Monument to a passenger in Gomel
On April 18, 2008, a new Monument to a passenger appeared at the Gomel railway station – a slender peasant in a coat and hat sits on a huge suitcase of the first half of the 20th century and sadly looks at the bustle of the station. The inscriptions on the suitcase say that he has come a long way: Rio de Janeiro-Paris-London-Tel Aviv and through Zhmerinka arrived in Gomel. The left hand squeezes either a volume of poetry or a notebook with travel notes. This bronze traveler is also called “Suitcase Mood” and “Eternal Passarzhir”.
The idea of creating the “Passenger” belongs to the administration of the Zheleznodorozhny District. Its author is the famous Gomel sculptor Vyacheslav Dolgov.
As often happens, the monument has its own omen: for a successful trip, you need to rub the “Passenger’s” nose and shake hands. Apparently, many believe in this: the nose and hand are polished to a shine.
Following the example of the railway workers, the administration of another Gomel station – the bus station – also decided to acquire its own monument. The order was made to the same sculptor Dolgov. Unfortunately, Vyacheslav Karpovich did not live to see its opening. His most recent work, Passenger Running, was installed in March 2019.