Description of the attraction
In the spring of May 22, 1990, in a small park, located near the building of the regional scientific library in the city of Murmansk, the opening ceremony of the monument dedicated to the Equal-to-the-Apostles brothers Cyril and Methodius was held. As you know, brothers Cyril and Methodius were born into the family of a respected military leader, in a city called Thessaloniki, which happened more than a thousand years ago. Methodius was the oldest of the seven brothers, and Cyril was the youngest. Following the example of his father, Methodius entered military service and for 10 years was the manager of one of the Slavic regions. Soon Methodius leaves for a monastery located on the coast of the Sea of Marmara.
In his childhood and adolescence, Cyril was very keen on the "book business", after which his excellent talent for science began to manifest. Having learned about the talented boy, he was called to the court of the emperor in the capital and appointed a mentor to the young emperor Michael III. The young talent perfectly mastered mathematics, grammar, geometry, dialectics, astronomy and other sciences. After some time, Cyril began to study philosophy in depth, but soon went to the monastery to his brother.
Some time after visiting Byzantium, Cyril decided to create the Slavic alphabet on the basis of the Greek alphabet. So the brothers Cyril and Methodius became the founders of the literary-written Slavic language, which became the impetus for the creation of the Old Russian and Old Bulgarian literary languages.
The monument to the famous Slavic educators appeared in the city of Murmansk thanks to the work of polar writers, on whose initiative on May 24, 1986, for the first time in the USSR, the Day of Slavic Culture and Written Language was celebrated, which soon became a state holiday.
In the spring of 1990, which coincided with the Independence Day of Bulgaria, the Bulgarian His Holiness Patriarch Maxim, in the presence of Bulgarian and Soviet officials, conducted a ceremony of consecration of the monument. At the same time, a document was signed on the transfer of the monument to the government of Murmansk.
The monument to Cyril and Methodius is the author's copy of the famous work of the sculptor from Bulgaria Vladimir Ginovski, and the original of this monument is located right in front of the facade of the building of the People's Library in the city of Sofia, in which it was installed on the date of the 1100th anniversary of the appearance of Slavic writing.
In Murmansk, there are two statues made of bronze, which symbolize by their appearance the unquenchable candles. They are located on a concrete plinth, set on a base consisting of 12 granite slabs. The site in front of the monument was laid out with the help of fragmentary sawn stone. The monumental complex also includes the framing of the square, which is made of small blocks of gray granite. It is worth noting that, despite their simplicity and routine, two sculptures look especially majestic, while Cyril's face looks especially soulful and somewhat thoughtful. Cyril has a pen in his hand, which gives an idea of how to prepare for writing the letters he had discovered. His brother Methodius with caution and solicitude hugs the Holy Scriptures to himself, which becomes a kind of evidence of stubborn and tireless activity. The figure of Methodius is literally imbued with unquenchable strength and energy, and his face expresses incredible wisdom. Both brothers are dressed in the wide robes of monks of the past. The sculptures support a small scroll on which the first letters of the developed Slavic alphabet are visible. It is safe to say that the sculptures presented express precisely individualized images, despite the fact that images of the real Cyril and Methodius have not survived to our time.
To date, the monumental monument has not been fully equipped. For example, there was an idea to make a pedestal of polished monolithic stone, on which it was supposed to knock out several belts in the form of an ornament consisting of Glagolitic letters. In the future, it is planned to carry out all the artistic components of the composition in the same style.
