Whose Motherland is higher: Volgograd vs Kyiv. The tallest statue in the world was built in India. She is taller than the “Motherland” and the Statue of Liberty (6 photos) What is taller, the Motherland or the Eiffel Tower

Its height is 182 meters.

In India, on the island of Sadhu Bet in the state of Gujarat, the tallest statue in the world - the Statue of Unity.

Its height is 182 m and it is higher than the statue of Christ in Brazil (38 m), the Statue of Liberty in the USA (93 m) and the Motherland in Kyiv (102 m).

Read also:

The sculpture was installed in honor of one of the creators of the modern Indian state, Vallabhbhai Patel. After India gained independence in 1947, he served as the country's Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister. Patel is also the author of the Indian Constitution and has made great efforts to keep India within its borders and prevent the country from breaking up into smaller states.

For his services to India, Vallabhai Patel was given the honorary nickname Sardar, which means chief or leader in many Indian languages.

Read also:

The sculpture of Vallabhai Patel consists of a 40-meter pedestal and a 142-meter statue. Installed at 153 meters observation deck, which can simultaneously accommodate up to 200 people. The cost of constructing the statue is $430 million.

Video From Rio with love. The statue of Christ the Savior was painted in Ukrainian colors

Statue of Christ the Savior - in Ukrainian colors. In Rio de Janeiro, a famous sculpture glowed yellow and blue. The Brazilians illuminated it in the colors of the Ukrainian flag especially for the Independence Day of our state. They have been doing this for 5 years in a row. Moreover, they say, in the Ukrainian diaspora the other day there is a double holiday. After all, they also celebrate the Day of the Ukrainian Community.

Sculpture “The Motherland Calls!” - the compositional center of the monument-ensemble “To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad” on Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd. One of the tallest statues in the world.

Above the Square of Sorrow rises a huge hill, which is crowned by the main monument - the Motherland. This is a mound about 14 meters high, in which the remains of 34,505 soldiers - the defenders of Stalingrad - are buried. A serpentine path leads to the top of the hill to the Motherland, along which there are 35 granite tombstones of Heroes of the Soviet Union, participants in the Battle of Stalingrad. From the foot of the mound to its top, the serpentine consists of exactly 200 granite steps 15 cm high and 35 cm wide - according to the number of days of the Battle of Stalingrad.

Mamayev Kurgan in the winter of 1945. In the foreground is a broken German RaK 40 cannon.

The end point of the path is the monument “The Motherland is calling!”, the compositional center of the ensemble, highest point mound. Its dimensions are enormous - the height of the figure is 52 meters, and total height of the Motherland - 85 meters(along with the sword). For comparison, the height of the famous Statue of Liberty without its pedestal is only 45 meters. At the time of construction, the Motherland was the tallest statue in the country and in the world. Later, the Kiev Motherland with a height of 102 meters appeared. Today, the tallest statue in the world is the 120-meter Buddha statue, built in 1995 and located in Japan, in the city of Chuchura. The total weight of the Motherland is 8 thousand tons. In her right hand she holds a steel sword, which is 33 meters long and weighs 14 tons. Compared to the height of a person, the sculpture is increased 30 times. The thickness of the reinforced concrete walls of the Motherland is only 25-30 centimeters. It was cast layer by layer using special formwork made from plaster materials. Inside, the rigidity of the frame is supported by a system of more than a hundred cables. The monument is not attached to the foundation and is held by gravity. Motherland stands on a slab only 2 meters high, which rests on the main foundation 16 meters high, but it is almost invisible - most of it is hidden underground. To enhance the effect of the monument being located at the very peak point of the mound, an artificial embankment 14 meters high was made.

Stalingrad, Mamayev Kurgan. In the foreground is the Renault UE Chenillette, a light French armored personnel carrier that was in service with the Wehrmacht.

As soon as the cannonade subsided in Stalingrad, the grateful country began to think about what the monument to the creators of this great victory should be like. Drawings and sketches were sent not only by professionals, but also by people of completely different professions. Some sent them to the Academy of Arts, others to the State Defense Committee, some personally to Comrade Stalin. Moreover, everyone saw the future monument as grandiose, of unprecedented size, to match the significance of the victory itself.

The All-Union competition was announced immediately after the war. All prominent Soviet architects and architects took part. The results were summed up ten years later. Although few doubted that Stalin Prize laureate Evgeniy Vuchetich would win. By that time, he had already created a memorial in Berlin's Treptow Park and enjoyed the trust of the top officials of the state. On January 23, 1958, the Council of Ministers of the USSR decided to begin construction of the monument-ensemble on Mamayev Kurgan. In May 1959, construction began to boil.

In his work, Vuchetich addressed the theme of the sword three times - the sword is raised by the Motherland on the Mamayev Kurgan, calling for the expulsion of the conquerors; A victorious warrior cuts a fascist swastika with a sword in Berlin's Treptow Park; the worker forges the sword onto the plow in the composition “Let’s beat swords into ploughshares,” expressing the desire of people of good will to fight for disarmament in the name of the triumph of peace on the planet. This sculpture was donated by Vuchetech to the United Nations and was installed in front of the headquarters in New York, and a copy of it was given to the Volgograd gas equipment plant, in whose workshops the Motherland was born). This sword was born in Magnitogorsk (during the war, every third shell and every second tank was made of Magnitogorsk metal), where the monument to the Rear Front was erected.

During the construction of the monument Motherland in already finished project many changes have been made. Few people know that initially on the top of the Mamayev Kurgan there was supposed to be a sculpture of the Motherland with a red banner and a kneeling soldier on a pedestal (according to some versions, the author of this project was Ernst Neizvestny). According to the original plan, two monumental staircases led to the monument. But subsequently Vuchetich changed the basic idea of ​​the monument. After the Battle of Stalingrad, the country faced more than 2 years of bloody battles and Victory was still far away. Vuchetich left the Motherland alone, now she called her sons to begin the victorious expulsion of the enemy.

He also removed the pompous pedestal of the Motherland, which practically repeated the one on which his victorious Soldier stands in Treptower Park. Instead of monumental stairs (which, by the way, were already built), a serpentine path appeared near the Motherland. The Motherland itself has “grown” relative to its original size - its height has reached 36 meters. But this option was not final either. Soon after finishing work on the foundation of the main monument, Vuchetich (on Khrushchev’s instructions) increases the size of the Motherland to 52 meters. Because of this, the builders had to urgently “load” the foundation, for which 150 thousand tons of earth were placed in the embankment.

In the Timiryazevsky district of Moscow, at Vuchetich’s dacha, where his workshop was located and today the architect’s house-museum, you can see working sketches: a reduced model of the Motherland, as well as a life-size model of the statue’s head.

In a sharp, swift impulse, a woman stood up on the mound. With a sword in her hands, she calls on her sons to defend the Fatherland. Her right leg is slightly laid back, her torso and head are vigorously turned to the left. The face is stern and strong-willed. Knitted eyebrows, a wide open, screaming mouth, short hair blown by gusts of wind, strong arms, a long dress that fits the body, the ends of a scarf blown by gusts of wind - all this creates a feeling of strength, expression and an irresistible desire to move forward. Against the background of the sky, she is like a bird soaring in the sky.

The sculpture of the Motherland looks great from all sides at any time of the year: in summer time, when the mound is covered with a continuous grass carpet, and on a winter evening - bright, illuminated by the rays of searchlights. The majestic statue, protruding against the background of the dark blue sky, seems to grow out of the mound, merging with its snowy cover.

The work of the sculptor E.V. Vuchetich and engineer N.V. Nikitin represents a multi-meter figure of a woman stepping forward with a raised sword. The statue is an allegorical image of the Motherland, calling its sons to fight the enemy. In an artistic sense, the statue is a modern interpretation of the image of the ancient goddess of victory Nike, who calls on her sons and daughters to repel the enemy and continue the offensive.

Construction of the monument began in May 1959 and was completed on October 15, 1967. The sculpture at the time of its creation was the tallest sculpture in the world. Restoration work on the Main monument of the monument-ensemble was carried out twice: in 1972 and 1986, in particular in 1972 the sword was replaced.

The prototype of the sculpture was Valentina Izotova (according to other sources, Anastasia Antonovna Peshkova, a graduate of the Barnaul Pedagogical School in 1953).

68-year-old Valentina Izotova was the model for the creation of the famous Russian Motherland memorial. For almost 40 years she did not talk about the fact that she participated in its creation.

Could I refuse when the sculptors asked me to sit for a statue in memory of the enormous losses suffered by the Red Army at Stalingrad? But I was horrified when they said I had to pose nude.

It was the early 1960s, and decent women didn't take their clothes off in front of anyone but their husbands. Artists, even such respected and famous ones as Lev Maistrenko, who worked on the memorial, meant nothing to the 26-year-old woman.

It was Lev who approached me. I worked as a waitress in the main restaurant of the city, Volgograd - it is still there - and usually served the room reserved for high-ranking party functionaries and delegations. Lev said that I was beautiful and embodied all the physical and moral qualities of the ideal Soviet woman. Of course, I was flattered, how could it be otherwise?

Curiosity got the better of me and I agreed to pose. None of us had any idea how famous “Motherland” would become. Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad) is as famous for this sculpture as for the battle that took place here.

My husband did not like the fact that I would pose for a group of artists sent from Moscow. He was terribly jealous and took me to every session to the studio they set up in an old gas apparatus factory.

After a while it became a job like any other, I hardly thought about the fact that I was standing in a swimsuit, and I was glad that I was paid three rubles a day, since at that time it was a decent amount. But only six months later I finally gave in to the sculptors’ persuasion to take off my bra and expose my breasts. But that was all. I was unshakable in my determination to maintain the remnants of modesty and not pose completely naked. It was unthinkable.

No one except relatives and closest friends knew about this. Soon after the sessions ended, I went to receive my first higher education: I have two diplomas - an economist and an engineer. Then I left Volgograd and began to live and work in Norilsk.

After the opening of the memorial in 1967, I thought little about it and moved on with my life.

In October 2010, work began to ensure the safety of the statue.

The sculpture is made from prestressed concrete blocks - 5,500 tons of concrete and 2,400 tons of metal structures (excluding the base on which it stands).

The total height of the monument is 85-87 meters. It is installed on a concrete foundation 16 meters deep. The height of the female figure is 52 meters (weight is over 8 thousand tons).

The statue stands on a slab only 2 meters high, which rests on the main foundation. This foundation is 16 meters high, but it is almost invisible - most of it is hidden underground. The statue stands freely on the slab, like a chess piece on a board.

The thickness of the reinforced concrete walls of the sculpture is only 25-30 centimeters. Inside, the entire statue consists of individual chamber cells, like rooms in a building. The rigidity of the frame is maintained by ninety-nine metal cables that are constantly under tension.

The sword, 33 meters long and weighing 14 tons, was originally made of stainless steel covered with titanium sheets. The huge mass and high windage of the sword, due to its colossal size, caused the sword to sway strongly when exposed to wind loads, which led to excessive mechanical stress at the point where the hand holding the sword was attached to the body of the sculpture. Deformations in the sword's structure also caused the titanium plating sheets to move, creating an unpleasant sound of rattling metal. Therefore, in 1972, the blade was replaced with another one - consisting entirely of fluorinated steel - and holes were provided in the upper part of the sword, which made it possible to reduce its windage. The reinforced concrete structure of the sculpture was strengthened in 1986 on the recommendation of the NIIZHB expert group led by R. L. Serykh.

There are very few similar sculptures in the world, for example, the statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, the “Motherland” in Kyiv, the monument to Peter I in Moscow. For comparison, the height of the Statue of Liberty from its pedestal is 46 meters.

The most complex calculations of the stability of this structure were carried out by Doctor of Technical Sciences N.V. Nikitin, the author of the calculation of the stability of the Ostankino TV tower. At night, the statue is illuminated by spotlights.

“The horizontal displacement of the upper part of the 85-meter monument is currently 211 millimeters or 75% of what was allowed by calculations. Deviations have been going on since 1966. If from 1966 to 1970 the deviation was 102 millimeters, then from 1970 to 1986 - 60 millimeters, until 1999 - 33 millimeters, from 2000-2008 - 16 millimeters,” said the director of the State Historical and Memorial Museum-Reserve. Battle of Stalingrad" Alexander Velichkin.

Interesting facts

• The sculpture “Motherland” is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest sculpture-statue in the world at that time. Its height is 52 meters, arm length is 20 meters and sword length is 33 meters. The total height of the sculpture is 85 meters. The weight of the sculpture is 8 thousand tons, and the sword - 14 tons (for comparison: the Statue of Liberty in New York is 46 meters high; the Statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro is 38 meters). On at the moment The statue ranks 11th on the list of tallest statues in the world.
• Vuchetich told Andrei Sakharov: “The bosses ask me why her mouth is open, because it’s ugly. I answer: And she screams - for the Motherland... your mother! - shut up."
• There is a legend according to which, shortly after its creation, a man got lost in the sculpture; after that no one saw him. But it's just a legend
• The silhouette of the sculpture “Motherland” was taken as a basis when developing the coat of arms and flag of the Volgograd region

During construction, Vuchetich made changes to the project more than once. Little known fact: At first, the main monument of the ensemble was supposed to look completely different. At the top of the mound, the author wanted to place a sculpture of the “Motherland” with a red banner and a kneeling soldier. According to the original plan, two monumental staircases led to it. They managed to be built when Vuchetich went to Khrushchev, the then leader of the country, and convinced him that it would be better if people began to climb a serpentine path to the top.

But these are not all the changes that the master made to the finished project. Valentina Klyushina, who was the deputy director of the memorial for many years, told me about how all this happened. During the years of the complex’s creation, she worked in the Volgograd City Executive Committee and supervised the construction.

- “Motherland” Vuchetich decided to leave alone. He also removed the pompous pedestal, almost identical to the one on which his Victorious Soldier stands in Treptower Park. The main figure became taller - 36 meters. But this option did not last long. The builders barely had time to make the foundation when the author increased the size of the sculpture. Up to 52 meters! In the competition between superpowers, it was necessary for the main monument of the USSR to be higher than the American Statue of Liberty. It was necessary to urgently “load” the foundation so that it could support the 85-meter (including the sword) sculpture, weighing 8 thousand tons. 150 thousand tons of earth were then placed in the embankment. And since the deadlines were pressing, a military battalion was assigned to help the brigades.

There is also a problem with the current Hall of Military Glory. It was planned to install a panorama canvas there. As soon as the “box” of the building was built, Vuchetich decided that the panorama should be placed separately. Which is what they did then. And in the finished structure along the perimeter of the walls there are mosaic banners with the names of the fallen defenders of the city. The author also quickly passed this question through the CPSU Central Committee.

There was also an embarrassment with these same banners. Here's what Klyushina said:

Masters from Leningrad worked with mosaics. And the art glass was supplied from the Ukrainian city of Lisichansk. Mosaicists laid out the interior as material became available. When everything was ready and the scaffolding was removed, everyone gasped. The tones on the wall were so different that it resembled a chessboard. The deadline for the project was approaching. And Vuchetich had no choice but to call “up.” This time to Brezhnev. He immediately dialed the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, Shelesta, and explained the task to him. In short, a few days later the cars were delivered to Volgograd with new glass.

Now imagine: it’s June, there are four months left before the opening of the memorial. And we need to restore the forests again, prepare and lay more than a thousand square meters of multi-colored glass pieces. Here the legendary commander of the 62nd Army Vasily Chuikov helped a lot. By the way, he was Vuchetich’s main consultant on the project. 500 soldiers were assigned to the construction headquarters. The fighters worked like Stakhanov. Within three weeks, the interior of the hall took on its intended form.

But these are not all the difficulties faced by the creators of the complex. On one of the spring days of the same 1967, a critical situation arose with a 33-meter sword.

…As usual, chief engineer Volgogradgidrostroy Yuri Abramov went to work at the headquarters in the morning. On the way, he came across a flock of boys arguing... why is the sword in the hand of the “Motherland” swinging so much? Abramov raised his head and was horrified. They immediately carried out an operational investigation, and the very next day a special commission arrived from Moscow. It soon became clear that the designers did not take into account the data from many years of observations of the wind rose. So it turned out that the sword turned out flat in relation to the wind. We urgently had to make several holes in it so that it could ventilate freely. In addition, the commission generally recommended replacing the heavy titanium sword with a lighter steel one.

At the very end of the construction, 50 powerful spotlights were needed to illuminate the sculpture. They couldn't get them anywhere. The country at that time was preparing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution - and everything that was produced went to Moscow and Leningrad according to orders. Klyushina was sent to the capital to see the Chairman of the Moscow City Executive Committee, Promyslov. He said that Moscow was unable to help. And he advised me to go to the manufacturing plant. And Klyushina rushed to the city of Gusev, in the Kaliningrad region. The director of Elektromash also just threw up his hands at the request. Then he thought and invited Valentina to speak on the factory radio in front of the workers and ask them to work beyond the norm. Two additional shifts were organized and the Saira searchlights went to Volgograd. On October 15, 1967, the monument-ensemble was inaugurated.

Construction continued for eight years and five months. The memorial remains standing for another forty years. He always looked decent. Even when everything in the country was collapsing and falling into disrepair, the grass on the mound was neatly trimmed. But only the people working here know what this order costs. And how you have to extort money from authorities of all ranks in order to patch up and repair a huge unique farm.

Someone carelessly said that “Motherland” was so tilted that it might soon fall. This is nonsense. “Any structure of this type,” says the director of the memorial, retired general Vladimir Berlov, “can tilt. This is even provided for by the designers. Let's say the design of our monument is designed for a deviation of 272 millimeters. The figure, Berlov continues, is constantly examined for the formation of cracks and roughness, and its position is analyzed. And an analysis of concrete chips, carried out in a German laboratory, showed the excellent condition of the structure and the presence required stock strength. It is supported from the inside by 99 tension ropes. Believe me, says the director, this system will never allow the monument to tilt to a critical level.”

You can take a walk with Sergei Dolya inside the monument

And here is a walk with Artemy Lebedev

At the end of June 1941, perhaps the main graphic work of the Great Patriotic War, later included in all history textbooks - Irakli Toidze’s poster “The Motherland is Calling.” By the artist’s own admission, the idea of ​​creating a collective image of a mother calling her sons for help came to his mind completely by accident. Hearing the first message from the Sovinformburo about the attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR, Toidze’s wife ran into his workshop shouting “War!” Struck by the expression on her face, the artist ordered his wife to freeze and immediately began sketching the future masterpiece. Subsequently, the very concept of “Motherland” became almost the cornerstone of all Soviet propaganda, embodied in countless imitations and migrated to related areas fine arts, including monumental ones.

The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy was made -

1.Bronze statue of Buddha Ushiku Daibutsu, Japan.

Ushiku Daibutsu, located in Ushiku, in Ibaraki Prefecture in Japan, is the tallest free-standing bronze statue in the world. Built in 1995, the total height is 120 m above the ground, including a 10 m base and a 10 m lotus platform. An elevator takes visitors to a height of 85m above the ground, where the observation deck is located.

2. Buddhist statue Guanyang, Sanya, China.

Sanya is located in the smallest province of China people's republic Hainian, on south coast countries. YalongWan - local park, located on the coast 7.5 km southeast of Sanya City. The main attraction of the park is the 108-meter statue of Guanyin.

This statue was completed in May 2005 and is one of the tallest in the world.

3. Yellow Chinese Emperors Huangdi and Yandi, China.

The 103-meter-tall statue is located in China and is a sculpture of two ancient Chinese emperors - Huangdi and Yandi.

4. Motherland, Kyiv, Ukraine.

Monument-sculpture of the Motherland, standing in Kyiv on the high right bank of the Dnieper. The height of the Motherland sculpture is 62 meters, the total height with the pedestal is 102 meters.

5. Monument to Peter I, Moscow, Russia

The monument to Peter I by Zurab Tsereteli was erected by order of the Moscow Government on the spit of the island of the Moscow River and the Obvodny Canal in 1997.

The total height of the monument is 98 meters.

6. Statue of Liberty, Liberty Island, New York, USA.

The world's embodiment of Liberty, commonly known as the Statue of Liberty, is a colossal statue donated to the United States by France in 1886, installed on Liberty Island in New York at the mouth of the Hudson River.

7. Sculpture The Motherland Calls, Volgograd, Russia.

Sculpture “The Motherland Calls!” - the compositional center of the monument-ensemble “To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad” on Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd. The work of sculptor E. V. Vuchetich and engineer N. V. Nikitin. Built in 1967, height 84 meters.

8. Maitreya Buddha Statue in Leshan, Leshan, China.

The statue is located east of the city of Leshan in Sichuan province, at the intersection of three rivers. Construction took place over 90 years. The height of the statue is 71 m, the height of the head is almost 15 m, the shoulder span is almost 30 m, the length of the finger is 8 m, the length of the toe is 1.6 m, the length of the nose is 5.5 m. It is recognized as a monument World Heritage UNESCO.

9. Bamiyan Buddha statues, Afghanistan.

Two giant statues Buddhas (Buddha of Bamyan) - 55 and 37 meters, included in the complex Buddhist monasteries in the Bamiyan Valley in central Afghanistan, located 230 km north of Kabul. The statues were barbarically destroyed, despite protests from the world community and other Islamic countries, in 2001 by the Taliban, who believed that they were pagan idols and should be destroyed. Japan, Switzerland and UNESCO, among others, have expressed support for the restoration of the statues.

10. Statue of Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Christ the Redeemer Statue - a huge Art Deco statue of Jesus Christ, 32m high and weighing 1000 tons, is located on the top of the 710m Corcovado mountain overlooking the city.

A powerful symbol of Christianity, the statue has become an icon of the city of Rio de Janeiro.

Without a doubt, the obelisk of Bayonet, Brest, Belarus deserves our attention.

Bayonet - obelisk (all-welded metal structure, lined with titanium; height 100 m, weight 620 tons) is part of the memorial complex Brest Fortress- hero.

What monument should be installed on the grave? Antik CJSC will help resolve the issue. The plant offers a huge catalog of gabbro products - monuments and gravestones. Come in and make your choice.

Large and tall statues have been built since ancient times. For example, the Great Sphinx, built by the ancient Egyptians, was 20 meters in height. However, over the last century, a number of statues have been built that are much taller than the ancient wonders of the world. In this list I will list the 7 tallest statues in the world at the moment

7. Sculpture Motherland in Kyiv

This is a monument in honor of the Great Patriotic War, calling for patriotism. The creation of the sculpture was completed in 1981; the statue itself rises 62 meters, and together with the overall structure the height is 102 meters. The weight of the statue is 560 tons. Interestingly, the sculpture Motherland in Volgograd, on Mamayev Kurgan, is much more famous, but its height is 54 meters

6. Sculpture of Emperors Yan and Huan

This sculpture was carved into the rock, taking more than two decades to complete. Its creation was completed in 2007. the total height of the sculpture is 106 meters. For those who do not know, the sculpture is dedicated to the two very first emperors of China - Yan Di and Huan Di

5. Guan Yin Statue in China

The 108-meter-tall statue of Huan Yin Bodhisattva is located on the southern coast of Hainan Island in China. It took 6 years to create the statue, the work was completed in 2005

4. Cristo Rey statue (110 meters)

This statue was built under inspiration from the famous Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro in 1959. It took 10 years to build and the statue is exactly the same size as the one in Rio. the total height of the monument is 110 meters

3. Ushiku Daibutsu statue in Japan (120 meters)

The Ushiku Daibutsu statue is dedicated to Amitabha Buddha and is located in the city of Ushiku in Japan. It was built in 1995. This is the third tallest statue in the world, the total height of the monument is 120 meters. There is an elevator inside the statue that takes you to the observation platform at the top of the statue.

2. Laykyun Setkyar in Myanmar (130 meters)

This statue is the second tallest in the world. It is built on Kaung Hill in central Myanmar. At his feet is also the largest reclining Buddha statue in the world. The reclining Buddha was built in 1991, and the tall Laykyun Setkyar in 2008

1. Buddha of the Spring Temple (153 meters)

This is the largest and tallest statue in the world. The total height of the entire monument is 153 meters. Construction of this sculpture began after terrorists blew up the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan. The statue was completed in 2008

The graph below clearly demonstrates the size of the Spring Buddha in relation to the Statue of Liberty, the Motherland in Volgograd and Christ the Redeemer

Sculpture “The Motherland is Calling!” is the compositional center architectural ensemble“To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad”, represents a 52-meter figure of a woman, rapidly walking forward and calling her sons behind her. In his right hand is a sword 33 m long (weight 14 tons). The height of the sculpture is 85 meters. The monument stands on a 16-meter foundation. The height of the Main Monument speaks of its scale and uniqueness. Its total weight is 8 thousand tons. The main monument - a modern interpretation of the image of the ancient Nike - the goddess of victory - calls on her sons and daughters to repel the enemy and continue the further offensive.

Great importance was attached to the construction of the memorial. There were no restrictions on funds or building materials. The best creative forces were involved in creating the monument. The main sculptor and project manager was Evgeniy Viktorovich Vuchetich, who ten years earlier had already created a monument-ensemble to the soldiers of the Soviet Army in Treptower Park in Berlin and the sculpture “Let’s Beat Swords into Plowshares,” which still adorns the square in front of the UN building in New York. Vuchetich was assisted by the architects Belopolsky and Demin, and the sculptors Matrosov, Novikov and Tyurenkov. Upon completion of construction, they were all awarded the Lenin Prize, and Vuchetich was also awarded the Golden Star of the Hero of Socialist Labor. The head of the engineering group working on the construction of the memorial was N.V. Nikitin - future creator Ostankino tower. The main military consultant of the project was Marshal V.I. Chuikov is the commander of the army that defended, whose reward was the right to be buried here, next to the dead soldiers: along the serpentine, in the hill, the remains of 34,505 soldiers - defenders of Stalingrad, as well as 35 granite tombstones of Heroes of the Soviet Union, participants in the Battle of Stalingrad, were reburied


Construction of the monument “Motherland” was started in May 1959 and completed on October 15, 1967. The sculpture at the time of its creation was the tallest sculpture in the world. Restoration work on the Main monument of the monument-ensemble was carried out twice: in 1972 and 1986. It is also believed that the statue was modeled after the Marseillaise figure on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and that the pose of the statue was inspired by the statue of the Nike of Samothrace. Indeed, there are some similarities. In the first photo there is Marseillaise, and next to Nika of Samothrace

And in this photo the Motherland

The sculpture is made from prestressed concrete blocks - 5,500 tons of concrete and 2,400 tons of metal structures (excluding the base on which it stands). Total height of the monument “ The Motherland is calling” - 85 meters. It is installed on a concrete foundation 16 meters deep. The height of the female figure is 52 meters (weight is more than 8 thousand tons).

The statue stands on a slab only 2 meters high, which rests on the main foundation. This foundation is 16 meters high, but it is almost invisible - most of it is hidden underground. The statue stands freely on the slab, like a chess piece on a board. The thickness of the reinforced concrete walls of the sculpture is only 25-30 centimeters. Inside, the rigidity of the frame is supported by ninety-nine metal cables that are constantly in tension


The sword is 33 meters long and weighs 14 tons. The sword was originally made of stainless steel covered with titanium sheets. In the strong wind the sword swayed and the sheets rattled. Therefore, in 1972, the blade was replaced with another one, consisting entirely of fluorinated steel. And the problems with wind were eliminated with the help of blinds at the top of the sword. There are very few similar sculptures in the world, for example, the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro. For comparison, the height of the Statue of Liberty from its pedestal is 46 meters.


The most complex calculations of the stability of this structure were carried out by Doctor of Technical Sciences N.V. Nikitin, the author of the calculation of the stability of the Ostankino TV tower. At night, the statue is illuminated by spotlights. “The horizontal displacement of the upper part of the 85-meter monument is currently 211 millimeters or 75% of what was allowed by calculations. Deviations have been going on since 1966. If from 1966 to 1970 the deviation was 102 millimeters, then from 1970 to 1986 - 60 millimeters, until 1999 - 33 millimeters, from 2000-2008 - 16 millimeters,” said the director of the State Historical and Memorial Museum-Reserve. Battle of Stalingrad" Alexander Velichkin.

The sculpture “The Motherland Calls” is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest sculpture-statue in the world at that time. Its height is 52 meters, arm length is 20 meters and sword length is 33 meters. The total height of the sculpture is 85 meters. The weight of the sculpture is 8 thousand tons, and the sword - 14 tons (for comparison: 46 meters high; 38 meters). Currently, the statue ranks 11th on the list of the tallest statues in the world. The Motherland is in danger of collapse due to groundwater. Experts say that if the tilt of the statue increases by another 300 mm, it could collapse due to any, even the most insignificant reason

70-year-old pensioner Valentina Ivanovna Izotova lives in Volgograd, with whom the sculpture “The Motherland Calls” was sculpted 40 years ago. Valentina Ivanovna is a modest person. For more than 40 years, she was silent about the fact that as a model she posed for the sculptors who sculpted perhaps the most famous sculpture in Russia - the Motherland. She was silent because Soviet times talking about the model’s profession was, to put it mildly, indecent, especially for a married woman raising two daughters. Now Valya Izotova is already a grandmother and willingly talks about that distant episode in her youth, which has now become perhaps the most significant event of her entire life.


In those distant 60s, Valentina was 26 years old. She worked as a waitress in the prestigious, by Soviet standards, Volgograd restaurant. This establishment was visited by all the eminent guests of the city on the Volga, and our heroine saw with her own eyes Fidel Castro, the Emperor of Ethiopia, and the Swiss ministers. Naturally, only a girl with a real Soviet appearance could serve such people during lunch. You probably already guessed what this means. Stern face, purposeful look, athletic figure. It is no coincidence that one day a frequent guest of Volgograd, the young sculptor Lev Maistrenko, approached Valentina to talk. He conspiratorially told his young interlocutor about the sculpture that he and his comrades were to make for the sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich, already famous in those days. Maistrenko walked around the bush for a long time, showering the waitress with compliments, and then invited her to pose. The fact is that the Moscow model, who arrived in the provinces directly from the capital, did not attract the attention of local sculptors. She was too arrogant and cutesy. And her face didn’t resemble “Mother.”

“I thought about it for a long time,” recalls Izotova, “the times were strict then, and my husband forbade it. But then my husband relented, and I gave the guys my consent. Who didn’t go on various adventures in their youth?

The adventure turned into serious work that lasted two years. Valentina’s candidacy for the role of the Motherland was approved by Vuchetich himself. Having listened to the arguments of his colleagues in favor of a simple Volgograd waitress, he nodded his head affirmatively, and it began. Posing turned out to be a very difficult task. Standing for several hours a day with my arms outstretched and my left leg pointed forward was tiring. According to the sculptors, a sword was supposed to be in the right hand, but in order not to tire Valentina too much, they put a long stick in her palm. At the same time, she had to give her face an inspired expression calling for exploits.

The guys insisted: “Valya, you must call people to follow you. You are the Motherland!” And I called, for which I was paid 3 rubles per hour. Imagine what it's like to stand for hours with your mouth open.

There was one piquant moment during work. The sculptors insisted that Valentina, as befits a model, pose naked, but Izotova resisted. Suddenly my husband will come in. At first we agreed on a two-piece swimsuit. True, then the top part of the swimsuit had to be removed. The breasts should look natural. By the way, the model was not wearing any tunic. It was only later that Vuchetich himself threw a flowing robe over Rodina. Our heroine saw the finished monument a few days after its official opening. It was interesting to look at myself from the outside: my face, arms, legs - everything was original, only made of stone and 52 meters tall. More than 40 years have passed since then. Valentina Izotova is alive and well and is proud that a monument was erected to her during her lifetime. For a long life.

The sculpture “The Motherland Calls,” created by E.V. Vuchetich, has the amazing property of a psychological impact on everyone who sees it. How the author managed to achieve this, one can only guess. Sharp criticism of his creation: it is both exaggeratedly monumental and frankly similar to the Marseillaise that decorates the Parisian triumphal arch, - do not explain its phenomenon at all. We must not forget that for the sculptor, who survived the most terrible war in the history of mankind, this monument, like the entire memorial, is first of all a tribute to the memory of the fallen, and then a reminder to the living, who, in his conviction, so they can never forget anything

The sculpture Motherland, together with Mamayev Kurgan, is a finalist of the competition