Description of the attraction
Krasnaya Talka is a memorial ensemble in memory of the performances of the Ivanovo-Voznesensk workers during the first revolution and the creation of the first Russian city-wide Council of Workers' Deputies in the city of Ivanovo. The memorial is one of the main historical and artistic monuments in the city. The architect of the monument to V. S. Vasilkovsky, sculptor L. L. Mikhailenok.
The monument was erected on the left bank of the Talka in the Soviet district of the city, on the south side of the Park of the Revolution of 1905. From the east it adjoins Shuvandina street, and from the south - to Svoboda street. The choice of the site for the construction of the monument is not accidental. It was here in the late 19th - early 20th centuries that meetings and rallies of workers of the Ivanovo-Voznesensk textile factories were held. During the strike of the workers of the city under the leadership of M. Frunze, S. Balashov, F. Afanasyev in 1905, a citywide Council of Workers' Deputies was formed, the first in Russia. In memory of those events, a monument-obelisk was erected in 1957 (architect A. S. Bodyagin).
In 1975, the Ivanovo City Executive Committee decided on a global reconstruction of the monument, as a result of which it was completely rebuilt. The sculptural work was carried out by the art foundation of the RSFSR (Leningrad branch), construction work - by the trust "Dormoststroy" (Ivanovo branch), the project was developed by the Institute "Ivanovograzhdanproekt". The metal obelisk with three reliefs forged on it was made by the Tsentrotekhmontazh trust (Ivanovo branch), the design was developed by the chief architect of the city V. V. Novikov. Landscaping work was carried out by the "Gorkomhoz".
On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the creation of the first council in Russia, the reconstructed Krasnaya Talka memorial was opened. This happened on May 28, 1975. During its existence, the memorial has been modernized more than once - two busts were added to the alley of heroes: K. I. Kiryakina-Kolotilova and V. E. Morozov, and a golden ball was installed on the top of the obelisk.
The monument includes: a bowl of eternal flame and a monument-obelisk, entrance decoration, a memorial sign to F. A. Afanasyev, an alley of heroes of the revolution.
The memorial complex begins in the 1905 park on the left bank of the Talka, on a gentle slope after the bridge over the river. The entrance to the memorial is a small square, which is decorated with concrete tiles and flower beds.
Further - a small asphalt area with two rectangles lined with cobblestones near the walls. From it there is a long wide alley leading to the obelisk. At the very beginning there is a memorial sign marking the place of death of Fyodor Afanasyev. Sixteen busts rise from the middle of the alley to the central part of the memorial ensemble on both sides of the alley, and eight on each side of the alley. This is the alley of revolutionary heroes. They were installed in memory of the Ivanovo-Voznesensk Bolsheviks who were active during the 1905 revolution. A street is named in honor of each of the heroes in the city. One of the districts is named after Frunze. Textile factories are named in Ivanovo in honor of Samoilov, Zhidelev, Balashov, Varentsova. Many of these people were persecuted during the period of repression. Bubnov, Kolotilov, Kiselev were shot in 1930, Nozdrin died in the NKVD investigative prison in 1938. This is most likely why some of the busts have incorrect dates of death.
The alley ends with a staircase leading to a circular platform with a bowl of eternal fire. In the center, on a circular hill, there is an obelisk, from which there are three staircases, between which there are flower beds and three pylons.
The compositional dominant of the ensemble is the obelisk monument. It is installed on a circular platform on a small elevation and consists of twelve pipes tapering upward, personifying the pipes of the Ivanovo-Voznesensk textile factories. The obelisk is made of steel and painted bronze, in the middle it is wrapped by a wide belt, and at the top it ends with a cone on which a golden ball is installed, with a wreath and a fluttering banner. In the lower part of the obelisk there are three metal shields: on the central one there is a banner, a hammer and a sickle, on the right and left - orders. The reliefs depict workers, women and soldiers with weapons. Three staircases leave from the obelisk. Between them are pylons made of pink granite. Verses by V. S. Zhukov - the Ivanovo poet. The bowl of eternal flame is in the form of a pentagon made of hewn stone, its horizontal surface is processed by deep flutes expanding from the center.
With the collapse of Soviet ideology, the importance of the memorial diminished. In the 1990s. the eternal fire was extinguished, the bronze wreath disappeared from the bowl of the eternal fire, and the bowl turned into an urn. Nobody cares for the flower beds near the pylons, marble slabs have broken off in some places, and the obelisk has rusted. Now the memorial is in disrepair.
