptors to participate. Twenty designs were submitted and exposed at the

Romanian Athenaeum The Romanian Athenaeum ( ro, Ateneul Român) is a concert hall in the center of Bucharest, Romania, and a landmark of the Romanian capital city. Opened in 1888, the ornate, domed, circular building is the city's most prestigious concert hall an ...

in order to allow the public to choose the winner by secret ballot. The winning design, that of architect Lidia Kotzebuie, used as a model for the aviator's body that of

Joe Louis Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, Louis is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential boxers of all time. He rei ...

, who visited Bucharest around that time, while the head was based on an image found in a catalogue of famous aviators.Rădoi. In July 1927, the committee asked Kotzebuie to execute a model one quarter the size of the planned monument by that October 1; on October 27, it officially approved her project. In 1930, with the help of the Air Ministry, material from the Argeş River was brought to the Malaxa Factory, where the statue was to be produced. There, in May 1930, in the architect's presence, the statue was cast in bronze, after a

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for Molding (decorative), moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of ...

model. On July 21, 1935, the monument was inscribed "Eroilor Aerului" ("To the Airmen Heroes"); the original lettering has been preserved. At its unveiling the following day, leading state authorities were present, as well as ministers and representatives of the Air Ministry; speeches were delivered and congratulations offered to the architect and all those who participated in the project. The event closed with a military parade made up of honour guards and aviators, and military honours were awarded to the pilots mentioned on the lists at the base of the monument. In 1981, a miniature copy accompanied cosmonaut

Dumitru Prunariu Dumitru-Dorin Prunariu (; born 27 September 1952) is a Romanian cosmonaut. He flew in space aboard Soyuz 40 spacecraft and Salyut 6 space laboratory. He teamed with the Soviet cosmonaut Leonid Popov. The backup crew was made of Romanian candidat ...

into outer space. After the

fall Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March (Souther ...

of the

Communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

in 1989, the ornamental design above the dedication, representing the cross of the

Order of Aeronautical Virtue The Order of Aeronautical Virtue ( ro, Ordinul "Virtutea Aeronautică") is a Romanian military decoration created by King Carol II on 31 July 1930. Originally, the Order had three ranks: Knight, Officer and Commander, as well as a "Golden Cross ...

(a cross with its side bar shaped like wings, a pair of crossed swords and the

Coat of arms of Romania The coat of arms of Romania was adopted in the Parliament of Romania, Romanian Parliament on 10 September 1992 as a representative coat of arms for Romania. It is based on the Lesser Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Romania (used between 1922 and ...

) was restored. Each Aviators' Day (July 20), wreaths and bouquets of flowers are laid before the monument in honour of those commemorated that day.

References

Bibliography

* Florian Georgescu, Paul Cernovodeanu, Alexandru Cebuc. ''Monumente din București''. Bucharest: Meridiane, 1966

External links

*
“Statuia aviatorilor”
airforce.go.ro (not official).
“Names carved on the Romanian Air Heroes memorial”
earlyaviators.com. {{DEFAULTSORT:Monument to the Heroes of the Air Monuments and memorials in Bucharest World War I memorials in Romania Outdoor sculptures in Bucharest