10 funniest and most ridiculous monuments in Russia

In general, our fatherland has always been famous for both a huge number of talents and a general non-standard way of thinking. And therefore, it is not at all surprising that over the past 10-15 years (when it became fashionable to install various art objects in front of almost every office, not just in front of large enterprises), in almost every Russian city a lot of the most unusual, sometimes strange , sometimes generally causing amazement and dumbfounded monuments and sculptures.

Among them there are monuments to cartoon characters (for example, the wolf from the cartoon “Once upon a time there was a dog”, which “I’ll sing right now!”, Personifies well-fed happiness in Tomsk; in Voronezh there is a monument to a kitten from Lizyukov Street; crocodile Gena, Cheburashka and Shapoklyak with rat Lariska delights residents of Ramenskoye near Moscow, etc.).

There are often monuments to food: in 2015, a sculpture of a crow and a fox with Friendship cheese, which had stood in Moscow for 10 years, gently hugging each other, was removed; in Mamonovo (Kaliningrad region) there is a monument to a bank of sprats; in Lukhovitsy – a monument to pickles; in Kursk – an apple, etc.

There are simply countless sculptures depicting people of various professions: builders, plumbers, janitors and even designers. In addition, in Russia you can find monuments to money: in Tomsk – a “wooden” ruble, in Krasnoyarsk – a 10-ruble bill.

All these sculptures and monuments are very different, and some of them have (hmm…) a very dubious artistic value, but they exist, and more and more will obviously appear in the near future.

And from all this variety it is very difficult to choose the best ones (in our case, the strangest, funny or really ridiculous ones), but we will try anyway.

So let’s get started?

10 Bald monument to Peter I (St. Petersburg)

It is difficult to find a person in Russia who does not know who Peter I is. Of course, this is the great Russian tsar-reformer, who “cut a window to Europe”, etc., etc. And we somehow got used to the fact that the monuments to Peter are always majestic, even pompous.

Therefore, when you see such an interpretation of the image in front of you, you experience sincere bewilderment and even a slight shock – bald Peter with a very small head on a large disproportionate body is sitting on the throne.

Well… But the artist Mikhail Shemyakin, who “sees it this way”, claims that everything is correct, and in general, they say, the face of the bronze Peter is his exact portrait, taken from a wax mask stored in the Hermitage. This “work” is located on the territory of the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg (established in 1991).

9. Monument to the Caught Lover (Tomsk)

And in Tomsk, since 2001, you can admire the monument to a lover caught “hot”. Agree, before you saw the photo, a completely different image arose in your head – a luxurious handsome man with a huge bouquet (well, maybe a little scared).

But no, the Tomsk lover is a fat guy in family shorts, hanging on the balcony of his beloved (yes, so to speak, a picture from life). Nearby is also a slightly mocking inscription: “Who was not – will be, who was – will not forget.”

And, by the way, panties-sails are changed annually for a lover: he already wore bright red, and lurid multi-colored, and stylish “military” …

At first, this sculpture was located on the building of the Council of Trade Unions, but now (apparently, the mistress moved) settled on the wall of the Museum of the History of Tomsk.

8. Monument to the mosquito (Noyabrsk)

An even more unusual sculpture is in the city of Noyabrsk (Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug), it is a huge (2,5 meters high) “cyberpunk” mosquito made of metal parts. This “oil sucker” mosquito appeared in 2006.

Why “oil pump”? Well, firstly, Noyabrsk is a city of oil and gas workers; and secondly, imagine what will happen to a person if such a “beast” sticks to him – she only sucks oil, and right from the well.

And why did they put up a monument to the mosquito? Those who lived in the North (or “just” in Siberia) are aware that here, in order to survive, you need to manage to get used not only to severe frosts for six months and almost the same long polar darkness, but also to a huge number of mosquitoes and midges, reaching you anywhere and everywhere during the rest of the year.

7. Dogs in love (Krasnodar)

But in Krasnodar, thank God, there are no problems with blood-sucking insects, and in general – it is warm and good here. And therefore, since 2007, two bronze dogs have become favorites of local residents, walking arm in arm (under the paw) at the intersection of Krasnaya and Mira streets.

These dogs are clearly very happy with life. They are dressed up in costumes from the beginning of the XNUMXth century, because they were created based on a playful short poem by V.V. Mayakovsky’s “Wilderness of Dogs”, dedicated to Krasnodar, where there are such lines: “This is not a wilderness of dogs, but a dog’s capital.”

That’s just, as one of the commentators on this sculpture ironically noted on the Internet, hinting at the very thin “figures” of dogs, it seems that the sculptor usually casts bells, and this one took on the monument as a part-time job.

6. Monument to Yoshkin cat (Yoshkar-Ola)

Well, what kind of Russian person does not use at least sometimes a completely harmless curse “Yoshkin cat!”? Do you know that the inhabitants of Yoshkar-Ola call their city “Yoshka” for short? That is why they once decided to make Yoshkin Kot a city symbol and a real tourist brand.

This most notorious cat now appears on many souvenirs, has a cafe named after himself, etc., and since June 2011 he personally “welcomes” local citizens and guests of the city, lounging imposingly on a bench (and lifting one paw) next to the main building of the Mari state university. And next to Yoshkin’s cat is the Naked Truth newspaper and fish bones lying on it.

5. Monument to the central heating battery (Samara)

Eh. Mother Russia, you are good to many! But with good weather in our area for most of the year, the situation is, frankly, not very good. It is impossible to live without heating, not only in Siberia, but also in much more favorable (in terms of climate) regions.

Here it is, dear, – heating (or rather, the familiar radiator battery to all of us) – and they created a monument in the glorious city of Samara. Since 2005, at the checkpoint of the oldest in our country, Samara GRES, a bronze cat lying on the windowsill above the battery has been “warming up” (by the way, the sketch for this sculpture was chosen by the author from photographs of citizens sent to a competition specially announced for this occasion).

The monument was erected in honor of the 150th anniversary of the invention (in Russia, in St. Petersburg, in 1855) of the world’s first heating battery.

4. “Chocolate Fairy” (Veil)

What is the city of Pokrov in the Vladimir region known for? And the fact that there is a confectionery factory of the same name that produces very good chocolate.

And so, in 2009, on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the activity in our country of the American company Kraft foods (which owns the Pokrov factory), the Chocolate Museum was opened in the city, and with it the first in the world (as assured in the press) a monument to chocolate.

According to the author’s idea, this is not just an abstract chocolate bar, but a “chocolate fairy” in a magic cap, which holds a small “Milka” chocolate bar, which brings good luck (naturally, it must be rubbed).

An idea is an idea, but in the end the “fairy” looks like (God forgive me!) some kind of transvestite in high heels, in some kind of body armor and a long half-open coat.

3. “Permyak salty ears” (Perm)

Another very unusual, but, in our opinion, much more attractive and witty monument is, as you might guess, in the city of Perm.

The fact is that once (in the XV-XVII centuries) the environs of Perm were famous for salt mines. Workers carried heavy bags of mined salt on their backs, and therefore their heads (and especially their ears) were always well “salted”. Hence the inoffensive nickname “Permyak salty ears” appeared.

A bronze frame with huge ears (which anyone can “try on”) and a bronze photographer in front of it appeared on Komsomolsky Prospekt near the Prikamye Hotel in 2006.

And since then, selfies with these “ears” have been a favorite entertainment for both Perm residents and, of course, city guests.

2. Enema Monument (Zheleznovodsk)

Why are there some kind of mosquito, battery or ears: in the city of Zheleznovodsk they erected a monument even to a medical enema! (Here he is definitely the only one in the world!)

Three small cheerful angels who hold this giant “instrument”, according to the idea of ​​the author of this sculpture, symbolize, so to speak, the trinity of “forces” that are involved in the process of curing the disease: the patient himself, the nurse and, in fact, medical equipment.

This bright idea – to perpetuate the enema in bronze, came up with the former head physician of the sanatorium “Mashuk-Aquaterm”. Well, what is it? After all, thousands of enemas are given to patients of the Caucasian Mineral Waters every day!

And since 2008, we can see this “work of art.” (Oh my God! How can I stop laughing? Enema and cherubs… Yes, even with philosophical overtones!)

1. Monument to the “horse with eggs” (Voronezh)

And finally, the unconditional “masterpiece” and the unconditional winner of the entire “ten” is the monumental “Horse with Eggs”, which appeared in 2007 near the private hotel “Yar” on the Don highway, not far from Voronezh.

The locals call this heavy horse Yaryzh, and they have repeatedly begged the hotel and city administration to remove it, out of harm’s way.

No, well, look at this monster yourself: height is 3,5 meters, weight is more than three tons; instead of a normal ponytail – a stubby stump (like a bulldog); the fact that this is a horse, and not some kind of mare, is immediately evident from the huge, carefully executed, genitals (hmm … by the way, more like a human than a horse).

Yeah … Freud would have collapsed with delight at the sight of such a vivid illustration of his theory.

And to top it all off, a horse-fire has pulled out a rail somewhere and is chewing on it! Apparently, with this, the Dikunov sculptors wanted to emphasize the power of an outlandish animal. (Wipe away tears of hysteria…)