The monuments of the Historical Boulevard in Sevastopol are being restored to their original appearance

On the monument to Leo Tolstoy, as well as on the monument to the soldiers of the 4th bastion, the foundation was completely rebuilt, reinforced, waterproofed, and lost elements were recreated. It’s sanded, polished and 90% finished.— said a representative of the contractor.

As it turned out, half of the fencing of the monument to Leo Tolstoy was hidden underground. They dug it up, cleaned it and planted it on the foundation. Before this, the fence stones simply stood on the ground. The difference in the structure of the stones on the fence is not someone’s fault: this is how the monument originally looked.

The memorial sign of battery No. 23 of Lazarev is half ready: the foundation has been repaired and waterproofed. During the Soviet period, the authentic stone was covered with a layer of cement; now the stones have been cleaned.

Concrete baskets — fascines — on the forward parapet of the 4th bastion, which have changed color over time, have been sanded, and those that were destroyed will be replaced with new ones.

According to I. Tarasenko, the restorers performed the most complex technical work on the monument to Totleben.

Some fragments of the monument have been lost. During the initial restoration in Soviet times, workers made copper overlays. We discovered and dismantled these places. Sculptors were invited to recreate the lost elements“, the specialist explained.

After cleaning, it turned out that the monument, cast from bronze, was repeatedly painted with ship paint and varnished.

We cleaned it to its original condition. It turned out that even at the time the monument was created, there were problems with materials: it was cast from bronze of different compositions. When chemicals are applied, bronze of different compositions has different shades, which can be seen with the naked eye. Now our task when patination of bronze elements is to make the color uniform and uniform— shares I. Tarasenko.

At the corners of the adjacent granite platform of the monument, authentic four-meter lamps topped with double-headed eagles will be installed. These lamps were completely lost: only the lower part and the decoration element remained. Restorers restored the shape of the lamps according to the drawings. Now they are cast and waiting in the wings.

When excavating the foundation of the monument, a wall was discovered, which is visible on pre-revolutionary postcards, as well as a concreted underground passage and rooms. During the reconstruction of the territory of the Historical Boulevard, the monument to Totleben will receive its authentic appearance.

Experts are preparing a monument to Admiral Ushakov for restoration. In total, 15 people are currently working at the facility.

Let us recall that, according to the contract, objects of cultural heritage of federal significance that are part of the ensemble of the memorial complex of monuments to the defense of Sevastopol in 1854-1855 on Istoricheskiy Boulevard are subject to restoration: the sculptural monument to Ushakov; monument to the soldiers of the 4th bastion; recreated fortifications of the forward parapet of the 4th bastion; memorial designation of the location of Kostomarov’s battery; a mine gallery and a piece of rock thrown out by an explosion; monument to the soldiers of the Yazonovsky redoubt; memorial designations for the location of batteries No. 20 Shikhmatov, No. 23 Lazarev, No. 53 Narbut, No. 100 Burleya, No. 115 Narbut, No. 120 Manto; stele in memory of Leo Tolstoy’s stay at the 4th battery in 1855; sculptural monument to Totleben and Russian sappers.

Reconstruction of the Historical Boulevard began in 2018. According to the current director of the Sevastopol Defense Museum, Mikhail Smorodkin, the Panorama building with a restored canvas and subject plan, as well as the boulevard itself with restored monuments and obelisks, will open in 2025.

source: «Sevastopol newspaper»