Alexander II Column

The Alexander II Column is a triumphal monument in Odessa's Shevchenko Park that commemorates the visit of Russian Tsar Alexander II in 1875. The monument was erected in May 1891 on the same spot where the city administration had received the monarch. A tsar's pavilion once stood here, where the emperor approved the creation of a park named after him and planted the first tree. The column rests on the remains of the Bastion of St. Andrew, a fortification built in 1793 and 1794 that originally served as a border checkpoint. When Russia's borders shifted to the southwest, the fortress was declared ineffective for defense in 1811.