Monument to Minin and Pozharsky

Monument to Minin and Pozharsky Па́мятник Ми́нину и Пожа́рскому
Pozharsky (sitting) and Minin (standing) monument in Moscow
Location	Moscow, Russia
Designer	Ivan Martos
Material	bronze
Completion date	1818
Coordinates	55°45′N 37°37′E / 55.75°N 37.61°E / 55.75; 37.61Coordinates: 55°45′N 37°37′E / 55.75°N 37.61°E / 55.75; 37.61

Monument to Minin and Pozharsky (Russian: Па́мятник Ми́нину и Пожа́рскому) is a bronze statue on Red Square of Moscow, Russia in front of Saint Basil's Cathedral. The statue commemorates prince Dmitry Pozharsky and Kuzma Minin, who gathered the all-Russian volunteer army and expelled the forces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from Moscow, thus putting an end to the Time of Troubles in 1612.

The monument was conceived by the Free Society of Lovers of Literature, Science, and the Arts to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the events. The construction was funded by public conscription in Nizhny Novgorod, the city whence Minin and Pozharsky came to save Moscow. The Tsar Alexander I, however, opted for the monument to be located on Red Square next to the Moscow Kremlin rather than in Nizhny Novgorod.The competition of projects was won by the celebrated sculptor Ivan Martos in 1808. Martos completed a model, which was approved by Empress Maria Feodorovna and the Russian Academy of Fine Arts in 1813. Casting work using 1100 lbs of copper was completed in 1816 in St Petersburg. The base, made from three massive blocks of granite from Finland were also carved at St Petersburg. Moving the statue and base to Moscow presented logistical challenges, and was accomplished during winter by use of the frozen waterways. However, in the wake of Napoleon's invasion of Russia, the monument could not be unveiled until 1818.

The front of the base has a brone placque, depicting a scene of citizens-patriots sacrificing their property for the benefit of the motherland. On the left is an image of the sculptor Martos, giving away his two sons (one of whom died in 1813)

Originally, the statue stood in the centre of Red Square, with Pozharsky waving his hand towards the Moscow Kremlin. However, after the 1917 Revolution, the Communist authorities, for whom the monument was obstructing military parades, discussed plans for its demolition or moving it to some indoor museum. In 1936, the statue was moved closer to the cathedral where it remains up to the present.

On the first celebration of the Day of People's Unity (November 4, 2005) a near exact copy of this monument by Zurab Tsereteli was erected in Nizhny Novgorod. The copy is only 5 cm shorter than the Moscow original.