Monument to Sergius of Radonezh (Orenburg)

The Monument to Sergius of Radonezh in Orenburg stands in the city centre, in the Lebedev and Siraev Square at the corner of Chkalov and Stepan Razin streets, next to St. Nicholas Cathedral. The bronze figure of the saint and an arch with reliefs from his life were unveiled in the summer of 2019 and became one of the best-known Orthodox monuments in the Orenburg region.

History

The monument was commissioned and paid for by Sergei Filippov, director general of the Stroylandia company. It was unveiled in the summer of 2019; sources give either June 21 or July 18, the feast of the finding of the saint's relics. Metropolitan Veniamin of Orenburg and Saraktash consecrated it together with the clergy of St. Nicholas Cathedral. In his address he spoke of St. Sergius's importance for Russia and his role in defending the country, and the mayor of Orenburg, Dmitry Kulagin, thanked the donor.

The sculptor is Irina Makarova, a member of the Moscow Union of Artists, whose other works include monuments to the actor Mikhail Ulyanov in Omsk, the painter Vasily Polenov in Klimovsk and the navigator Fabian von Bellingshausen. The bronze was cast at the Lit Art sculpture foundry in Zhukovsky.

What to see

The full-length bronze figure of the elder is about 2.5 metres tall and weighs over a tonne. The saint stands in monastic robes in a solemn pose, and a chain of doves rises from his left palm, a symbol of his disciples. Behind him is an arch with reliefs showing scenes from his life, crowned with an icon of the Holy Trinity and an Orthodox cross.

The square was named in 2013 after Viktor Lebedev and Rustam Siraev, paratroopers from Orenburg in the 104th Guards Regiment who were killed on March 1, 2000, in the battle for Hill 776 in the Argun Gorge in Chechnya. Both were posthumously made Heroes of Russia, and memorial events are held in the square every March.

St. Nicholas Cathedral nearby

A few minutes' walk away, at 8 Chkalov Street, is St. Nicholas Cathedral, the main church of the Orenburg diocese. It was built by the Cossacks of the Orenburg stanitsa in 1883–1886, closed in 1936 and returned to believers in 1944. It keeps the venerated Tabyn icon of the Mother of God.

Good to know

The square has benches and step-free access. A visit combines easily with St. Nicholas Cathedral. Sergius of Radonezh, founder of the Trinity Lavra who blessed Prince Dmitry Donskoy before the Battle of Kulikovo, is one of the most revered saints of the Russian Orthodox Church.