Monument to the defenders of fortress and the commander Olexii Kelin

What? - Monument to the defenders of the Poltava fortress and the commander of the fortress, Colonel Kelin

Description

It was installed during the pompous celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Poltava on June 26, 1909, on the site of the Masurian mine of the former Poltava fortress. The authors of the project are well-known artists - O. Bilderling and A. Ober. The monument is a composition of a cube and a rectangular prism, made of separate blocks of granite on a base of granite ledges. A figure of a bronze lion is placed on the pedestal on the front side, and on the other three sides there are natural depths of granite. Above the lion is the coat of arms of Poltava province. In the authentic version of the monument, the obelisk was crowned by a bronze figure of a double-headed eagle, which was dismantled in 1921.

The basis for determining the location of the monument was the cartographic sources of the beginning of the 18th century and the "Diary of the Battle of Poltava" by the writer Peter Kriokshin, who in the 40s of the 18th century created a heroic epic about the defense of Poltava by the Moscow garrison.

A bronze plaque with a memorial inscription informs about the so-called three-month heroic defense of Poltava. It is also noted that on June 21-22 "the last brutal assaults were repulsed by valiant Poltava soldiers." The letter of O. Kelin to O. Menshikov dated June 21, 1709 and the diary of the Swedish ensign R. Petre refute this. Historical sources also indicate that it was a siege of the fortress by the allied Swedish-Ukrainian army, which lasted from May 1 to June 27, 1709, they do not contain information about the active participation of local residents in the "heroic defense" of the city.

The monument is a kind of landmark of the fortress boundaries, because it is located on the site of Poltava fortifications during the siege of the city in 1709, where the fighting took place.

It is part of the Complex of Monuments "Field of the Battle of Poltava" (CMU Resolution of September 3, 2009 No. 928 "On the Entry of Cultural Heritage Objects of National Importance into the State Register of Immovable Monuments of Ukraine", security number 160009-Н). It is a monument of history and monumental art.

Date1909

Speciality

There is a belief used by residents and guests of the city: you need at least a minute to hold the lion's tail and mouth at the same time, then the plan will come true.

Where to findPershotravnevyi Avenue, 18