Standing in the center of the Detinets, a fortress-like compound in the city of Novgorod in northwestern Russia, is the Monument to the Millennium of Russia. Erected in 1852 by acclaimed Russian sculptor Mikhail Mikeshin, the monument commemorates 1000 years of Russian history. Beginning with a depiction of the founding of the Russian Empire in 862 A.D. by the first Russian ruler, the Viking Riurik, the upper tier of the piece presents a visual timeline of important events in the empire's history. Several of Russia's most influential rulers are represented in this portion of the monument, including Princes Vladimir and Dmitri Dunskoi and Tsars Ivan III and Peter I. On the lower tier, notable Russians depicted include the composer Glinka, the poet Pushkin and Karl Briullov, the famed Russian artist.
In a small park near the Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg stands a monument to Catherine the Great. The empress ruled from 1762 to 1796, and due to her efforts to improve education and living conditions of the Russian people, she is credited with ushering in the empire's golden age. This monument, also sculpted by Mikeshin, places Catherine on a pedestal wearing her official gown and holding her scepter and an olive branch. At her feet are figures of several persons of note during her reign including the Russian general Alexander Suvorov, the poet Gavrila Derzhavin and Ekaterina Dashkova, the first woman to chair the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Peter the Great ruled the Russian Empire from 1682 to 1725 and is credited with the westernization and modernization of the empire. He despised the capital city of Moscow and created a new capital city in St. Petersburg. Both cities have erected monuments to the influential ruler. In Moscow, on the river Moskva south of the Kremlin, stands a 315-foot high figure designed by modern artist Zurab Tsereteli. The ruler is standing on a frigate, draped in a toga and raising a golden scroll. Residents of Moscow are not terribly fond of the statue due to its unusually garish appearance. In St. Petersburg, the monument to Peter the Great sits perched atop a massive rock in the center of Senate Square. The sculpture, commissioned by Empress Catherine the Great, was executed by the French sculptor Falconet and depicts the ruler on horseback crowned with a laurel wreath. The inscription reads "To Peter the First, Catherine the Second."
It is said that Prince Vladimir the Great, who ruled from 980 to 1015, had a notorious temper, was prone to fits of violence and kept a harem of 300 wives in the Kiev Palace. It is he who united the region of Kievan Rus by declaring Christianity as its official religion. In 998, the city's troops tossed its pagan idols into the river Dnieper and conducted a mass baptism. The centralized religion helped to bring Kievan Rus to prominence on the Western political stage and fostered an alliance with the Byzantine Empire. It is also said that Vladimir's conversion lessened his vitriol and he adopted a personal practice of charity toward the poor. A monument to Prince Vladimir sits on the banks of the river Dnieper in the city of Kiev, reportedly where the city's first christening took place. Sculpted by Vasiliy Demut-Malinovskiy, the prince is posed with a cross in his right hand and his crown in the left.
