Monument to Fyodor Volkov

The monument to Fyodor Volkov, the founder of Russia's first publicly accessible theater, is one of the most famous sights of the city. An amateur actor, Volkov was undeservedly forgotten for a long time, but in 1973 Yaroslavl residents honored his memory by erecting a monument near the theater, which bears his name. The actor stands at full height on a high pedestal, his arms folded on his chest, his gaze thoughtful. For his stage costume, the local youth affectionately calls him "uncle in tights."

Volkov's fate is interesting. Yaroslavsky, a youngster studying industrial business in the capital, somehow got to a court performance and since then he could not think of anything but the theater. He refused to deal with the inherited factories, but preferred, returning to his hometown, to arrange performances in an ordinary barn, where the merchant Olovyashnikov used to store goods. A year later, the theater had its own premises, the first place in the country where everyone could watch performances.

Volkov was a jack of all trades: he not only staged plays and acted in them himself, he wrote more than 15 plays, many songs and solemn odes. The actor also owned several musical instruments, created music for performances and practiced stage decoration. And, by the way, the iconostasis of the Nikolo-Nadeinsky temple in Yaroslavl is made according to his drawing – so says the urban legend.

Interestingly, Yaroslavl residents wanted to erect a monument to Volkov back in the 19th century, but then not everyone considered the actors worthy of being immortalized in bronze. The second attempt was made at the beginning of the 20th century: then money was raised for the monument and two bronze models were executed, but the revolution began and there was no time for art. It was only six decades later that the idea finally came to life: the only monument in Russia to the founder of the theater, Fyodor Volkov, was erected in the Vlasyevsky Garden in Yaroslavl.