In several large cities in the world there is an area under the strange name of the Field of Mars. What does it mean?
All these places are named in honor of Campus Martiusancient Rome, and therefore, to understand the significance of the numerous mars fields, without in-depth digression into history, we can not do. Let's figure out where this phenomenon came from, what kind of view it took now.
The Field of Mars: History
В античные времена никому, кроме стражи, нельзя was to enter the city with a gun. But what about the army? For her, in fact, built barracks outside the walls. In fact, these were real military towns: in addition to the barracks there was a hospital, weapons workshops, arsenal, a field for training and training battles. All this together was called a campus (campus in Latin). Since the camp was occupied by the military, it was under the auspices of the god of war, Mars. In Rome, this place was located on the left bank of the Tiber, occupying the lowland between the hills of Capitolius, Pincius and Quirinal. In the center of the campus stood a small altar to a militant god.
After the era of Tarquinia, especially in times ofLate Republic, Field of Mars changed its status and appearance. Public meetings began to be held there, sometimes military reviews, sports competitions (centuriate committees) were held, and even executions were carried out. Every year the holiday of Equirius with horse racing and cavalcade of chariots was celebrated here. Since the field was huge, several events took place at the same time, and many spectators could find entertainment for themselves.
The further fate of the Field of Mars
When Rome was ruled by Julius Caesar, the militaryThe town moved to Celio Hill. The ordinary civilians of the city began to settle on the Mars Field. But the name is preserved in toponymy. Subsequently, this huge crescent-shaped space began to be actively built up. It was built a lot of interesting architectural structures, such as the Pantheon. Since the territory of the original military camp included a cemetery where the ashes of soldiers who fell for the fatherland were kept, later citizens continued to honor their heroes in this place, for which the Pantheon temple was built, which adorns the Field of Mars. Rome has lost a large vacant space, but sacredly keeps the memory of this glorious place.
Other fields dedicated to the fallen heroes
By analogy with the "Campus Martius" in Rome similarplaces began to be created in other big cities. It is noteworthy that initially their purpose was the same as in the Eternal City. They performed a military function for soldier drill and solemn parades. And only then, after centuries, they began to be perceived as memorials of glory to heroes who fell for their Fatherland.
In some cities in such areas litEternal flame. Naturally, the altars to Mars were no longer erected in such places, but the name remained. Perhaps because it was the fashion of antiquity. Thus, the fields dedicated to the god of war also appeared in lands very far from Rome. In which cities are the Champ de Mars? Paris, Athens, Nuremberg and even St. Petersburg. The most interesting both in historical and architectural terms is the Champ de Mars in the capital of France. And the most instructive - in the German city of Nuremberg.
Parisian parade ground for military maneuvers
In 1751, King Louis XV of France orderedbuild a military school on the left bank of the Seine. Boys from impoverished noble families were supposed to study there (it is known that young Napoleon Bonaparte was one of the cadets in this institution). The school adjoined a vast flat meadow, designed for military exercises. Here the king also took parades. This space near the Louvre is called the Field of Mars.
Париж оценил эту обширную площадку, пригодную для meeting a large number of people. Here they swore the first constitution. Some of the events of the French Revolution of 1791 also took place in this field. A large empty space almost in the center of the city was used by Parisians for various needs. Here not only folk festivals were held, but also the first experiments on mastering airspace were made. In 1784, a pioneer in this area, Blanchard, flew from the Field of Mars to the sky on a controlled ball.
Successful addition. Majestic monument
Field of Mars, sprawled over twentyhectares along the Quai Branly, in contrast to his Roman counterpart, was left unbuilt. It played the role of the city hippodrome in 1833-1860, then began to hold exhibitions of world-wide scientific achievements. Therefore, when Gustave Eiffel presented Paris with a draft of his tower, it was decided to build it exactly at the Field of Mars. Iron openwork design wonderfully fit into the green framing of lawns. In order to view and photograph the Eiffel Tower with the Champ de Mars, millions of tourists are now flocking to the city. The natural edging of the field is the golden dome of the Invalides building and the Military School. Therefore, the Parisians themselves love to arrange picnics on the grass of lawns, coming to the field even in the evening with candles.
Field of Mars in Athens
This memorial in modern Greek is calledΠεδίον του Άρεως (Pedion to Areos). It was built in 1934 to honor the heroes of the national liberation revolution of 1821. By analogy with the Paris Field of Mars, the monument was dedicated to the god of war - Areos. It is noteworthy that you will not see his statue anywhere, and the sculpture of Athena Pallas crowns the memorial of glory. Unlike the green meadows of the capital of France, this monument is a shady park. The microclimate of the green zone in the very center of the city (from here it is only a kilometer to Omonia Square) is such that in summer the temperature here is two degrees lower than everywhere in Athens. In front of the main entrance there is a statue of the Greek King Constantine I on horseback. In the park, in addition to the busts of twenty-one heroes of the revolution, there is also the grave of British, New Zealand and Australian soldiers who died in the battles for Greece during the Second World War.
History of the Field of Mars in St. Petersburg
A century after it was foundedPetersburg, the Field of Mars was created in this city. However, it was originally called Poteshny, because on the undeveloped territory, there were celebrations at Maslenitsa. It was located just west of the Summer Garden. In the XVIII century, this place was called the Great Meadow.
Название, да и функции места поменялись, когда на Empress Elizabeth Petrovna ascended the throne. The field became respectfully dubbed Tsaritsyn Meadow. It held military parades and parades. And since Russia has always had a fashion for Paris, at the turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries, it was decided to call Tsaritsyn Meadow the Field of Mars. Paul I ordered that part of the rapidly building-up space be fenced with a wrought-iron grille, and a park with lawns and avenues be laid out. In 1801, on the orders of the same emperor, monuments to commanders Suvorov and Rumyantsev were erected.
Turning from meadow to square
Years passed, Petersburg developed, and with itchanges touched and Field of Mars. Two sculptures adorning him moved to other places in the city. So, the monument to commander P. A. Rumyantsev of the work of architect V. F. Brenna was transferred in 1818 to Vasilyevsky Island. And during the reign of Emperor Alexander I, the sculpture of the great field marshal was also moved. Now she stands opposite the Trinity Bridge, next to the Marble Palace and the Count's house of Saltykov. In fact, this is also part of the Tsaritsyn Meadow, only isolated in a separate area, named after the field marshal.
Monument to Suvorov on the Field of Mars, on the Moika,worth mentioning. In the Russian Empire it was the first monument to the uncrowned person. Sculptor M.I. Kozlovsky, who worked on the monument by decree of Paul I in 1799-1800, did not particularly care about the portrait likeness of the statue and the original. Rather, it is a collective, epic image of the winner-commander. The bronze figure on the pedestal is dressed in an antique toga. In her right hand she holds a sword, in her left she holds a shield. Suvorov appears before us in the guise of Mars, the god of war.
Turning into the Memorial of Glory
After the Field of Mars has lost its monumentstwo commanders, nothing more indicated the attitude of this place to war and battle. However, the name remains. Therefore, when the question arose of where to bury people who fell during the February Revolution of 1917, there was no other suggestion: the mass grave should be located on the Champ de Mars. Later there began to appear new graves of workers killed in the Yaroslavl uprising in the summer of 1918, participants in the defense of the city from the troops of Yudenich, as well as the dead revolutionaries M. Uritsky, V. Volodarsky, Latvian riflemen and others. The memory of the heroes was decided to perpetuate the opening of the memorial. It was built from gray and pink granite. Opening timed to the second anniversary of the October Revolution. But the field itself was renamed the Victims of Revolution Square.
Arena victory, which became a place of shame
In March 1935, fascist Germany decidedget your own Mars field. It was supposed to be not just a place for maneuvers and drill troops of the Wehrmacht. Here it was planned to hold party congresses, as well as a parade in honor of the liberation of the world from the "plague of communism and Semitic domination." And therefore it should have been the construction of the century - the largest in Mars Field of Mars. Photos of those years show that the space allocated for the parade ground was equal to the size of eighty football fields! In the same spirit of giantomania, there were tribunes designed for 250 thousand spectators. Twenty-four towers were to surround the arena (eleven of them were built by 1945), and the Fuhrer's rostrum was to be crowned by the sculptural group of Victoria, the goddess of victory, with the warriors. And what came of it? We can only say that the grand parade ground for parades was conceived in Nuremberg, where, as you know, hearings were held on the process of fascists accused of crimes against humanity. A truly instructive story!
