The bronze horseman — the monument to Peter I on the Senate square. The monument got its name after the famous poem by Alexander Pushkin.

The equestrian statue of Peter the sculptor Etienne Falconet in 1768-1770 by order of the Empress Catherine II. Peter's head was modeled schoolgirl Falcone, Marie-Anne Collot. The casting of the statue under the guidance of a master Emilian Khailov was completed in 1778. For the pedestal of the monument from the surrounding area of Lakhta was delivered a giant granite boulder, the "Thunder-stone". The stone weighed 1,600 tons. The way "Thunder-stone" to the place of erection of the sculpture lasted for a year and a half: for it was built a barge and overland lump dragged through the gutters with copper balls.

The monument is unique in that it has only three points of support: the rear legs of the horse and the snake's tail. For sculpture acquired resistance, the master had to lighten her front end, because the thickness of the bronze walls of the front part is much thinner rear walls, which greatly complicated the casting of the monument.

By order of Catherine II on the pedestal is carved: "to Peter the First".