If you were lucky enough to visit the magnificent city on the Neva River, St. Petersburg, you will certainly see one of the most interesting sights of the city - the monument to Nicholas I. It is located on St. Isaac's Square and was erected in 1859 by the famous architect Auguste Montferrand.

The monument was opened 4 years after the death of Tsar Nicholas. The sculptor was Pyotr Karlovich Klodt.

A notable feature of the monument was the installation of the sculpture on 2 points of support, which in the middle of the 19th century was considered an engineering miracle. The statue of Nicholas I sits on a rearing horse, which in turn rests on its hind legs. Such a transfer of gravity is a risky move for a bronze sculpture of this size, but Klodt coped with his task perfectly well. It is not for nothing that the sculptor was famous for his works - sculptures of horses, the horse on St. Isaac's Square was the eleventh for the master.

A similar engineering feat had been done in the United States a few years earlier with a monument to President Andrew Jackson.
In bronze, Nicholas I was cast in his uniform of the Horse Life Guards Regiment.

The pedestal on which the monument rises can be called a separate architectural masterpiece. The graceful high reliefs of the pedestal by R. Zaleman and N. Ramazanov tell about significant events that occurred during the reign of the king.

They depict: the opening of the Verebinsky bridge, which was part of the railway connecting St. Petersburg with Moscow; a cholera riot, an uprising on Sennaya Square, cut down by Nicholas; awarding M.M. Spiransky, author of the code of laws and the Decembrist uprising in 1825.

In turn, the pedestal of the monument is decorated with four female figures personifying wisdom, strength, justice, justice. According to legend, the king's wife and three daughters served as models for the sculptures.

It is impossible not to mention the well-known St. Petersburg saying, which was based on the irresistible desire of Nicholas I to inherit Peter I and the coincidence in the location of the monuments: the statue of Nicholas I is located on the same axis as the Bronze Horseman, St. Isaac's Cathedral is located between the sculptures, the eyes of the kings are turned in one direction. The proverb says the following: “A smart fool catches up and Isaac gets in the way.” And although Nicholas I ruled Russia with firmness and justice and his merits are undeniable, the neighborhood with the Bronze Horseman played a role rather than any unpopularity of the penultimate monarch.