Monument to Saint Vladimir

Technique: granite plinth, figure: bronze cast made in Chernihiv, Ukraine

Dimensions: 4.5 m (total height), 2.5 m (height of the figure)

Object: The statue depicts Vladimir the Great (d. 15 July 1015), Grand Prince of Kyiv (978–1015), who in 988 introduced Christianity to Kievan Rus’ in the Greek Catholic rite and is regarded as a saint of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches. The statue on the pedestal depicts a man in his prime with a Russian Orthodox cross (with three crossbeams) in his left hand and a miniature of the Church of the Tithes founded by Saint Vladimir in Kyiv in his right hand. On the front side of the plinth, there is an inscription in Polish (and Ukrainian below), reading: “Saint Vladimir the Great. Prince of Kiev [sign of the cross] 1015. Baptist of Kievan Rus’ – Ukraine, 988. Co-founder of Christian Europe”. The base of the plinth bears the inscription: “Greek Catholic Parish / Gdańsk A.D. 2015” (in Polish and Ukrainian). The same inscriptions in German and English are to be found on the left and right side of the statue, respectively. The back of the plinth features the carved caption: “Artist Sculptor Gennadij Jerszow” (in Polish and Ukrainian) and “Architect Stanislav Szymanski” below it. This is the second monument to Saint Vladimir outside Ukraine. The first one, unveiled in 1988, is in London.

Place: Skwer Chrztu Rusi-Ukrainy (Square of the Baptism of Rus’ and Ukraine). The small square is located between Gnilna Street and Zaułek Św. Bartłomieja (St Bartholomew’s Alley), between the main façade of Saint Bartholomew’s Church and the rear elevation of the Madison Shopping Centre. The square gives the impression of an “urban pocket” connected to Gnilna Street, but this was not always the case. The street perpendicular to Gnilna, parallel to the church façade, used to run all the way to the Radunia Channel, towards the façade of Saint Bridget’s Church. Unfortunately, in the post-war urban planning solutions, it was turned into a service access for the buildings alongside it.

The location of the monument to Saint Vladimir is adapted to the present-day urban situation: the sculpture is facing Gnilna Street.

Information about the author:

Giennadij Jerszow (b. 12 July 1967 in Chernihiv) is a Polish-Ukrainian sculptor, jeweller, photographer, educator and social activist. He graduated from the Lviv State School of Decorative and Applied Arts and the Ukrainian Academy of Fine Arts in Kyiv. In 2000, he moved to Gdańsk with his family as a repatriate. He works with sacral and monumental art.

Stanisław Szymański is an architect, member of the Association of Polish Architects, Wybrzeże Branch. He specializes in ecclesiastical architecture and monument preservation.

Condition of the object: good

Owner/guardian: Efforts to build the monument were undertaken on the initiative of Rev. Mitrophoros Józef Ulicki in 2009, the statue was financed from a global collection organized by the Ukrainian community

Author of the entry: inventory made by the Gdańsk University of Technology team, description of the place: Jacek Dominiczak, additional information: Małgorzata Paszylka-Glaza