The monument to Alexander III in Saint Petersburg is a bronze statue that was unveiled in 1909. It was sculpted by Paolo Troubetzkoy and depicts a very stout Tsar on a very heavy horse. The statue is considered controversial due to its depiction of Alexander III as an ultra-conservative and undereducated figure.
The monument was cast in two parts – the figure by the Italian foundry Sperati in Turin and the horse by the Obukhov works in St Petersburg. It stands in the center of Ploshchad Vosstaniya, a major square in Saint Petersburg .
The monument was commissioned by Alexander’s son, Tsar Nicholas II, and other members of the imperial family, specifically to mark and celebrate Alexander III’s decision to build the the Trans-Siberian Railway.