In the ensemble of the Strelka of Vasilievsky Island, designed by the French architect J.F. Thomas de Thomon included two rostral lighthouse columns. The architect worked for a long time and carefully on the perfection of the proportions of the columns. Rostrum (translated from Latin means "beak") was called the prow of the ship. In ancient Rome, it was customary to celebrate victories at sea with columns that were decorated with the bows of captured enemy ships.
Rostral columns appeared on the spit of Vasilyevsky Island in 1810. One of them was a beacon for ships on the Malaya Neva, the other pointed the way to the Bolshaya Neva. Lighthouses were lit at night and in fog, and served until 1885.
Rostral columns are a monument to Russia's naval glory. The columns, built of Pudozh stone, reach a height of thirty-two meters. Inside the columns is a spiral staircase. A metal tripod holding a bowl-lamp is located on the top platform of each column.
Bright orange torches on the rostral columns (in 1957 gas was brought to the bowls) are lit on holidays and celebrations in St. Petersburg. 
The rostral columns are decorated with rostra. At the bottom of the column is the largest pair of rostra, fortified so that one bow of the ship faces the Neva, the other - the Birzha. The rostra is decorated with the figure of a naiad (river deity). The second pair is located perpendicular to the first, they are decorated with a crocodile head, seahorses and fish. The rostra of the third pair is decorated with the head of a merman, and the fourth, the topmost pair, is decorated with images of seahorses. At the foot of the rostral columns there are monumental statues: two male and two female figures sitting, symbolizing the Russian rivers - the Volga, Dnieper, Volkhov and Neva. 
The statues were made according to the models of the French sculptors I. Cumberlain and J. Thibaut, whom Thomon knew well. Initially, Thomas de Thomon wanted the statues of the rivers to be cast iron, but this idea had to be abandoned.
Triumphal lighthouse columns were created with the participation of the legendary stonemason S.K. Sukhanov, a native of the poor peasants of the Vologda province. At that time he collaborated with the best architects of St. Petersburg, but then went bankrupt and died in obscurity.
It is noteworthy that the design and construction work associated with rostral columns was constantly under the control of the Council of the Academy of Arts, headed by the great architect A.D. Zakharov. Everything was discussed - both the practical purpose and the artistic appearance. This speaks of the great importance attached to these structures. Rostral columns, powerful in volume and expressive in silhouette, color and proportions, stand out clearly against the sky and are clearly visible from distant perspectives.
In the course of work on the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island, it was raised by adding soil to avoid flooding with the waters of the Neva. In addition, the Neva was “pushed back” by about a hundred meters. In winter, thousands of people gathered on the ice in front of the arrow, organized festivities, sledge races.
Rostral columns on the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island were erected in 1810. The columns are part of the large Strelka ensemble, which has been taking shape for over a hundred years.
However, the foundation of this ensemble (the Stock Exchange building and the Rostral Columns) was laid at the beginning of the 19th century by the French architect Thomas de Thomon.
Unlike the Chesme and Moreya columns in Tsarskoe Selo, the Rostral columns on the Strelka are not a monument to a specific naval victory, but are a symbol of the triumph of the Russian fleet, both military and commercial.
In addition to an important decorative role in the creation of the Strelka ensemble, the columns also had a purely practical significance. They were beacons that were lit at night, and when fog was creeping over the Neva. One of them showed the way for the passage of ships along the Malaya Neva, the other illuminated the path along the Bolshaya Neva.
This is the common version about the purpose of the columns. But not everyone agrees with her. Some historians point out that lighthouses are rarely placed on the banks of rivers, especially in the center of a big city.
How to know? Located on arrow* in an area with a difficult climate and a wayward river, lighthouses might not have been useless? But this is nothing more than the thoughts of an amateur.* - the place of confluence, or separation of two streams of water.
One way or another, in 1885 the port on the Strelka ceased to exist, and the Rostral columns ceased to serve as lighthouses, even if they were.
The stylized rosters of ships became the decoration of the powerful columns. True, unlike the Roman triumphal columns, which carried the prows of real defeated ships, the rostras on the St. Petersburg columns are conditional.
The lower rosters are decorated with figures of mermaids with wings.
The rostra located on the second “tier” is decorated with the head of an animalThe third pair is decorated with the head of a sea god, or water god. The uppermost rosters cut the St. Petersburg sky with seahorses
The Doric order, which Thomas de Thomon chose to create the Rostral Columns, most of all corresponded to the idea of the power of the Russian MARINE state. This order is the most strict, courageous (if I may say so) and powerful. While working on the ensemble of the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island, Thomas de Thomon was not satisfied with the only option, and with each new project the proportions and decor of the Rostral columns changed.
Andreyan Zakharov, a Russian architect who helped in the search for the optimal solution, wrote:
The columns (height 32 meters) are made of Pudost stone, plastered, and painted in dark red (brick) color. Inside the columns, a spiral staircase leads to the upper platform, on which there are lamps in the form of tripods with bowls in which burning wicks burned. First these were resin torches, later they tried to replace the resin with hemp oil, but when burning, the oil threw out a lot of fiery splashes, which was unsafe.
With the advent of electricity, there was an attempt (1896) to connect powerful lamps to lamps, but this method turned out to be too expensive. And he was rejected "because of the great expense." In 1957, when a large-scale gasification of the city began in Leningrad, gas was brought to the Rostral columns. Since then, powerful burners on the days of major holidays throw seven-meter fiery jets into the St. Petersburg sky. At the foot of the Rostral columns there are four figures made of Pudost stone. Initially, it was supposed to cast iron sculptures, but the work turned out to be too complicated for that time. Models were made according to the models of the sculptors I. Kamberlen and J. Thibaut, and the famous master Samson Sukhanov carved four figures from them, which have been sitting at the foot of the columns for more than a century. Who do these stone inmates represent?
Most often, tourists are told that these are symbols of the rivers - the Volga, Dnieper, Neva and Volkhov. But this is nothing more than a popular version. Firstly, only two figures have the obligatory attributes of rivers (vessels with flowing water). In addition, Thomas de Thomon himself wrote:
Urban folklore has its own version. According to one of the legends explaining the name of Vasilyevsky Island, a certain fisherman Vasily and his wife Vasilisa lived here at the time of the ona. Tradition says that it was this married couple who gave the name to the island.
The same folklore claims that it was these old-timers who settled comfortably at the foot of the Rostral Columns, guarding their beloved island.
The Great Patriotic War was also noted on the Rostral Columns: the decorations were pierced by fragments and heavily rusted. In 1947-1948, metal decorations were replaced with duplicates. The sculptures have also been restored.
In my student past (I studied at the Civil Engineering Institute) there was a subject “History of Architecture”. I can't say that the future engineers knew the history of the city well, and you can't get away from the offset. Someone taught, and someone tried to grab the facts on the go. I remember this conversation:
— And why are the columns Rostral?
- Yes, Rastrelli built them!
- No, it's because they were shot near them)))
And modern youth calls them "torches".
However, no jokes prevent the Rostral Columns from being one of the recognizable symbols of St. Petersburg.
Where to look:
Vasilyevsky Island, Birzhevaya Square
Nearest metro stations: Sports, Admiralteyskaya
© Elena Astashkevich, blog I am a Petersburger
The role of a detail is not constant even in one separate national architecture, in one style or another. It is known that on the way of its development, each style goes through three stages: constructive, tectonic and decorative. At the first stage, the role of details is not great, since the architecture is quite utilitarian, close to pure construction. At the second, tectonic stage, an amazing fusion of the general and the particular appears, the details cannot be separated from the volume, they are so harmoniously combined, working together on the overall image of the structure.
Details are drawn here with particular precision and sophistication. Such, for example, is the architecture of ancient Greece of the era of the High Classics. The third period is characterized by the predominance of the decorative beginning, when the effect is achieved not by the refined harmony of form and detail, but by the number of decorative elements used. What was the basis of expressiveness in the tectonic period (for Greece, these are order systems), as a result of all the transformations, becomes just a decor used to decorate buildings. In accordance with this, the drawing of individual details also changes. At the same time, the architectural order is one of the most amazing inventions of mankind. It turned out to be such a universal language of architecture that it has been used in architecture for almost three thousand years. During this time, its image has been transformed many times, but the original semantic meaning of the elements remains unchanged.
The capital is the top of a column. The column, which we habitually perceive as one of the main parts of the architectural order, comes from the simplest support - a wooden pole dug into the ground. The appearance of a primitive post-beam system, which originally consisted of round logs, was the first revolution in construction (it happened back in the Neolithic). The revolutionary nature of the design was that the bearing elements were separated in this system from the crowning (carried). At the junction of the rack and beam, an intermediate element was placed - a board or a piece of wood. Later, when in ancient Greece an order was born from a utilitarian wooden structure - a system expressing in an artistic form the essence of the work of a post-and-beam structure, a capital occupied the place between the pillar and the beam. The capital shows how the load is transferred from the beam to the supporting column. It is for this perception that all its forms are designed.
Let's learn how to depict a Doric capital according to the idea.
The drawing of the capital does not imply a complete absence of nature, the same applies to the vase and bionics. These bodies are so complex that students may simply not have the level of spatial thinking to imagine their shape in all details. On the other hand, having drawn these objects from life, the student is quite able to do this work according to the idea. The very nature of this task forces us to turn to the drawing of the capital according to the idea. Experience shows that when students draw a capital from life, measuring its proportions, sketching details, an error usually creeps into the work. To avoid it, you must first draw the facade of the capital, and then, through the construction of ellipses, go to the volume, which, in its methodology, is closer just to a drawing from a representation than to drawing from life.
Start your drawing by analyzing the capitals (Figure 8.6). Its main volume is a round symmetrical shape with a common vertical axis. The upper part of the capital - echin - a quarter of the shaft, can be represented as a ball and a cylinder at the same time. Echin mates with the cylindrical neck of the column through three successively decreasing belts (thin cylinders). Astragalus, consisting of a roller and a shelf, passes into the column shaft through a twist. The trunk of the column has a thinning upwards and can be represented both as a cylinder (in the lower part of the column) and as a truncated cone. The trunk is decorated with twenty long grooves, semicircular in plan, - flutes, which have semicircular ends. The upper part of the capital is square in terms of abacus (abacus) - a plate (rectangular prism) with a heel and a shelf.
The basis of the drawing will be the frontal projection of the capital. Mark on the sheet its main dimensions, draw the upper ellipse of the echinus and describe the square of the abacus around it. Determine the dimensions corresponding to the main parts of the capital (Fig. 8.7). Draw to the end the frontal projection and draw ellipses on the horizontal axes corresponding to the main articulations of the capital (Fig. 8.8). Draw small details of the capital. The plan of the column shaft will help you correctly depict the flutes. The points transferred from the plan to the perspective image require minor correction, taking into account perspective cuts (Fig. 8.9). Revealing the shape of the capital by means of chiaroscuro, use the knowledge about the nature of chiaroscuro on simple geometric shapes (Fig. 8.10).
Lesson summary
productive activity
application "Rostral columns"
Educator: Prusik T.G.
Purpose: To expand the knowledge of children about the sights of their native city.
Objectives: To give an idea of the Rostral Columns.
Learn to create subject images from nature.
Fix the technique of tearing paper and gluing.
Learn how to mosaic.
Equipment and materials: Interactive whiteboard, templates, colored paper, glue, wet wipes, paper napkins.
Preliminary work: Making the album "Walking around the city", reading the work about St. Petersburg "Wonderful City" by A. K. Ermolaev, I. M. Lebedev.
Lesson progress:
Q: - Guys today we will go on an exciting journey to
Magic river tram.
Q: We love our city very much.
The city shines over the Neva,
Or rains knocking on the window -
We love him anyway
We live in this city.
And it grows, and we grow.
(M. Borisov)
Q: What city do we live in?
(children's answers).
Q: What river is our city on?
(children's answers).
Q: - There are many rivers, canals, museums, palaces, gardens and parks in our city.
And we continue to get acquainted with the sights of our city
St. Petersburg.
B: Without you
rostral columns,
My city would lose to become,
Although the Neva wave sleepy
Wouldn't stop playing
And far away, in silent silence,
Two torches, like two stars,
Burning to illuminate the waves
My sparkling Neva.
The way for the ships is open,
When the Rostrals are burning.
(R. Nadmutdinov)
Slide show: panorama of Vasilyevsky Island,
Fragments of Rostral columns.
Q: - And who knows where we have arrived?
(children's answers).
Q: - That's right, it's the Spit of Vasilievsky Island.
And before us are the Rostral columns, created in 1810 by the architect
Thomas de Thomon, as a monument to Russia's naval victories.
Q: - Guys, who is an architect?
(children's answers).
Q: - Rostral columns used to serve as lighthouses. At night and in the fog they
They showed the way to ships sailing along the Neva.
The columns are decorated with the bows of the ships - rostra.
At the foot of the column sit powerful figures, symbolizing the four
Great rivers of Russia: Neva, Volkhov, Dnieper and Volga.
Phys. minute:
The children got up early in the morning
We went to the forest for mushrooms (walking on the spot)
Sat down, sat down
White mushroom found in the grass (squats)
Honey mushrooms grow on a stump,
Lean on them guys
Bend over, one two three
And type in a basket (slopes)
There is a walnut on the tree.
Who will jump the highest? (jumping)
If you want to reach
It is necessary to stretch strongly (sipping-hands up)
Three hours wandered in the forest,
All paths originated (walking in place)
Tired of all the long way
The children sat down to rest.
Q: -I invite you to take your seats and make your beacons, which will
Light the way for ships.
Q: -Today we will make an appliqué using the paper cut method.
Q: -What will we use for this?
D: (children's answers).
B: -We tear off small pieces of paper from the workpiece, coat them with glue,
We glue it on the template, laying it out, like a mosaic, we press it with a napkin.
Q: -I suggest you get to work and create your own beacon for everyone.
Q: So our journey ended. Guys, did you like it? You all did a great job today, well done. And what do you remember the most?
D: (children's answers).
Q: -Today we met and learned about another attraction of St. Petersburg Rostral columns and learned how to mosaic image.
Q: - Let's hang your lighthouse columns in the hall so that they light the way for your parents.
Summary of classes with children of the preparatory group
(using ICT).
IMAGES OF PETERSBURG ARCHITECTURE
Comparison of rostral and Alexander columns.
Target:
Cause a sense of pride, a desire to preserve the cultural heritage of St. Petersburg; develop the desire to study the history and culture of the city.
Tasks:
Educational:
To enrich the experience of perceiving the diversity of beauty in the space of the city (on the example of architectural and sculptural objects).
Continue to acquaint children with famous architectural ensembles.
Show how significant cultural and historical facts and events of the past and present are presented in works of fine art.
To develop the ability to highlight the similarities and differences of architectural structures, to understand the features of the materials and design elements used by the architect.
To intensify the use of words and phrases: panorama, ensemble of the square, decorative ornaments.
Corrective:
Automation of delivered sounds in independent speech.
Continue to work on the formation of grammatical categories.
Developing:
Enrich the sensory experience of children, develop cognitive processes: develop visual perception, visual memory.
Activate independence, initiative, subjective manifestations in the process of mastering art.
Develop independent coherent speech, the ability to compose complex sentences.
Preliminary work:
Acquaintance of children with the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Admiralty, the Summer Garden, the Palace and Exchange Squares, the Mikhailovsky Palace, the Kazan Cathedral.
Sightseeing tour "St. Petersburg - an open-air museum".
Visual range:
Panorama of the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island. Photo.
Panorama of Palace Square.
G.G. Gagarin, Alexandrian column in the woods. 1832 - 1833.
Demo material:
Tables - puzzles: COLUMN, LIGHTHOUSE.
Model of the Alexander Column.
"Dictionary",
Znaika doll.
Projector, screen, macbook. Presentation "Images of Petersburg architecture".
Handout:
"Cut pictures- photographs": "Exchange", "Zoological Museum - Warehouse", "Rostral Column", "Kazan Cathedral", "Mikhailovsky Palace", "Winter Palace", "Alexander Column", "General Staff".
Inscription plateswith the names of the architects.
"Rostras" - silhouettes of the prows of the ships on the columns.
Checkboxes with the image of the Palace and Birzhevaya squares, glue sticks.
columns - silhouettes of the Alexander and rostral columns.
STUDY PROCEDURE.
1. Introductory part.
Do you love to travel? TodayZnayka will travel with us. I think that you can tell Znaika a lot.
2. The main part.
Journey game.
Guys, we are now going on an unusual excursion..
Sit comfortably in the bus seat.
1 stop.
A.K. Beggrov, "View of the Neva and the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island with the Stock Exchange". 1879.
? Where do you think we are (On the spit of Vasilyevsky Island.
stopped? On Exchange Square.
That's right, this is "View of the Neva and
Spit of Vasilievsky Island
with the Stock Exchange", picture,
painted by the artist
Beggrov 140 years ago.)
What was this day like? (winter, frosty, sunny,
noisy, cheerful).
"Panorama of the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island" - photography.
What has changed in the square (Ships no longer come there.
During this time? They don't travel on the Neva in carriages.
There is no longer a port.
There are museums in the stock exchange and in the warehouse.
There is a square on the square now, there
people rest.
On the columns on holidays
torches are lit.)
We continue the journey.
2 stop.
? Do you recognize this area?
G.G. Gagarin, Alexandrian column in the woods.
What event is happening? (This is Palace Square.
Install
Alexandrovskaya
column. They put up a column
in front of the Winter Palace.
"Palace Square".
And now everyone admires
Palace Square.
"Panorama of the Palace Square".
? Tell me why we love (This square is elegant.
this area? ... solemn. ... commemorative.
... festive.
…majestic.)
Buildings built
architects, create
1 of the best ensembles.
? What is an ensemble? (All buildings - together
make up the whole picture.
The ensemble is one.
The game "Fold the picture."
Znayka you are invited to put together separate parts to make a whole photograph, and then remember who built these buildings.
Winter Palace - Rastrelli,
Alexander Column -
Montferrand, Headquarters -
Rossi, Exchange - Thomas de Thomon,
Rostral column - Toma
de Thomon, Zoological
museum (warehouse) - Luchini,
Mikhailovsky Palace - Rossi,
Kazan Cathedral - Voronikhin.
Please make large photographs of the Palace and
Exchange area.
(Only relevant pictures are used).
"Read the puzzle." KOLO(S)-N-ON.
Comparison game.
We talked about rostral
And Alexander columns.
"Alexander Column". "Rostral Columns".
? How do they differ from each other (Rostral columns
from friend? built of brick and
Alexandrovskaya - from granite.
At the rostral columns
pedestal - sculpture, and
Alexandrovskaya - bas-relief.
Above the rostral columns
bowls, and at Alexandrovskaya -
sculpture of an angel with a cross.
There are two rostral columns, and
Alexander Column alone
Rostral columns have rostra.
Alexander Column
erected in honor of the victory, and
rostral - lighthouses.)
How are they similar? (These are columns.
They decorate our city.)
Guess which columnZnayka guessed a riddle?
The game "Wonderful bag".
Determine what is hidden. (Layout of Aleksandrovskaya
columns.
Describe the presence or
missing details).
"Read the puzzle." LIGHTHOUSE.
Rostral.
Rostra game.
Determine what (The head of a wolf, water,
rostrum decorated? unicorn).
Why? (To intimidate enemies).
What is shown (Mermaids. They guarded
on the lower rosters? sailors).
3 Fizminutka.
"What is depicted on your rostra?"
To convey the image, character of the animal.
(with musical accompaniment).
4. The main part is the application.
"The flag is a souvenir."
Znayka prepared gifts for you. (Palace Square,
On the flags are the squares about which Birzhevaya Square,
we talked to you today.
Add the missing detail. Need to be glued
desired column).
5. Final part.
Today we traveled around the city. What new did you learn today?
Completed all the tasks that were offeredZnayka.
And you have got wonderful flags on which you can finish the missing elements.
In the group during the school year, classes are held to introduce children to the history and culture of St. Petersburg.
