Monument of Devotion

In the summer of 1995, in the Avtozavodsky district , on the side of the Southern Highway , one of the busiest streets of Tolyatti, a dog appeared, a German shepherd . He was constantly not far from the same place where thousands of citizens daily saw him. Residents of neighboring houses fed him, periodically tried to tame him, built him a kennel, but he invariably found himself on the side of the road, watching the cars. Not even his nickname was known. Therefore, the people began to call him "Faithful" or "Constantine" (translated from Greek - "permanent").

This went on for 7 years. The dog was always in its usual place for all, regardless of the weather and time of year. In 2002, the dog died.

The official version, which is held by the majority of citizens, says that the dog was the only survivor in a car accident.

The more romantic says that its owners are newlyweds returning from a honeymoon. The young wife died before the doctors arrived. A few hours later, a man died in intensive care . But the dog remained to wait for him at the place where the last time he had seen alive. She was waiting for the master to come. The dog guarded the last refuge of his master. And every day he threw himself at the cherry " nines ": "The owner has returned!" The reliability of the legend is impossible to establish. There are also not so sublime and romantic versions of the causes of dog behavior.

The idea of ​​such a sculpture was proposed by Ksenia Naletova, a student of the 8th grade of gymnasium No. 39 of the Komsomolsky district, back in 1990 , when the museum of historical and cultural heritage of the city of Togliatti announced a competition for new monuments in the city. Ksenia proposed a model of the monument to the dog. The contestant named her monument “Monument of Fidelity”: “On the pedestal is a dog, around the dog there is a ribbon symbolizing the road. At the end of the tape is a star - the Soul of the owner. The dog's gaze is facing the star. " A photograph of this layout was printed in the newspaper Freedom Square .

After the death of the dog, a shield was placed on the road with the inscription: "To the dog who taught us love and devotion." The poster was blown away by the wind; it was attacked by vandals. The Togliatti community took the initiative to erect a true monument to Verny. A monument was created for the funds collected by the townspeople. The project was won by the Ulyanovsk sculptor Oleg Klyuyev .

The monument was unveiled on June 1, 2003, at the intersection of the Southern Highway and Lev Yashin Street.

Bronze sculpture became the first non-political monument of Togliatti . Today it is a place of indispensable visit to the newlyweds.

• Greyfriars Bobby
• Hachiko

• Faithful in bronze (neopr.) . Monuments of the city of Togliatti . Date of treatment April 3, 2008.
• Anna Garmash. A monument to fidelity (neopr.) Appeared in Tolyatti (inaccessible link) . ANT (June 1, 2003). Date of treatment April 3, 2008. Archived September 27, 2007.
• Chronicles.ru: Monument "Devotion"
• IA "News of Russia". Monument to the True Faithful (unopened) (June 2, 2003). Date of treatment April 3, 2008.
• Monument of Loyalty to LoveToKnow
• Olga and Alexander Baryshevs. Monument of devotion (neopr.) . Date of treatment April 3, 2008.