Rostral Columns of Saint Petersburg

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Rostral column, is a type of victory column erected to commemorate a naval military victory.

These two red brick Rostral Columns installed in 1727 on the banks of Neha River in Saint Petersburg, were not only dedicated to the naval victories of the Russian Empire but were also used as lighthouses to guide the ship to the port which existed here until the middle of the nineteenth century.

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These columns have winding staircases inside which leads to the platform on top where bowl-shaped lamps are fixed on metal tripods. Originally there were oil braziers which were lit in the night. The braziers were later replaced with gas lamps which are now lit on ceremonial occasions.

Two seated marble figures decorate the base of each column and represent four major rivers of Russia. Two on the northern column (shown above) represent the Volga and Dnieper, while seated figures in the other column represent Neva and Volkhov.

Source of info and more info: Wikipedia / Saint-petersburg-russia.org

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Sphinx In St Petersburg, Russia

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Google Street View

These two large sculptures of sphinx adorn the embankment of the River Neha, near the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

These are original Egyptian sphinxes which, about 3500 years, had guarded the tomb of Pharaoh Amenhotep III in Thebes, the ancient capital Egypt and were dug out intact during excavation of the area in early nineteenth century. Imperial Russia bought these around 1830 and installed these in 1834 on the quay.

In addition to these two well preserved granite sculptures, many more sphinxes decorate the city of St. Petersburg (Ref: geolines.ru). Shown below is another one. Four such sphinxes (two on each bank) adorn the nearby bridge known as "Egyptian Bridge". These four sphinxes which were installed in early 19th-century are not of Egyptian origin but were made locally from cast iron.

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Incidentally the sphinxes in St. Petersburg are the northern most sphinxes in the World.

Source of info and more info: Wikipedia

Buran Russian Orbital Vehicle In Moscow

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Buran spacecraft was a Russian orbital vehicle for their space programme and was functionally somewhat similar to the US Space Shuttle. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union the Buran space programme fell in disarray and the only working aircraft was destroyed in an hanger accident.

The spacecraft pictured here in Gorki Park in Moscow, is not the actual Buran meant for flights, but it is the structural prototype (Buran OK-TVA) of the space vehicle for testing the loads and stresses, heating and vibration of the flight vehicle.

It was planned to convert it into cafeteria.

Source of info: Wikipedia and thelivingmoon.com

Huge Arch Gate Made From Twigs

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Google have recently released the Street Views of Moscow and while roaming these streets one of the  first unusual objects which I saw was this huge arch gate made from twigs and sticks. It may not have the architectural beauty associated with arch gates or memorials but it is definitely eye-catching.

Located at the entrance to Joy or Delight Park (Парк Отрада) in the Otradnoye (Отрадное) township in North Moscow. Отрадное means "welcome" so in a way it could be the welcome gate to the Welcome town.