Two rostral columns sit on a granite bases and are constructed of brick coated with a terra cotta red stucco and decorated with bronze anchors and four pairs of bronze ship prows. Seated marble figures decorate the base of each column each representing the major rivers of Russia, Volga and Dnieper at the northern column, Neva and Volkhov at the southern one. They originally served as beacons and originally were topped by a light in the form of a Greek brazier and lit by oil.