The Monument to the Conquerors of
Space
The Monument to the Conquerors of Space was
erected in Moscow in 1964 to celebrate achievements of the Soviet
people in space exploration. The Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics is
located inside the base of the monument.
The monument is located outside of the main
entry to today´s All-Russia Exhibition Centre (known until 1992 as
the Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy, VDNKh), in
the northeastern part of Moscow, near Prospekt Mira ("Peace
Avenue"). The easiest access is from the VDNKh subway station.
Since the 1960s, this part of Moscow in general
has had a high concentration of space-themed sights and names:
besides the monument and the museum under it, the grand "Cosmos"
pavilion in the Exhibition Centre displayed many artifacts of the
Soviet space program. Many streets in the area have been named
after the precursors of the space program (Nikolai Kibalchich,
Friedrich Zander, Yuri Kondratyuk) and its participants (Sergey
Korolyov).
The choice of this part of Moscow for
space-related names and monuments may have been inspired by the
fact that Prospekt Mira runs toward the north-eastern suburbs of
Moscow, where, in Podlipki (today´s Korolyov City) much of the
space program was based. Korolyov himself lived in a house within a
few blocks from the monument, which is now preserved as Korolyov
Memorial Museum.
In March 1958, a few months after the launch of
Sputnik 1, a competition was announced for the best design of an
obelisk celebrating the dawn of the Space Age. Out of some 350
proposals, the design by sculptor A.P. Faidysh-Krandievsky and
architects A.N. Kolchin and M.O. Barshch was chosen. The grand
opening of the monument took place on October 4, 1964, on the day
of the 7th anniversary of the Sputnik 1 launch.
The monument was designed to accommodate a
museum in its base. However, it took until April 10, 1981 (two days
before the 20th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin´s flight) to complete
the preparatory work and open the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics.
The museum reopened on April 12, 2009 after three years of
renovations.
The main part of the monument is a giant obelisk
topped by a rocket and resembling in shape the exhaust plume of the
rocket. It is 107 meters (350 feet) tall and, on Korolyov´s
suggestion, covered with titanium cladding.
A statue of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the
precursor of astronautics, is located in front of the obelisk.
Approximate translation: "And the reward for our
efforts was that, having triumphed over oppression and darkness, we
have forged wings of fire for our land and our century!"
Below, in smaller letters, is the dedicatory
statement: "This monument was constructed to celebrate the
outstanding achievements of the Soviet people in space exploration"
and the year, 1964.
Both sides of the monument base, in their front
parts, are decorated with haut- and bas-reliefs depicting men and
women of the space program: scientists, engineers, workers, their
occupations indicated by appropriate accoutrements of the
professions. Notable figures include a computer programmer (or
perhaps some other computing or telecommunications professional)
holding a punched tape, a cosmonaut wearing a space suit, and
Laika, the first space dog.
No contemporary Soviet politicians are depicted
in the monument either (that would violate the convention existing
in post-Stalin´s Soviet Union against commemorating living persons
in this fashion), but the crowd on the right side of the monument
are moving forward under the banner of Lenin.
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