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The opening ceremony will take place in the town of Anna Pavlovna located in the province of Northern Holland and named after the Russian czar Pavel I's daughter who became the Queen of the Netherlands in the 19th century. The equestrian statue of the Queen was cast in bronze. It is expected that St.Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko will attend the opening ceremony. Also in attendance will be Russia's Ambassador to the Netherlands Kyrill Gevorkyan and mayors of several towns located near St.Petersburg. After the ceremony, Queen Beatrix is to open a flower exhibition in the town's Spring Garden. The events will mark the 160th anniversary of the town of Anna Pavlovna and the 25th anniversary of the Spring Garden. They are also part of a wider program of celebrations held in the country to mark the 25th anniversary of Queen Beatrix's coronation. Anna Pavlovna is the only town in the Netherlands named after a member of the Royal Family. The Russian Princess married the King of the Netherlands' son, the Prince of Orange. During the reign of her husband, King Willem II, from 1840 to 1849, she was the Queen of the Netherlands and won universal love and respect of the population. People have retained memory of the Russian Queen to these days. A monument (also authored by Andrei Tartynov) to her was opened in the Hague in 1999. It represents Anna Pavlovna sitting on a bench in a square named after her. The town of Anna Pavlovna, the site of the planned equestrian monument to the former Queen, received its name in 1844 when the Dutch managed to dam off a vast portion of the sea and decided to commemorate the town they were going to found on the newly-captured land by naming it after the incumbent Queen. Anna Pavlovna's economy rests on export of flowers, primarily the famous Dutch tulips, a sizeable share of which goes to Russia. |