Monument to the heroic defenders of Leningrad - a monument of Soviet architecture, which is a memorial complex, which is a tribute to the heroes and a symbolic embodiment of the feat of the defenders of the city in the tragic days of the siege of 1941-1944.
In the underground memorial hall of the monument there is a museum with a permanent exhibition.
The monument is located in the city of St. Petersburg on Victory Square.
The monument was created according to the project of participants of the defense of Leningrad-people's architects of the USSR V.A. Kamensky and S.B. Speransky and people's sculptor of the USSR M.K. Anikushin.
The grand opening of the ground part of the Monument took place on May 9, 1975-on the 30th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
The memorial decorates the southern entrance to Leningrad-Petersburg.
The memorial complex consists of: granite pylons with bronze sculptures, an obelisk with a sculptural group, a memorial hall "Blockade" with a sculptural composition and an underground memorial hall with an exposition.
You can view the ground part of the monument at any time of the day for free. Entrance to the underground permanent exhibition is paid.
View of the monument to the heroic defenders of Leningrad from the north - from the center of St. Petersburg. Here are the inscription "Feat to Leningrad" and a wide staircase leading to the Memorial Hall "Blockade".
On the south side of the monument there are two large granite pylons, on which 26 bronze sculptures are installed, representing the images of the defenders of Leningrad during the siege during the Great Patriotic War (World War II).
The sculptural groups face the former front line - the Pulkovo Heights.
The main vertical of the monument, rising to 48 meters, is a granite obelisk, on which the dates "1941-1945"are placed.
The obelisk is a symbol of the triumph of Victory in one of the most difficult wars in the history of mankind.
At the base of the obelisk on a high pedestal there is a sculptural group "Winners", representing the figures of two people - a worker and a soldier, which indicates the unity of the city and the front.
The place near the obelisk is called "Winners ' Square".
On both sides of the obelisk, wide staircases lead to a level below the ground surface.
There is a terrace with a flowerbed, the edges of which are placed the memorial plaque, which lists the highest degree of excellence, which is awarded to twelve cities of the Soviet Union, famous for its heroic defense during the great Patriotic war of 1941-1945: Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) on 8 may 1965, Odessa, on 8 may 1965, Sevastopol, May 8, 1965, Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad), May 8, 1965, Kiev, May 8, 1965, Brest Fortress, May 8, 1965, Moscow, May 8, 1965, Kerch, September 14, 1973, Novorossiysk, September 14, 1973, Minsk, June 26, 1974, Tula, December 7, 1976, Murmansk, May 6, 1985, and Smolensk, May 6, 1985.
Just below is the Memorial Hall of the "Blockade".
In the hall there is a granite ring, 124 meters long, with broken borders of the walls, where the edges of the gap are a symbolic ring of the blockade, associated with the chaotic heaps of the all-destroying war. According to the authors, the surface of the walls retains the texture of wooden formwork - such were the defensive structures of the war years.
On the granite ring, the Eternal Flame is placed and the dates "900 nights - 900 days" (the time of the continuation of the blockade) are indicated, between which the awards and orders awarded to Leningrad are listed.
In the center of the Memorial Hall, on a pedestal, there is a sculptural composition "Blockade", consisting of 6 bronze figures: a soldier in earflaps with a PPSH on his back, supporting an elderly woman, a mother with a child in her arms and two exhausted female figures on the ground. The figures are made just above the human height.
From the Memorial Hall "Blockade" (if desired and for a fee), you can go to the underground Memorial Hall, where there is a documentary and artistic exhibition dedicated to the defense and siege of Leningrad in 1941-1944.
The exhibits on display in the museum tell about the ordeal that fell to the lot of Leningrad residents during the Great Patriotic War, when 900 days and nights turned into a whole life filled with sadness from the losses of loved ones and the joy of victories.
Along the walls of the hall there is a bronze frieze with a continuous row of lamps made from the shells of 76-mm shells. Around the perimeter of all underground rooms, 900 lamps are installed-according to the number of blockade days. On the walls are inscriptions: in the vestibules - the names of enterprises of the city and the region that worked for the front, in the hall-the names of settlements of the Leningrad region, where fierce battles took place.
In the Memorial Hall you can see newsreel footage, bronze pages of the chronicle, telling about each day of the blockade, the map "The Heroic Battle for Leningrad", telling about the main stages of the defense of the city, the breakthrough and the lifting of the blockade.
Practical information
The passage to the monument to the heroic defenders of Leningrad is free (free).
Entrance to the underground exhibition is paid. The exhibition is a branch of the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg.
We recommend that you check the opening hours of the exhibition and the cost of tickets on the official website of the museum: spbmuseum.
The monument to the heroic defenders of Leningrad is located on Victory Square in St. Petersburg.
Coordinates of the monument and Victory Square: 59°50'34.0"N 30°19'19.0"E (59.842778, 30.321944).
The nearest metrostation is Moskovskaya (the distance to the monument is 750 meters); then there is Kupchino station (the distance to the monument is 4.1 km).
All accommodation facilities in St. Petersburg, including in the city center and more remote from it, can be viewed and booked here
