Monument to Chocolate

Monument to Chocolate
Памятник шоколаду
Coordinates 55°55′05″N 39°10′31″E / 55.91806°N 39.17528°E / 55.91806; 39.17528Coordinates: 55°55′05″N 39°10′31″E / 55.91806°N 39.17528°E / 55.91806; 39.17528
Location Pokrov, Vladimir Oblast, Russia
Designer Ilya Shanin
Material bronze
Width 600 kg (1,300 lb)
Height 3 metres (9.8 ft)
Completion date 2009
Opening date 1 July 2009
Dedicated to chocolate

The Monument to Chocolate, commonly known as Chocolate Fairy (Russian: Шоколадная фея), is a monument in the town of Pokrov, Vladimir Oblast, Russia.

A bronze statue was created in 2009 and is known as the first monument to chocolate in the world.[1] The monument is shaped as a chocolate bar, and represents a figure of a magic fairy holding a chocolate in her hands.[2] The monument was unveiled on 1 July 2009, in few steps from the Pokrov Museum of Chocolate.[1]

The monument was given to the town by Kraft Foods to mark the 15th anniversary of the company’s operation in Russia.[3][4] Kraft Foods' chocolate factory is well known as a producer of chocolate under the brands Alpen Gold, Milka, and Vozdushny, is the backbone enterprise of Pokrov.

Twenty sculptors from the cities of Vladimir and St. Petersburg participated in the competition for the best design of the monument.[5] The project to create the first monument to chocolate was awarded to Ilya Shanin, a talented Vladimir sculptor and winner of the European sand sculptors' championship whose works were displayed in the cities of Germany, Austria and Belgium.[5] It took him a year and a half to complete the sculpture.[1]

The monument is 3 metres (9.8 ft) tall and weighs 600 kg (1,300 lb).

A legend associated with the statue says that if one makes a wish and rubs the chocolate tile in the Fairy's hand, his/her life will be sweeter.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Statue of chocolate fairy goes up in Russian town". RIA Novosti. 1 July 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Monument chocolate". Gen4Trip. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  3. ↑ "Museum of Chocolate". European Route of Industrial Heritage. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  4. ↑ Rann, Jamie (26 February 2013). "Statue of limitations: the monuments that taste forgot". The Calvert Journal. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  5. 1 2 "A monument to Chocolate unveiled in the town of Pokrov". Russia-IC. 3 July 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
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