5 most unexpected monuments in Russia

In Russia, you can meet plenty of weird objects all over its territory. RBTH correspondent Sofia Raevskaya reveals how ordinary things become a work of art.

The monument to slippers

This monument, which anybody can try on, is located in Tomsk. In 2006, right on the porch of the Tomsk Hotel, a petite monument to the ordinary slipper was set up. It is only one foot long and engraved with the words “Feel at home.”

First stool monument in Moscow. Source: Lori / Legion Media

Oleg Kislitskiy, the sculptor, could not decide on the design of the slippers — with pompons, with open toes, or wool ones. In the end, he decided to make a copy of his own slippers that he wears at home.  The bronze slippers look truly worn, making the monument more realistic.

The monument to Russia's first stool

The monument to Russia's first stool is located on the Arshenevsky Estate in Moscow's Tagansky District. In 1999, a furniture museum was founded there, and, in 2000, one of the biggest monuments dedicated to household production — a 10-foot stool — was installed.

The monument to the grater

The monument to the grater can be found in Yekaterinburg. Its dimensions are rather big: It is 8 feet tall and weighs more than 220 pounds. According to city legend, one night right before April Fool's Day, an enormous metallic grater mysteriously appeared right in the center of the city.

Unusual monument of a grater in the city of Yekaterinburg. Source: Lori / Legion Media

Someone had installed the monument with the following inscription: "The best place for discussions." In the Russian language, there is an expression, “to grate a question,” which means to tackle an issue. Thus, the monumental grater became a statuesque metaphor.

The monument to the heater

A window, a cat and a radiator in bronze located in Samara. Source: RIA Novosti

The bronze composition — a window, a cat and a radiator — presents a kind of bas-relief on one of Samara’s heating stations. The city’s cats inspired the monument: Samara residents were asked to send in photographs of their pets sitting on radiators.

As for the model for the heater, old-fashioned radiators from the beginning of the 20th century and found in the Samara Art Museum were used. The monument was officially opened on Oct. 19, 2005, to commemorate 150th anniversary of the invention of the heater.

The keyboard monument

The monument of the keyboard in Yekaterinburg. Source: Lori/Legion Media

Just like the grater monument, the concrete keyboard monument can be found in Yekaterinburg. Its area is 52 feet by 13 feet, while each key weighs around 175 pounds.

This keyboard symbolizes the unification of communication lines between Europe and Asia, as the Ural region in which Yekaterinburg is located acts as the border between the two world regions.

According city legend, if you make a wish, "type" it out by jumping from one letter to another, and press “Enter,” then the wish will come true. Conversely, if a person is having some kind of trouble in their life, jumping on the “CTRL,” “ALT,” “DEL” keys will “reboot” their life.

Those who do not believe in these kinds of legends love the monument anyway, due to the great photographs that can be taken of it.

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