The Monument to the Tail in Tula was founded next to the second building of the Tula State University in September 2007. The idea to put up the cutest, smallest and most useful monument in the city belonged to the local children’s poet and successful entrepreneur Igor Zolotov.
The Monument to the Tail has its own legend: it was created out of dimes. Not out of simple coins, but out of those that students used to put under their heels to successfully pass examinations. (The word “tail” in the Russian student slang refers to missed or failed exams.) About a hundred such dimes were collected. Then they were melted and cast into a wonderful little dragon 29 centimeters tall.
Yes, it really is that small, but if you find the Monument to the Tail in Tula and take a photo, it will bring you good luck. Cast from 10 kilograms of lucky dimes, it is designed to help. The students of the Tula State University quickly realized that this could and should be used. Now, before exams, they put coins on the pedestal, rub the dragon’s tail, touch it with their record-books, and even lay flowers. Does it help them? Since the student pilgrimage to the Tail continues, it must help. Even newlyweds ask the little monument for help in their future family life.
The Monument to the Tail represents a dragon that looks puzzled at its tail. It holds a record-book in its paws and, judging by the absence of the precious limb, it must have got at least a satisfactory grade for all its exams.
To find this small monument, you should come to Pr. Lenina, 84. Standing in front of the façade of the second building of the Tula State University, turn right and you will see a small park with benches. In the middle of this urban space, there is a white column with the inscription “Хвоsтов net” (“No tails”), with the student mascot at its top.
