Victoria Memorial.
In January 1901, after the death of Queen Victoria, Lord Curzon invited Viceroy from India to build a large building with gardens and museums, thus memorizing the memory of the Queen. Five years later, in January 1906, the foundation of a future warning was laid, which would open to the public in 1921. The Indian states, the rich and the British government participated in project financing. Both Rajas and the people of India excessively responded to Lord Curzon's appeal. Used in most of the money is collected by voluntary subscription.
The architect responsible for the construction of the Victoria Memorial is William Emerson, president of the Royal Institute of British Architects. The Memorial building is built in Indo-Saracenic style, using elements of the Mughal and Venetian traditions, as well as some additions to the Deccan and Islamic architecture.
The arrogant building rises to a height of 56 meters and has a long facade of about 103 meters. At the top of the central dome is a figure of five meters from the Angel of Victory, surrounded by statues of allegory of art, architecture, justice and charity. Above the arches of the northern porch there are three more sculptures: motherhood, caution, and doctrine.
Victoria Memorial is built from Makranovsky marble, which is famous for its white color and excellent quality. The selection of marbles was unintentional because the high calcium content was resistant to water infiltration to the same, depending on the dirt, the marble discoloration from white to the various shades of white rose, while retaining the luster for a long period of time.
Today, the museum has 25 galleries, the most impressive among them - the Royal Gallery, the national leader gallery, the portrait gallery, the statue, the new weapons and galleries of Calcutta. Memorial Museum has the largest collection of Thomas Danielle (landscape painters and orientalists), a rare collection of antique books, as well as rare book exhibitions on Kathak dance and Wajid Ali Shah music.
The royal gallery presents portraits of Prince Albert and Victoria, as well as a canvas gallery dedicated to their lives. The painting is written in oil and reflects the important moments in the life of the royal couple: Victoria's marriage to Albert; Victoria, who received the Sacrament at his coronation; baptism of the Prince of Wales.
On the south side of the gallery there is a picture of Russian painter Vasily Vereshchagin about the Prince of Wales joining Jaipur.
In addition to paintings in the gallery, Queen's correspondence is kept from Windsor Castle.
Around the mid-70s of the XX century came questions about the creation of the Calcutta gallery, after project deals and new gallery concepts were developed. In 1992, the gallery was opened, it represents the entire cultural history of Calcutta, from 1630 to 1911, when the capital of India was transferred from Calcutta to New Delhi.
Victoria Memorial Gardens was defeated by Lord Redesdale and David Payne designs. Their total area is 260 thousand square meters. In the park there is a bronze statue of Queen Victoria herself, who sits on her throne, wearing ceremonial attire. On the south side of the park, near Edward VI's memorial arches there is a bronze statue of his horse, as well as Lord Curzon marble statue. In the park there are other statues of Queen Victoria's contemporaries - famous officials and industrialists.
Today, the Victoria Memorial, conceived by Lord Curzon as a memorial to depart the "golden age" of British India, becomes a history museum of Calcutta.
In the Memorial galleries are collected historical documents, carvings and drawings that tell visitors about the life of the city and its citizens for two centuries. Tourists, after visiting this place, say that in the area of the museum complex there is an atmosphere of tranquility and a sense of meeting the two cultures - West and East