The Demidovsky Pillar is a modern obelisk

Obelisk

An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...

 on Demidov Square

Demidov Square

Demidov Square is a square in the Tsentralny City District of Barnaul in Russia, named after the Demidov dynasty. It is the site of the Demidovsky Pillar....

 in the Central District of Barnaul

Barnaul

-Russian Empire:Barnaul was one of the earlier cities established in Siberia. Originally chosen for its proximity to the mineral-rich Altai Mountains and its location on a major river, the site was founded by the wealthy Demidov family in the 1730s. In addition to the copper which had originally...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. It is a memorial to 100 years of mining in the Altai Krai

Altai Krai

Altai Krai is a federal subject of Russia . It borders with, clockwise from the south, Kazakhstan, Novosibirsk and Kemerovo Oblasts, and the Altai Republic. The krai's administrative center is the city of Barnaul...

. It was begun on the initiative of Pyotr Kozmitch Frolov

Pyotr Kozmitch Frolov

Pyotr Kozmitch Frolov , was a Russian mining engineer and inventor who, in 1809, built the first horse-railway in Russia. He elaborated on various canal projects and other artificial water constructions...

, with the first stone being laid on 18 June 1825 and completed in 1839.

The prototype for the Demidov Pillar was the Rumyantsev Obelisk

Kagul Obelisk

The Kagul Obelisk in Tsarskoye Selo is one of several such structures erected on behest of Catherine II of Russia in 1772 to commemorate Pyotr Rumyantsev's victory in the Battle of Kagul...

 in honour of the victories of Count PA Rumyantsev, established at the end of the 18th century on Vasilevsky Island in Saint Petersburg. Initial designs for the Demidovsky Pillar were for it to be 21m high (close to the height of the Rumyantsev Obelisk), but during construction under architect Jakob Nikolayevich Popov

Jakob Nikolayevich Popov

Jakob Nikolayevich Popov was a Russian architect. His most noted work is the Demidovsky Pillar....

 the height was significantly reduced, to 14m. It is made of 12 grey granite blocks, cut and processed in the Kolyvanskoy township and floated down the Tcharych

Tcharych River

The Charysh River is a long river in south-western Siberia in Russia, flowing into the left bank of the Ob River. Its source is in the Korgon mountains in the Republic of Altai, then descends into the pre-altaic depression in the Altai Krai, and it flows into the Ob upstream of the regional...

 and Ob

Ob River

The Ob River , also Obi, is a major river in western Siberia, Russia and is the world's seventh longest river. It is the westernmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean .The Gulf of Ob is the world's longest estuary.-Names:The Ob is known to the Khanty people as the...

 to Barnaul on rafts. The base rests on four iron pillars underpinning the granite pedestal, and on that pedestal is a cast bronze plaque reading:

Also on the pedestal was a cast-iron oval bas-relief with a portrait of Akinfiy Demidov

Akinfiy Demidov

Akinfiy Nikitich Demidov was a Russian industrialist of the Demidov family.-Life:He was the eldest son of Nikita Demidov and increased the family fortune, raising it to one of Russia's most important industrial dynasties. He set up at least 9 steel foundries and munitions factories from 1717 to...

produced at the Guriev plant.

In 1918 it was decided to dismantle and re-locate the obelisk as a monument to those who had died for the Revolution. Molten lead was poured between the granite slabs and there were attempts to scratch out the inscription, but it proved impossible to move it and it remains on its original site, though in the 1920s the authorities were able to remove the original memorial plaques. The bas-relief of Demidov passed to the Regional Museum as a model of artistic casting. The inscription plaque was replaced in 1949 with one reading: