Living in Montenegro, it is nice to hear about events that sincerely delight the Russian soul.
As many already know, in Montenegro, so far from Russia geographically, but close in spirit, language and history, in 2004 monuments were erected to people well known to all of us: Vladimir Vysotsky and Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, in the capital of Montenegro, Podgorica.
So, the other day, on the day of cosmonautics (April 12), we attended the opening of the monument to the Hero of the Soviet Union, USSR pilot-cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. This joyful event took place in the small village of Radovichi on the street with the symbolic name "Nikola Tesla". It was nice to see many of our compatriots and Montenegrins who came to the opening.
To commemorate the 55th anniversary of the first manned flight into space, 55 balloons were released with the inscription Yuri Gagarin.
The initiator of the monument to the first cosmonaut of planet Earth was Just Rugel, director of the Peaks of Russian Civilization society. The monument was erected on a plot of land he specially acquired. Interestingly, when the topsoil was removed from the plot, a stunning view of the rocky landscape, once washed by the sea, was revealed, symbolically representing the surface of the moon or some distant planet.
The author of the monument is the famous Moscow sculptor Vadim Kirillov.
The total height of the monument including the pedestal is 2.7 meters. A range of modern materials were used in the creation of the sculptural composition, including – stainless steel, acrylic cement, and concrete with marble chips. The pedestal bears the inscription "Yuri Gagarin."
