The Beatles Monument (Yekaterinburg)

The Beatles monument in Yekaterinburg is a set of cast-iron silhouettes of the four band members against a brick wall in the city centre, next to 8 Gorky Street on the bank of the Iset River. Unveiled in 2009, it was the first monument to the Beatles in Russia, and locals call the spot around it "Beatles Square".

History

The idea came from members of the Ural Beatles Club. For several years the volunteers worked to get the project approved by the city administration, then raised the money themselves: Beatles fans organised festivals, marathons and auctions, and ordinary residents chipped in too. Fundraising took almost six years and brought in about 2.5 million roubles. The cast-iron figures were made in 2007 at a foundry in Mikhaylovsk, Sverdlovsk Oblast.

The sketch was drawn by the artist Vadim Okladnikov, and the architect Artyom Alendeev designed the structure. The monument was unveiled on 23 May 2009, when members of The Quarrymen, the group the Beatles grew out of, pulled off the cover. It was the first such monument in Russia and the third in the former Soviet Union, after those in Donetsk and Almaty.

Because it was paid for and built with the help of local people, it is often called a people's monument. It is popular with residents and visitors alike.

What to see

The composition consists of four flat cast-iron silhouettes standing on a black granite platform in front of a red brick wall. On the wall next to them is a line from the Beatles song "The End": "The love you take is equal to the love you make".

The monument is part of walking routes through the centre along the Iset; another of the city's well-known quirky landmarks, the Keyboard Monument, is nearby.

Getting there

The monument stands at 8 Gorky Street by the Iset River, near the bridge on Malysheva Street. It is a 10 to 15 minute walk from Ploshchad 1905 Goda metro station. It is in the open air and can be visited at any time.