Kaluga celebrated its 600th anniversary in 1971 and in commemoration of this a new monument was unveiled on the road into the city from the bridge over the River Oka. It consists of a 50 metre obelisk with a sculpture of a cosmonaut which stands next to a giant sphere in honour of Kaluga being called the cradle of cosmonautics. Also included are bas reliefs of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky and significant events in the city’s history.