The Mertsalov Palm is the oldest, but at the same time the youngest symbol of the city. It is depicted on the coat of arms of the Donetsk region and is an element of the image policy of the entire Donbass. The filigree sculpture of a palm tree, whose height is 3.5 meters, was forged from a rail at the very end of the 19th century by blacksmith Alexei Mertsalov. Palma Mertsalova is located near the building of the regional local history museum and is a copy famous image palm trees, which was awarded the Grand Prix at the Paris Industrial and international exhibition 1900. The original palm tree is kept in St. Petersburg in the Museum of the Mining Institute. This palm tree was forged from steel in 1985 at a metallurgical plant, which was called the "Novorossiysk Society of Coal Rail and Iron Production".
Mertsalov's palm was created by a rather original method - without any joints and welding. The weight of this product is about 325 kg, and the diameter of its leaves is 2.5 meters. There are 10 leaves around the trunk of a palm tree. The leaves of this palm tree are slightly springy, although they are made of steel and form one single whole with the trunk. The top ends with a whisk. For this palm tree, a tub was created, consisting of four rail racks, and 23 rings were laid around them, which at that time symbolized the age of the plant. To create this sculpture, Mertsalov, who worked simply from a postcard and had never seen real palm trees, took total just three weeks.
On August 17, 1999, the Mertsalov palm was proclaimed a symbol of Donbass on the initiative of one of the charitable foundations and approved by the city council as a real key element of the coat of arms of the Donetsk region.
Palm is a family of tree-like plants of the monocotyledonous class. The area of natural distribution of palm trees is the tropics and subtropics. On the territory of Ukraine, they are found only in the Crimea. The palm tree is considered the embodiment of wealth and superiority.
Donetsk has nothing to do with the tropics. And there is a palm tree on the coat of arms of the Donetsk region. This logic puzzle confuses all outside observers. In order to understand how the southern plant became a symbol of the coal region, a special explanation is required.
Palms of Ilya Ilf
It is believed that after the labor feat of the blacksmith Mertsalov, the very concept of "palm tree" from the Donetsk chronicles disappears until the 90s. But this is absolutely not true. At the turn of the 20s and 30s, the concepts of "palm tree" and "Donetsk" were combined by the legendary satirist Ilya Ilf. In one of these years, he wrote a feuilleton about the poor supply of Donbass with consumer goods. The palm tree appeared in his feuilleton as something completely unnecessary and alien to the mining region. We quote: “For some reason, organizations are convinced that the Donbass is a most fertile land, and there are palm trees in the Donbass ... the sun, the sun, the sun! ... They don’t even suspect that it is winter in the Donbass. Cooperatives are littered with children's naval suits - children's, naval, but summer! And, undoubtedly, ... they will start shipping to Donbass bathing panties, sunscreen "Line" and soap against freckles!”
Hardly knowing anything about Mertsalov's palm, Ilf intuitively chose the image of a tropical plant as the most a prime example"non-Donbas". For a person not familiar with the history of the region, this was quite natural. In the same way, a person who judges Odessa based on the popular tales and songs of Rosenbaum is inclined to consider Moldavanka a gangster nest, although in fact it is an old proletarian district. In general, Ilf's feuilleton turned out to be the purest experiment of rejection. A palm tree in Donetsk was impossible for him. As, probably, for Mertsalov, when he came up with some amazing wonder for the Nizhny Novgorod exhibition.
The palm view in Ilf's work was unearthed by the famous Donetsk researcher Vyacheslav Verkhovsky. He even contacted the satirist's daughter Alexandra Ilyinichnaya and found out that the manuscript with the feuilleton was in the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art. Knowing the purposefulness and meticulousness of Verkhovsky, I can assume that this story will continue.
PR project by Konstantin Vorobyov
In the meantime, Mertsalov's palm stood quietly at the Mining Institute of St. Petersburg, where it was placed after the triumphant Paris exhibition. About Mertsalov himself, as they say, the chickens did not whisper - despite the change in the social structure and the immoderate love of the new government for blacksmiths and other transformers of reality. The palm was called "Yuzovskaya", treated with respect, but the name of the master was considered lost forever. If not for the engineer Konstantin Yakovlevich Zakharenkov, we might have really lost the blacksmith Mertsalov. But this selfless man in 1953 found Philip Fedotovich Shkarin, still quite alive, at our metallurgical plant, who told him the whole truth. Shkarin's words were confirmed by Zakharenkova and other workers. In general, the name of Mertsalov (who died in 1935) was returned to the people.
The Pravda Ukrainy newspaper of March 4, 1953 wrote about this: “In the museum of the Leningrad Mining Institute there is a large palm tree forged from a rail. It was donated to the Mining Institute in 1896 after the closure of the All-Russian Industrial and art exhibition held in Nizhny Novgorod. Foreman of the blacksmith shop of the plant named after Stalin (Stalino), seventy-four-year-old F.F. Shkarin tells the story of the manufacture of this palm tree. In 1896, the plant was preparing for the All-Russian Exhibition. The famous blacksmith Alexei Ivanovich Mertsalov, for whom Shkarin worked as a hammer, forged a palm tree from a piece of railway rail in three weeks. The palm tree, about three meters high, was finished by locksmiths in a machine shop. Soviet people resurrected the memory of a talented Russian craftsman”
Palm trees in the city
So, the main palm tree of Donetsk stands under a hood opposite the Expo-Donbass exhibition complex. Another copy (it was made from Damascus steel by blacksmith Yevgeny Yermak in 2007) can be seen at the beginning of Pushkin Boulevard, near the regional state administration building. There are no other copies. But in general, palm trees are scattered throughout the city.
They grow in the Donetsk Botanical Garden. Last winter there was even a small sensation: for the first time in all the years of the existence of this institution, the banana palm bore fruit. Expert explanation - global warming. It is likely that all this will end with the fact that palm trees on the banks of the Kalmius will grow instead of reeds.
In the very center of Petrovka, I found three palm trees at once. True, they are not alive, but plastic, and installed in a drinking establishment along Petrovsky Street. The institution is called “Three Palms”.
I saw a living, albeit modest, palm tree on the balcony of house number 69 (or 71, I don’t remember exactly) on the Avenue of the Fallen Communards.
Finally, I saw an artistic, although amateur, image of a palm tree in the very center of the city - on the wall of a house in the courtyard along Krasnoarmeyskaya Street.
Of course, the listed finds are far from all that are available in the city. All this indicates that the palm tree is deeply rooted in the culture and life of Donetsk. It's easy to predict further growth number of palm trees in our territory up to perfect abundance. In the end, becoming more tropical in this way, Donetsk will establish itself as a city, full of surprises. And them, so that you have no doubt, we have them at every step ...
The Mertsalov Palm is an image of a palm tree that was awarded the Grand Prix at the 1900 Paris International Industrial Exhibition. It was forged from steel at the end of the 19th century by the blacksmith Alexei Mertsalov and his assistant Fyodor Shparin, a hammerer. Before the unique work was delivered abroad, it was presented at the All-Russian Industrial Exhibition, held in Nizhny Novgorod, where the Mertsalov palm received a rather high appreciation from both specialists and artists. The general public also liked it.
The palm tree is made of one rail, and its trunk carries 10 leaves and ends with a rim at the top. The height of the authentic piece of art is 3.53 meters.
The only tools the blacksmiths used were a hammer and a chisel. The palm tree amazes the audience with its height, amazing grace, and harmony. Donetsk masters of blacksmithing have always amazed their contemporaries with their skills. Blacksmithing is one of the oldest crafts of all mankind.
Artistic forging on the territory of Ukraine was widely used already in the 7th century BC in the Black Sea region. Forged metal was used in architecture during the times of power Kievan Rus. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that the blacksmiths Mertsalov and Shparin from Donetsk won the hearts of French visitors to the exhibition in Paris with their magnificent product.
Original by Palma Mertsalov
The original "Mertsalov's Palms" on this moment kept in the Museum of the Mining Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia. The author of modern copies is the Donetsk blacksmith Sergei Kaspruk. The image of the "Mertsalov's Palm" is accepted as a symbol of the revival of the whole of Ukraine - a powerful and independent industrial state. There is also a project to install copies of the Mertsalov's Palm in various capitals of the leading countries of the world. Currently, work in this direction is being carried out in 70 states.
Copies of Palma Mertsalov
A copy of Mertsalov's Palm was installed by scuba divers under water near Cape Tarkhankut in the Crimea. It was also installed on September 12, 1999 on an area about exhibition center"Expo-Donbass" in Donetsk. As part of the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Donetsk region, another copy of the Mertsalov Palm was installed on Pushkin Boulevard near the building of the Donetsk regional state administration in 2007. This copy of a palm tree is forged from Damascus steel and is located between the bowls of the fountains.
In 2001, a copy of the Mertsalov's Palm was installed in Moscow as part of the Days of Donbass. In response, the capital Russian Federation gave the city of Donetsk a copy of the Tsar Cannon.
Also in 2001, a copy of the palm tree was installed in Kyiv, in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. It was planned to erect a monument on Maidan Nezalezhnosti, however, the palm tree was eventually moved to shopping mall"Globe". In response, Kyiv presented the capital of Donbass with a statue of Archangel Michael. In Lvov, a copy of Mertsalov's Palm was installed on the railway station square in May 2003. And on April 10, 2003, it was also installed in Hannover, Germany, in the central hall of the exhibition complex.
In conclusion, it must be said that on August 17, 1999, at the session of the Donetsk Regional Council, the emblem of the Donetsk region was approved, which includes the Mertsalov Palm as the main symbol.
Book a hotel in Donetsk near Mertsalov's Palm
To get acquainted with the sights of Donetsk, in particular with Mertsalov's Palm, you will need to settle somewhere. Especially for you, below are Donetsk hotels, divided into three categories: popular hotels, luxury hotels and cheap hotels. Here you can book a room in a Donetsk hotel in advance in accordance with your wishes and financial capabilities. For your convenience, here is information about the location of hotels relative to the city center, as well as the number of stars.
Simply select the hotel you like by clicking on the "View Hotel" button. Next, you will find yourself on a page where you can book a hotel. There is also more detailed information about it, reviews, ratings, photos, location on the map, features and, of course, prices.
If you wish to see other hotels, you can simply select the city "Donetsk" from above, and you will see a list of all Donetsk hotels available for booking.
What do you think is depicted on the coat of arms of the Donetsk region? Mines? Waste heaps? Coal? Sea of Azov? We bet you never guess! On official symbol The Donetsk region of Ukraine depicts a tree that has never grown here - a palm tree.
On August 17, 1999, the Donetsk Regional Council approved the coat of arms with the following content:
In a golden field on a black concave tip, an azure palm tree. The shield is crowned with a golden stylized crown of chestnut leaves, and framed by a wreath of green oak branches, intertwined with a purple ribbon with the motto: "Possibility brought to action" (in Russian "Possibility is proved by deed").
The central figure of the coat of arms - "Mertsalov's palm tree" - represents "the industrial potential of the Donetsk region and the palm of the Donetsk region in industry." Crown and wreath oak leaves"are a sign of territorial division with regional significance." The golden field of the shield symbolizes wealth, power and abundance. The black tip symbolizes coal deposits.
Palma Mertsalova - forged from a rail in late XIX century by the blacksmith Alexei Ivanovich Mertsalov with his assistant-hammer Philip Fedotovich Shkarin, the image of a palm tree, awarded the Grand Prix at the Paris International Industrial Exhibition of 1900.
The story is like this.
The blacksmith of the metallurgical plant of the Novorossiysk Society decided to forge a palm tree without welding and joints from a whole piece of rail. The product was created in commercial purposes, as an advertisement for the production of rail and coal products. The palm tree was created as an exhibit for the All-Russian Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod. The rail was chosen as the source material for advertising purposes, as the main product of the Novorossiysk Society of Coal, Iron and Rail Production.
In 1895, Mertsalov, together with his assistant Philip Shkarin, created a real masterpiece in three weeks: a palm tree with leaves that moved, despite the fact that they were one with the trunk. By the way, Mertsalov never saw real palm trees and created his masterpiece by looking at a postcard. The palm tree came out 3 meters in height, weighed 325 kilograms, the diameter of the sheets was 2.5 meters. There are ten leaves around the trunk. In addition to the palm tree itself, the craftsmen forged a 200-kilogram base tub from four rail racks. Around them are laid 23 rings, symbolizing the "age" of the plant. Hammer and chisel are the only tools used by blacksmiths.
At the All-Russian Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod in 1896, Palma Mertsalova received the highest award, and in 1900 it was shown at the World Industrial Exhibition in Paris, where the palm tree was awarded the highest award - the Grand Prix. Today, the original palm tree is kept in the Museum of the Mining Institute of St. Petersburg. And in Donetsk, two copies were installed - on the territory of the Expodonbass Exhibition Center and on Pushkin Boulevard near the regional state administration.
The image of Mertsalov's palm, at the initiative of the Donetsk Regional Fund "Golden Skif", was adopted as a symbol of the revival of Ukraine - an independent and powerful industrial state. There is a project of the same name to install copies of Mertsalov's palm in the capitals of the leading countries of the world. This project is working in 70 countries. There is also a project “Donbass on the highest points of the planet Earth”, within the framework of which climbers of the Donetsk Regional Federation of Mountaineering and Sports Tourism raise a small copy of a palm tree to the tops of the mountains, and then transfer it to the embassies of the countries on whose territory the ascent was made. In 2001-2004, climbers climbed 7 the highest peaks world - Elbrus, Aconcagua, McKinley, Kilimanjaro, Chomolungma, Wilhelm, Vinson. The copies raised by climbers are half a meter long and weigh three kilograms.
There are copies of a palm tree in Kyiv, Lvov, Moscow, in an underwater grotto on Cape Tarkhankut in Chudesnaya Bay (Crimea), in Ottawa, Hanover, Jerusalem, Kharkov, Iraq.
The other day, on the sidelines of the blacksmith's festival, a conversation arose about Mertsalov's Palm. Despite the fact that this wonderful example of blacksmithing was written about many times, it turned out that many people do not know Interesting Facts about the iron tree.
“Website about metal” responded to the voiced wish: “I wish I could read it in detail somewhere!” and, without pretending to be a completely complete presentation of the facts, he will try to tell as much as possible about the palm itself and its authors.
Palma Mertsalova
The image of a palm tree, forged from steel at the end of the 19th century by the blacksmith Alexei Ivanovich Mertsalov with his assistant-hammer Philip Fedorovich Shkarin, is quite widely known as Mertsalov's Palm.
The height of the palm tree is 3 meters 53 centimeters. At the top of the palm is a corolla, and ten leaves around the trunk. The leaves are springy, although they are forged from steel and are integral with the trunk. A tub was also forged for the palm tree, which consists of four reinforced rail racks, around which twenty-three metal rings of different sections are laid. The number of rings corresponded to the age of the plant - 23 years. A palm tree weighs 325 kilograms, and a tub - 200. The rail was chosen as the starting material for the manufacture of palm trees for advertising purposes, as the main product of the Novorossiysk Society of Coal, Iron and Rail Production. The palm tree was made at the end of 1895. It is believed that Mertsalov took three weeks to create it.
Mertsalov's Palm is stored in the Museum of St. Petersburg Mining University. Some sources claim that the work was awarded the Grand Prix at the Paris International Industrial Exhibition of 1900, however, a number of local historians who have specifically studied this issue authoritatively state that they know nothing about documents that could confirm this fact.
However, the very name Mertsalov's Palm in 1900 could not sound. The plant belonged to the industrialist John Hughes, and the palm tree, like the plant, was mentioned as Yuzovsky. From such a name, a legend even appeared that the owner of the plant conceived and implemented this work himself. Perhaps John Hughes did not shy away self made, however, any blacksmith understands how much time he would have to work in the forge to complete work of this level. So the Welsh industrialist could at best have the idea, which in itself is not a small thing.
Actually, the city itself, the current Donetsk, was called Yuzovka, so the name for the palm tree “grown” here was quite appropriate.
In the early 30s, an engineer of the former Yuzovsky, and later the Stalin Metallurgical Plant (ultimately the Donetsk Metallurgical Plant) began to ask old workers who exactly made outstanding work. It was then that the names of Alekchey Mertsalov and Philip Shkarin were restored. And the palm tree sometimes began to be called "mertsalovsky".
Alexey Ivanovich Mertsalov. Drawing by Donetsk artist A. Vasilenko from a photo of 1913 Alexey Mertsalov was born in 1856 (some sources indicate 1853).
In 1878 he began working at the Yuzovsky plant.
The fame of Alexei Mertsalov is associated with the famous steel rail palm tree made by him in 1895, together with the hammerer Philip Shkarin.
The palm tree was made specifically for the Nizhny Novgorod exhibition to demonstrate the quality of products manufactured by the Yuzovsky plant.
Alexei Ivanovich Mertsalov passed away on August 1, 1935 (some sources indicate 1931).
Hammer fighter Filipp Shkarin
Filipp Fedotovich Shkarin - blacksmith, master of the blacksmith shop at the Donetsk (Yuzovsky) metallurgical plant. He began working at the Yuzovsky Metallurgical Plant in 1895 at the age of seventeen. Philip Shkarin took part in the work on the famous Yuzovsky palm tree (Mertsalov's Palm) as an assistant-hammer for the blacksmith Alexei Mertsalov.
Philip Shkarin was born on January 21, 1879.
In 1897, Philip Shkarin was transferred to the blacksmiths.
He worked as a foreman in the forge shop of the DMZ until the 1950s.
Brief stories about blacksmithing masterpiece
There are several versions of how a plant atypical for the flora of the region “took root” in the Donbass and how the idea of creating a palm tree from a rail arose. Let's start with the official one.
In 1895, the Donetsk plant of John Hughes (later - DMZ) was preparing for the Nizhny Novgorod exhibition, to which craftsmen brought their achievements from all over Russia. The success of the robots presented at such an exhibition, as a rule, guaranteed orders to the enterprise for long years, so it was for the sake of surprising visitors. In the shops of the metallurgical plant, which had worked by that time for about a quarter of a century, metal was forged, poured, and bent.
In 1900, a palm tree forged from rail steel was presented at the International Industrial Exhibition in Paris, where the exhibit amazed the sophisticated French public.
An unofficial, romantic version says that the idea of creating a palm tree was born in the tavern of the Great Britain Hotel, where the blacksmith Mertsalov rested with a German colleague. They argued which of them was better at using the hammer. There was a palm tree in the lobby of the establishment, and it became the subject of a dispute, which Alexei Mertsalov won by turning the rail into a work of art. And the palm tree, in confirmation of the skill of the Donetsk craftsman, subsequently received the highest award at the Nizhny Novgorod exhibition in 1896, and then - the Grand Prix of the exhibition in Paris (1900).
In another version, Yuz instructed Alexei Mertsalov to do something that would surprise everyone. The master was looking for an idea to implement, and drew attention to an elegant tropical tree. Some argue that it stood not far from the table at which the worker was resting, while others are sure that he saw it through the window of the restaurant, and the worker could not have money to visit such establishments.
Here is how the Kharkiv magazine Gornozavodskoy Listok wrote about the unique robot of the Donetsk craftsman:
“The palm tree is made from a single rail. Its trunk carries ten leaves but ends with a rim at the top. The height of a genuine artistic product is 3 m 530 mm. Hammer and chisel are the only tools used by blacksmiths."
In another newspaper of that time there is such an assessment:
“The palm tree amazes the audience with its height, harmony, amazing grace. Its dark, dissected leaves, spreading like a fan from the trunk, were light, and the thin, rough trunk was so flexible that at first it was hard to believe that this was not a living plant taken from the Caucasian coast, but the finest work of art. Everyone wanted to touch her with their hands.”
WITH light hand journalists who reported that “the palm tree is made of one rail”, and “hammer and chisel are the only tools”, legends appeared that still exist. However, this unique artwork worthy of legend being told about her.
Rebirth of a legend
The palm tree, forged from a rail, attracted the attention of heraldists, who were developing the coat of arms of the region, not by chance. Since ancient times, the palm tree has been considered a universal symbol of primacy and success. In addition, the tradition of celebrating the winners with a palm branch has existed since Ancient Greece. The Order of the Palm Branch is the official award of France, the Palme d'Or is presented at the Cannes Film Festival.
At the end of the 20th century, this symbol of success, the embodiment of which almost sunk into oblivion, became a confirmation of the fact that nothing is impossible for the Donbass, and even palm trees can “grow” here from metal. It is worth noting that few people knew about Mertsalov's palm by this time, since after its return from Paris, it was sent to the Mining and Geological Institute of St. Petersburg, where it is still stored today. At the same time, allegedly one of the sheets broke off during delivery and was fixed with rivets. In fact, the sheet did not break off. It was cut off in order to bring the product into the room. Since the museum building itself represents architectural value, then they did not break the walls. We decided to cut off the sheet, which was already welded inside. This fact is recorded by the relevant act, which is also stored in the museum.
Later, after establishing historical value, attempts were made to return the rarity to their homeland, but they were unsuccessful. So the Donetsk blacksmiths had to make a copy of the work of a compatriot.
In August 1998, the blacksmiths of the Gefest enterprise made palm trees based on the work of Alexei Mertsalov. Two small “copies” were donated to the mayors of Donetsk and Bochum, who just had a meeting on the occasion of the 10th anniversary since the two cities became sister cities.
Later, for the Donetsk blacksmith Sergey Kaspruk, the reconstruction of a century-old masterpiece became the most important image work. The desire to create something elegant out of industrial metal was born by Sergey Kaspruk from the time he studied blacksmithing. Therefore, the opportunity to forge an exact copy of Mertsalov's palm was to my liking.
To get closer to the rarity, and the workpiece was looking for the appropriate one. At the mine "Lidievskaya" there were rails marked Yu.V.Zh.D. 1901, which were subsequently used as source material. None of Mertsalov's secrets were known, so Sergei Kaspruk had to invent his own tricks, which were somewhat different from those of his predecessor.
Sergey Kaspruk spent three and a half months, together with his son Oleg and fellow craftsmen, to make a palm tree from a rail. For comparison: Mertsalov, who was helped by the workers of almost the entire plant, forged a palm tree in three weeks. In order to understand the uniqueness and complexity of the project, let's give one figure - during the work on the palm, the blacksmiths made about 10 thousand heatings. Kaspruk believes that he made the task more difficult and even surpassed Mertsalov a little, but he does not detract from the dignity of the original author at all: they simply used a different path.
An exact copy of Mertsalov's Palm was installed in Donetsk on the square near the Expo-Donbass exhibition center on September 12, 1999.
The image of the "Mertsalov's Palm" on the initiative of the Donetsk Regional Fund "Golden Scythian" was adopted as a symbol of the revival of Ukraine - an independent and powerful industrial state. There was a project to establish copies (in this context, the word “copy” should not be taken literally) of the Mertsalov Palms in the capitals of the leading countries of the world. The work was carried out in more than 70 countries of the world.
Scuba divers installed a copy of the "Mertsalov's Palm" under water at Cape Tarkhankut in the Crimea.
On August 17, 1999, following the results of a competition at the session of the Donetsk Regional Council, the coat of arms of the Donetsk region was approved, which includes the Mertsalov palm tree as the main symbol.
In 2001, a copy of the Mertsalov's Palm was installed in Kyiv, on the territory of the Holy Dormition Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. It was planned that the monument would be installed on Independence Square, but the palm tree was moved to the Globus shopping center. Kyiv, in response, presented Donetsk with a statue of Archangel Michael.
In September 2001, as part of the Days of Donbass in Moscow, Manezhnaya Square(TC " Okhotny Ryad”), a copy of the Mertsalov Palm was installed. Moscow in return gave Donetsk a copy of the Tsar Cannon.
In December 2002, a copy of Mertsalov's Palm was donated to Ottawa.
On April 10, 2003, a copy of the Mertsalov Palm was installed in Hannover. Place of installation - the central hall of the Hannover exhibition complex.
In Lvov, a copy of Mertsalov's Palm was installed in May 2003 at the station square.
In 2004, a copy of the palm tree was installed at the Borispol airport, it was planned that it would then be transferred to one of the air shows in Le Bourget.
As part of the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Donetsk region in the summer of 2007, another version of Mertsalov's palm was installed in Donetsk. It is located on Pushkin Boulevard near the building of the Donetsk Regional State Administration. The palm tree is forged from Damascus steel and stands between two bowls of fountains. The weight of the copy is about 500 kilograms.
