🏛 Monument to the Conquerors of Space

A titanium rocket-shaped stele at VDNKh, a 1964 monument to space exploration.

At first the obelisk honoring the satellite was to be placed near Moscow State University; the 1958 competition drew over a thousand designs.
It was Sergei Korolev who suggested cladding the monument in polished titanium, and he also secured supplies of the scarce metal.
During design the height grew from 50 to 107 m.
The frame is a steel lattice weighing 250 tonnes, assembled by hand on the ground and raised with cranes.
Korolev, seeing himself in the bas-relief at the base, was angry: he thought there were worthier heroes.
The monument is stamped on the 10-kopeck coin of 1967.
It is the second-tallest monument in Russia after the Victory monument on Poklonnaya Hill.

Part of these routes