The Millennium of Russia stands in the Novgorod Kremlin in Veliky Novgorod. It marks 1,000 years since Rurik arrived in Novgorod. A design by Mikhail Mikeshin and architect Viktor Hartmann won a competition in 1859, and the monument was erected in 1862. Public subscription paid most of its 400,000 rubles.
The bronze weighs 100 tons and stands about 52 feet (15.7 meters) tall. A bell-shaped pedestal built of sixteen Sortavala granite blocks, each over 35 tons, supports it. Tiers carry 129 figures, grouped as statesmen, military men, writers and artists, and men of enlightenment. Sculptors included Ivan Schroeder and Alexander Opekushin.
German forces dismantled it in World War II, and it returned to public view in 1944. UNESCO lists it within the Historic Monuments of Novgorod and Surroundings, inscribed in 1992. Some critics at the time found it overloaded with figures.
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