Description of the attraction
One of the oldest monuments in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is a monument to the French navigator of the 18th century Jean-François Galaup, cornte de La-Perouse, installed on Leninskaya Street.
The monument was erected in honor of the visit of the La Perouse round-the-world expedition on the frigates Astrolabe and Bussol to the Peter and Paul harbor in 1787. The men of Peter and Paul cordially greeted the ships of the navigator, rendering every possible assistance, about which La Perouse wrote to the French envoy in St. Petersburg an enthusiastic letter, which is now kept in the archives of the Leningrad branch of the Institute of History.
La Perouse's expedition ended tragically, the last news from the navigator was received from the shores of Australia, after which the expedition disappeared. Only 34 years later, the remains of ships were discovered on the Vera Cruz archipelago.
A monument to the French navigator was erected in the city at the initiative of the French government. The plans of the monument were handed over to the authorities of Kamchatka, and, having received the highest permission from St. Petersburg, in 1843 the monument was erected on the isthmus between Signalnaya and Nikolskaya hills.
In this form, the monument stood until 1854, when, during the heroic defense of the Peter and Paul port, it was destroyed by the shells of the Anglo-French squadron. In 1882, the monument was restored on the initiative and at personal expense of the exiled scientist, a participant in the Polish liberation uprising B. I. Dybowski. It was a white wooden cross on a stone base. Attached to the cross was a metal plate with an inscription in French: “In memory of La Perouse. 1787 ". Ten years later, the sailors of the cruiser "Bully" erected another monument in honor of the navigator - a rounded stone, an anchor and anchor chains were installed on the preserved stone base. In the 30s of the XX century, the monument was moved to the square on Leninskaya Street, where it still stands.
