Yuri Gagarin

Monument to the first astronaut in space, Yuri Gagarin, was built by the project of sculptor Pavel Bondarenko, architects Yakov Belopolsky, F.M. Gazhevsky, and designer A.F. Sudakov for the 1980 Olympics Games in Gagarin Square on Leninsky Avenue. It is a 42.5-meter (139 ft) high pedestal topped with a statue of Yuri Gagarin made of titanium, a metal often used in spacecraft, and weighs 12 tons. At the foot of the monument is a copy of the Vostok descent vehicle, which was flown on April 12, 1961, when Yuri Gagarin made the first manned flight into space.