Monument to Chocolate

The Monument to Chocolate or Chocolate Fairy is a monument in the City of Pokrov, Vladimir Region, Russia.

A bronze statue was created in 2009 and is known as the first monument to chocolate in the world. The monument is shaped as a chocolate bar, and represents a figure of a magic fairy holding a chocolate in her hands. The monument was unveiled on July 1, 2009, in few steps from the Pokrov Museum of Chocolate.

The monument was given to the city by Kraft Foods to mark the 15th anniversary of the company’s operation in Russia. Kraft Foods' chocolate factory is well known as a producer of chocolate under the famous brands Alpen Gold, Milka, and Vozdushny, is the backbone enterprise of Pokrov.

Sculptors from the cities of Vladimir and St. Petersburg participated in the competition for the best design of the monument. The project to create the first monument to chocolate was awarded to Ilya Shanin, a talented Vladimir sculptor and winner of the European sand sculptors’ championship whose works were displayed in the cities of Germany, Austria and Belgium.

The monument is 3 metres (9.8 ft) tall and weighs 600 kg (1,300 lb).

A legend associated with the statue says that if one makes a wish and rubs the bronze chocolate in the Fairy’s hand, the wish will come true.