Monument to the founders of Odesa

[3][4][5] Catherine II of Russia by her rescript in 1794, initiated the beginning of the construction of the city of Odesa and its port on the exact location of the Ottoman settlement Khadjibey.

On September 23, 1891, the Odesa City Council decided to establish a contest for monument projects with two awards (two and one thousand rubles) for the best work.

January 14, 1893, after a report by the Minister of Internal Affairs to the Emperor, Imperial permission followed to erect a monument to the Founders of the city to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Odesa.

Models of monument sculpture were manufactured by the professor, Imperial Academy of Arts (St. Petersburg) academician M.P.Popov, and works on building the foundations of a pedestal and casting of bronze figures themselves were commissioned to the sculptor B.V.Eduards and to the foreman of overall craft council of marble shop in Odesa Leopold Mentsione.

[9][10] Opening of the Monument to the Founders was accompanied by solemn ceremonies and citywide celebration, culminating in a fireworks display.

This decision of the City Council (#1401-V from 04.07.2007) established a special commission to monitor the compliance of the restored monument with the lost original.

It was a matter of honor for me to restore it in that form in which it was at the beginning of the twentieth century, when in 1901 at the World exhibition in Paris, this Square was named as the best in Europe!

Sculpting figures and decoration were carried out by Oleg Chernoivanov and Honored artist of Ukraine Nikolay Oleynik, both also from Kyiv.

these figures have been saved thanks to such significant artists as Maxim Gorky and Benois[15] The approach was especially careful in search of granite samples needed to make the pedestal.

Within six months the project documentation was created, and archive materials were studied to restore the original appearance and colors of buildings.

The solemn ceremony was made looking back to the similar of 1900: girls, uniformed as soldiers of Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment encircled the monument, and the ladies and gentlemen dressed in costumes of the era of the “golden age” of Catherine were walking around.

[15] Representatives of Ukrainian nationalist parties and movements arrived to the city especially to disrupt[citation needed] the opening of the monument.

For security reasons Ekaterininskaya Square was surrounded by the police cordon that separated supporters and opponents of the ceremony.

[19] Responding to the petition, President Zelensky asked the Odesa City Council to discuss the removal of the monument.

[21] The same day the city's website announced that the monuments would be temporarily moved to the Odesa Fine Arts Museum.