Chesme Column

The Chesme Column (Чесменская колонна) in Tsarskoye Selo commemorates three Russian naval victories in the Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774, specifically the Battle of Chesma. It was constructed in the Large Pond of the Landscape Park of the Catherine Palace to Rinaldi's designs over the years 1774-78. The column should not be confused with the Chesme Obelisk in Gatchina.

The monument is a Doric rostral column of white-and-pink marble, decorated with ship bows rostra and crowned by a bronze figure of an eagle (symbol of Russia) trampling a crescent (symbol of Turkey). The column stands on a red marble pedestal lined with bronze bas-reliefs illustrating the Russian victories: these were destroyed by the Germans during the World War II and subsequently restored from old photographs. The pedestal rests on a stepped pyramid-like granite platform.