The third and the oldest surviving
Triumphal Arch
A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, crow ...
in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
was built in 1829–34 on
Tverskaya Zastava Square
Tverskaya Zastava is a square in Central Administrative Okrug in Moscow. Moscow Belorussky railway station, Belorussky railway station faces the square. The streets which terminate at the square are, in counterclockwise order, Leningradsky Avenue ...
to
Joseph Bové
Joseph Bové (russian: Осип Иванович Бове, ''Osip Ivanovich Bove'', also known during his lifetime as Joseph Jean-Baptiste Charles de Beauvais; 4 November 1784 — 28 June 1834, all n.s.) was an Italian-Russian neoclassical ...
's designs in order to commemorate
Imperial Russia
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...
's
victory over Napoleon. It replaced an earlier wooden structure built by the veterans of the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
in 1814.
The arch was built in brick and lined with
ashlar
Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...
. The columns and statues were of
cast iron
Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...
. A
seiuga (six-horse chariot) was designed by
Giovanni Vitali. The bilingual inscription in Russian and Latin ran as follows:
The arch was dismantled in 1936 as part of
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
's reconstruction of downtown Moscow.
Vitali's sculptures were then put on exhibit at an architectural museum on the grounds of the former
Donskoy Monastery
Donskoy Monastery (russian: Донско́й монасты́рь) is a major monastery in Moscow, founded in 1591 in commemoration of Moscow's deliverance from the threat of an invasion by the Crimean Khan (title), Khan Ğazı II Giray, Kazy-G ...
. After the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
there were plans to rebuild the structure in front of the
Belorussky railway station
Belorussky railway terminal (russian: Белору́сский вокза́л, ) is a passenger terminal at the ''Moscow–Passenger–Smolenskaya'' railway station (russian: Москва́-Пассажирская-Смоле́нская, also k ...
.
The current arch was built to Bove's original designs in 1966–68 in the middle of
Kutuzovsky Avenue
Kutuzovsky Prospekt (russian: Куту́зовский проспе́кт) is a major radial avenue in Moscow, Russia, named after Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, leader of the Russian field army during the French invasion of Russia. The prospek ...
, close to the
Victory Park. An open space surrounding the arch is known as the
Victory Square.
See also
*
List of post-Roman triumphal arches
This is a list of post-Roman triumphal arches. Since the Renaissance period, rulers and states have sought to glorify themselves or commemorate victories by erecting triumphal arches on the Roman model. Modern arches have ranged from temporary stru ...
References
External links
* {{commons category-inline, Triumphal Arch of Moscow
Triumphal arches in Russia
Military monuments and memorials
Monuments and memorials in Moscow
Neoclassical architecture in Russia
Rebuilt buildings and structures in Russia
Cultural heritage monuments of regional significance in Moscow