Description of the attraction
The monument to the holy father John of Kronstadt was opened on May 17, 2008 in Kronstadt at the intersection of Posadskaya and Andreevskaya streets, in a small garden next to the house where the archpriest lived for more than fifty years.
The idea to preserve the memory of John of Kronstadt in the form of a monument to this great man appeared a long time ago. But in connection with the 300th anniversary of the city of Kronstadt, it acquired a rather real shape. The money for the installation of the monument, the construction of a public garden next to the house number 21 on Posadskaya Street, as well as a complex with a pedestrian zone from Posadskaya Street to Lenin Avenue, were allocated by the Government of St. Petersburg. In addition, in the church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, parishioners donated about 650 thousand rubles.
The author of the sculpture is the Moscow sculptor A. Sokolov. The monument to John of Kronstadt was cast in Solnechnogorsk, but for about three years it lay in one of the warehouses of Kronstadt. During this period, the granite foundation of the monument was made (architect Georgy Boyko), a public garden was landscaped on Andreevskaya Street, and stylized lawns were made. But the date of the opening of the monument was constantly postponed.
The opening of the monument was part of the program of celebrations and events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the death of John of Kronstadt. The monument was erected on a low granite base. The sculptor depicted the All-Russian shepherd in a rare moment of rest - Father John is sitting in an armchair with a pensive face, his hands on his knees. The created image conveys the spiritualized calmness of the saint, who seems to have returned to his native park again. The monument was consecrated by Bishop Markell of Peterhof, co-served by numerous clergy.
The opening of the monument was attended by V. P. Scriabin, first deputy head of the administration of the Kronstadt region, grand-niece of Father John of Kronstadt, Tamara Ivanovna Ornatskaya, publisher of the saint's diaries, leading employee of the Pushkin House, Galina Nikolaevna Shpyakina and Svetlana Igorevna Shemyakina are descendants of Father John's wife; admirers and donors of the Kronstadt shepherd.
Simultaneously with the opening of the monument to the saint, new premises of the memorial museum-apartment of John of Kronstadt were opened. The museum now has an entrance from the square. On its first floor there is a small bookstore with souvenirs and postcards, on the second - the rooms of the archpriest's apartment, where he lived and died.
The first monument to John of Kronstadt became a kind of center of the complex of St. John of Kronstadt, which was created in Kronstadt in 2004, when the city celebrated its 300th anniversary. It is assumed that the memorial complex will also include a chapel, which is planned to be installed opposite the museum-apartment. The street itself should become pedestrianized and be renamed in honor of the great saint.
