The Chesme Column in Tsarskoye Selo

Tsarskoye Selo

Tsarskoye Selo is the town containing a former Russian residence of the imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the center of St. Petersburg. It is now part of the town of Pushkin and of the World Heritage Site Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments.-History:In...

 commemorates three Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n naval victories in the Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774

Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774

The Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 was a decisive conflict that brought Southern Ukraine, Northern Caucasus, and Crimea within the orbit of the Russian Empire.-Background:...

, specifically the Battle of Chesma

Battle of Chesma

The naval Battle of Chesma took place on 5 -7 July 1770 near and in Çeşme Bay, in the area between the western tip of Anatolia and the island of Chios, which was the site of a number of past naval battles between the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice...

. It was constructed in the Large Pond of the Landscape Park of the Catherine Palace

Catherine Palace

The Catherine Palace was the Rococo summer residence of the Russian tsars, located in the town of Tsarskoye Selo , 25 km south-east of St. Petersburg, Russia.- History :...

 to Rinaldi's designs over the years 1774-78. The column should not be confused with the Chesme Obelisk in Gatchina

Gatchina

Gatchina is a town and the administrative center of Gatchinsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located south of St. Petersburg by the road leading to Pskov...

.

The monument is a Doric

Doric order

The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...

 rostral column

Rostral column

A rostral column is a type of victory column, originating in ancient Greece and Rome where they were erected to commemorate a naval military victory. Traditionally, rostra — the prows or rams of captured ships — were mounted on the columns...

 of white-and-pink marble, decorated with ship bows rostra

Roster

A roster is a list of names of people involved with an organization of some kind.A roster can be a list of people and the times when they are required to work or a list of students in a classroom....

 and crowned by a bronze figure of an eagle (symbol of Russia) trampling a crescent (symbol of Turkey). The column stands on a red marble pedestal lined with bronze bas-reliefs illustrating the Russian victories: these were destroyed by the Germans during the World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and subsequently restored from old photographs. The pedestal rests on a stepped pyramid

Pyramid

A pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a single point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least three triangular surfaces...

-like granite platform.

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