St. Petersburg for a little.

Thought a good walk around the city, but the weather decided otherwise.All that the Narva gates saw, then got wet in the rain and went home.
The building is really grandiose and very beautiful, but I would like to plunge into the history of this building ...

Originally, the triumphal gates were built to meet Russian troops returning from Europe in 1814 on the Narva Outpost, directly at the city border near the Obvodny Canal, designed by Giacomo Quarenghi from wood and alabaster. The period of construction is one month.
The gate was decorated with a chariot with six horses, ruled by the goddess of glory, sculptures of Roman soldiers.
Quarenghi presented two project gates: with architrave overlap and with an arch.
On both sides of the arch there were tribunes for spectators and orchestras.
Russian troops in 1814 under the arch four times: July 30, September 8, October 18, October 25.
However, the gates that were built in 1814 by Giacomo Quarenghi from wood and alabaster were quickly destroyed. Governor-General of St. Petersburg, a participant in the war, M. A. Miloradovich stood up for their defense, and at the highest level, Nicholas I decided to build new stone gates on the bank of the Tarakanovka River, somewhat to the south of the former place.

Renewal in metal

The Narva Triumphal Gates and the Stachek Square

The Narva Triumphal Gates in 1910
Architect Stasov retained the whole idea of ​​Quarenghi and on August 26, 1827, the first stone was laid on the anniversary of the battle of Borodino. The peculiarity of the design of the new gate was that the construction was made of a brickwork lined with copper sheets. A sculptural group was created from the copper sheets: the six horses (Peter Klodt) and the figure of Glory (Stepan Pimenov).

Sculptures of Roman soldiers were replaced by copper ancient Russian knights. (Pimenov and Demuth-Malinovsky).

Winged female figures, bas-reliefs with geniuses of Glory - sculptor I. Leppe.

Art critics note that the sculpture of the Narva Gate is distinguished by its strictness and simplicity, it is devoid of the allegorical complexity of the images, so characteristic of the monumental and decorative works of this time.

On the sides of the gate there are inscriptions: Beginning on August 26, 1827. They were opened on August 17 (29), 1834. Also there are inscriptions about the places of decisive battles, about military formations.

Thanks to Wikipedia for the information provided. And he himself learned more and tried to convey to you about this beautiful work of art.

I hope the weather will improve, and I will be able to see more, and also convey my emotions to you!