Monument to the Hare that Escaped the Flood

On one of the piles of the Ioannovsky Bridge, which leads from the Petrograd Side into the Peter and Paul Fortress, perches a miniature metal figure of a hare — one of the most recognisable small monuments in St Petersburg. The sculpture recalls a toponymic legend about the island where the fortress, and indeed the city itself, was founded in 1703.

The monument was unveiled on 8 May 2003 as part of the celebrations marking the tercentenary of St Petersburg, with its installation timed to coincide with the completion of the Ioannovsky Bridge's restoration. It was created by animal sculptor Vladimir Petrovichev, who worked on the image of the hare for three years, together with architect Sergei Petchenko; historian Sergei Lebedev was one of the initiators of the idea. The figure was originally intended to stand on a separate pile driven into the bed of the strait by the right side of the bridge, but this costly work was abandoned, and the hare was instead placed on a cluster of piles that protect the bridge's supports from ice drift.

The sculpture stands just 58 centimetres tall: the hare is cast from an alloy of silumin, aluminium and duralumin and coated with titanium nitride, which gives the figure its golden sheen. This miniature scale places the monument alongside other small animal sculptures of the city — the Chizhik-Pyzhik bird on the Fontanka, the stray dog Gavryusha, and the cats Elisey and Vasilisa, also created by Petrovichev.

Two versions of the legend link the hare to a meeting with Peter I. According to one, a hare fleeing a flood leapt onto the tsar's boot the moment he stepped onto the shore of the island, which was home to many hares — hence its name, Hare Island (Zayachy). According to the other, the frightened animal jumped straight into Peter's hands at the very moment the tsar was scolding slow-moving carpenters at the fortress construction site, amusing him so much that his anger turned to mercy. There is also an alternative explanation: the local historian Mikhail Pylyaev linked the island's name to its Finnish name, Yenisaari, which may have meant not “hare island” but something else entirely.

The monument has its own name — Arseny, an anagram of the Finnish place name “Yenisaari.” Among city residents, a tradition has taken hold of throwing a coin onto the pile at the base of the monument: if it stays put and does not fall into the water, the wish made is said to come true. Because of its small size and exposed location, the sculpture has periodically been stolen, and it has also suffered damage from accidents during nearby powerboat racing competitions, occasionally leaving the bridge without its mascot.

The monument to the hare has long become one of the symbols of the Peter and Paul Fortress and its surroundings, linking urban folklore about the birth of St Petersburg with the modern tradition of small mascot sculptures. Despite its modest size, this little figure remains one of the most photographed attractions in the city's historic centre.