The most unusual monuments and sculptures in Crimea

April 18 in many countries of the world, including Russia, is celebrated as the International Day of Monuments and Historical Sites. The UNESCO Cultural Heritage Center announced this holiday 37 years ago in order to draw public attention to the cultural heritage and to the fact that it needs continuing care and protection.

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And what unusual monuments and art objects are in Crimea? The Simferopol guide Dina Mulyanova helped us to find the answer to this question.

Bees of Simferopol

A very original project, which was launched in 2018. As you know, a bee is a symbol of Simferopol, the "collector city" and the "city of benefit". Each figure is created according to an individual sketch and then cast in bronze, each personifies a particular profession.

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To date, 33 bees have been installed in different parts of the Crimean capital, and not all of them are in open places. The search for some of them turns into an exciting quest. The family of “buzzing toilers” is shown on the interactive map of the city.

Yoshkin Cat & Chizhik-Siskin

There are two more unusual sculptural compositions in Simferopol, set directly opposite each other, on Karl Marx Street (near the Berg shopping center). The first sculpture named "Yoshkin Cat" was presented by the residents of Yoshkar-Ola city on the occasion of the 234th anniversary of the Crimean capital in June 2018. The 185-kilogram bronze cat sitting on a bench is a hundred-percent copy of the sculpture in Yoshkar-Ola − the capital of the Republic of Mari El.

Sculpture &quot;Yoshkin Cat&quot; — Sculpture "Yoshkin Cat"

And exactly one year later, also on the occasion of the City Day celebrations, Chizhik-Siskin "settled" near Yoshkin Cat. This time it was a gift from the St. Petersburg administration, an exact copy of the similar sculpture on the Fontanka River. The height of the sculpture is 11 cm, weight is about 5 kg. Near the pedestal, where the feathery one "squatted", a chair was installed for photo sessions.

Humor Alley in Yalta

In Yalta, near the Yubileiniy Concert Hall, there is an alley of funny sculptural compositions − symbolic belongings of famous humorists: Mikhail Zhvanetsky’s Portfolio, Arkady Arkanov’s Vest, Alexander Schirvindt’s Pipe, Joseph Kobzon’s Microphone, Clara Novikova’s Hat, and a guitar in honor of Mikhail Vashukov and Nikolai Bandurin duet. "All of them were installed at different times thanks to the Yalta festival of humor and satire and its organizers − Vladimir Danilets and Vladimir Moiseyenko. The first festival took place in 2004, and at that time the "Zhvanetsky's Portfolio" appeared, on which unforgettable phrases from his sparkling monologues were inscribed.

Trolleybus on the Angarsk Pass

In October 2012, a Skoda-make trolleybus 9Тр (1972 issue) was installed as a monument on the Angarskiy Pass. This event was dedicated to the 53rd anniversary of the Krymtrolleybus enterprise.

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According to the assumptions, it was exactly this carriage with its “horn-like" current collectors that transported more than 20 million passengers during its work life. And its total mileage amounted to 1.9 million km. Last year, the "exhibit" was taken for restoration − to paint, renew inscriptions, replace rusty parts. By the way, it is still in the working condition.

"A man looking at the sea"

In August 2019, in the Kapselskaya Valley (near Sudak), a large-scale figure of a man sitting on the seashore was installed on the site of the first in Russia festival of creative communities "Tavrida-ART". The art object is made of polished metal rods and has a height of 15 meters. It was designed and created by the participants of the Taurida Youth Forum.

Avenue of Leaders near Cape Tarhankut

This project is interesting not so much by the monuments themselves, but by their location. Under water. Therefore, they are accessible to those bold adventurers who are ready to dive with a scuba. The exhibits of the "Alley of Leaders" are exposed at a depth of about 15 meters near the Cape Atlesh Minor. The first exhibit − a bust of Vladimir Lenin – was installed on the bottom of the Black Sea in 1992. Then the collection was added on with busts of Karl Marx, Joseph Stalin, poets Vladimir Mayakovsky, Sergei Yesenin, Vladimir Vysotskiy and others.

Monument to fishes in Kerch

Gifts of the Sea − a very symbolic sculpture for the city was installed on the embankment of Kerch in 2008. It is a six-meter metal art object depicting fishing nets and various fish "entangled" in them – katran (spiny dogfish), sturgeon, goby, sprat, Kerch herring, anchovy, etc. The marine inhabitants of the monument are painted in different colors, so the composition looks much more interesting and brighter.

Sculpture &quot;Gifts of the Sea&quot; — Sculpture "Gifts of the Sea"

Monument to Cheburek in Belogorsk

In Belogorsk, near one of the restaurants of the Crimean Tatar cuisine in 2015, a creative object appeared in the form of two chebureks (local meat pasties) about two meters high. Good visibility of the momument is ensured by its location − it is installed near the Simferopol − Kerch highway, at the turn to the Taigan Lion Park.

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"Both tourists and me really like this sculpture. Passing by, we often stop near it, vacationers take pictures. When we are on the way approaching the place, I begin to tell them about the national cuisine of Crimea, which visitors know little about, and, of course, about chebureks. And then we arrive to the monument, and everyone sees the "main character" of my story with their own eyes", — says Dina Mulyanova, a tour guide from Simferopol.

Of course, in Crimea there are a lot of other original monuments, art objects and metal compositions.

For example, a unique 10-meter forged metal map must be mentioned. This is a map of Russia with a sundial in the middle and symbols of Russian regions. It was installed on the Day of National Unity in last November in Simferopol, in the Trenyov park. Over 300 Russian masters worked on the map during a year − each forged his region. And then they combined the finished parts − and we got the "Crimean Time" art object. The Crimean peninsula is connected to the mainland by a forged miniature Crimean Bridge. The weight of the art composition is 15 tons.