Monument to the heroic defenders of Leningrad construction history. Monument to the heroic defenders of Leningrad: address, history, description of the complex

The southern entrance to St. Petersburg is grandly decorated with the architectural ensemble of Pobeda Square, located at the intersection of the Moscow and Pulkovskoye highways. The first thing that appears to the eyes of everyone is the Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad in the center of the square, dedicated to the defense and breaking of the blockade during the Great Patriotic War.

Historical reference

At this place in the 18th century there was an intermediate guard post Srednyaya Rogatka between two outposts: the first - at the foot of the Pulkovo Heights and the last (third) - at the Ligovsky Canal. In those days, special barriers in the form of a slingshot blocked the road in the outpost area - hence the name.

Near the travel palace of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna there was a wooden sign with the image of hands, showing the direction of movement to Moscow, St. Petersburg and Peterhof. The Srednerogatyn Palace was called that - "the house at three hands." Erected according to the project of the beloved architect of the Elizabethan era F. B. Rastrelli, the palace stood from 1754 to 1971, then it was carefully dismantled in order to change its location - to turn it “facing” to the square, but this was not done. As a result, Victory Square is completely formed by modern skyscrapers and ends on the north side with two 22-story buildings built in the mid-70s of the last century.

The dominant feature of the architectural ensemble is the monument to the most tragic page in the history of the city. The choice of location is not accidental either - at the fork in the road on the territory of Srednyaya Rogatka, in the first days of the war, a resistance knot was created with steel hedgehogs, an anti-tank ditch, and firing positions. When the front line of defense approached the city, troops, military equipment, and militias moved along Moskovsky Prospekt.

After the war, a temporary Arc de Triomphe was built here to meet the soldiers returning from the fronts.

The grand opening of the Monument on May 9, 1975 was timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Great Victory over fascism. In 1978, on February 23, the Memorial Hall was opened, which since 1991 has become part of the branches.

Architecture and exposition

The creators of the Monument: architects S. B. Speransky, V. A. Kamensky, sculptor M. K. Anikushin, participated in the defense of Leningrad. They managed to convey the deep sorrow of Leningraders, the feeling of a thin line between life and death under bombing and shelling, severe cold and hunger, but also unparalleled courage and stamina, pride and joy of Victory.

The Obelisk with a laconic inscription "1941-1945" is carried up 48 meters - a symbol of the triumph of the people who overcame fascism. At its foot is a sculptural group: a soldier and a worker, because the basis of the Victory is the unity of the front and rear.

On both sides, in front of the stele, in the open space, there is the “Square of the Winners”. On granite pedestals, 26 sculptures of the defenders of the city are installed, which are turned towards the Pulkovo Heights, where the battles took place on the outskirts of Leningrad.

Behind the obelisk, wide stairs lead to the Blockade Memorial Hall. It is located inside the symbolic blockade ring, 40 meters in diameter, massive, with broken lines of the rupture edges, reminiscent of the chaos of destruction brought by the war. In the center is a sculptural composition. The bronze figures of women and soldiers rescuing children are almost human-sized, which evokes a sense of belonging. The atmosphere is completed by torches with eternal flame on the walls around the entire perimeter of the hall.

The underground part of the Monument is a Memorial Hall, where there is a museum dedicated to the feat of the townspeople during the Siege. The hall is decorated with mosaic panels "Blockade" and "Victory", made by artists S. N. Repin, I. G. Uralov, N. P. Fomin.

900 lamps-candles - according to the number of blockade days - illuminate the hall, below them are the names of settlements near Leningrad, where the battles took place. In horizontal stands under glass, objects and documents relating to this period are collected, arranged as twelve separate thematic expositions.

Fragments of the Heroic Symphony by Dmitry Shostakovich, radio call signs of Moscow are heard in the hall, the metronome is periodically turned on.

The monument to the heroic defenders of Leningrad is a branch of the Museum of the History of St. Petersburg, its employees conduct excursions and festive events. As a rule, on holidays dedicated to the dates of the breakthrough and the final lifting of the Blockade, the museum hosts government delegations, at which time the square is closed.

Where is it located and how to get there

The nearest metro station to the monument is Moskovskaya. From it to Victory Square, the distance is about one kilometer.

Description

The monument to the heroic defenders of Leningrad, erected on Victory Square in the area of ​​​​the former Sredny Rogatka, today is one of the most expressive and memorable monuments dedicated to the Great Patriotic War. It was designed by the people's architects of the USSR V. A. Kamensky and S. B. Speransky and the people's sculptor of the USSR M. K. Anikushin - participants in the defense of Leningrad. The construction of the memorial complex was of national importance. The proposed projects and the location of the memorial were widely discussed. Voluntary donations were transferred to a special bank account. The monument was given a special role in the ensemble of the Green Belt of Glory - a complex of memorial objects on the former defense lines of Leningrad.

In the spring of 1974, the construction of the Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad began. The ground part of the monument, erected in record time, was opened on May 9, 1975 on the day of the 30th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. The underground Memorial Hall with a documentary and artistic exposition dedicated to the defense and blockade of Leningrad was opened on February 23, 1978.

The ensemble of the ground part of the memorial combines a 48-meter granite obelisk, the "Performance Square" and the open Memorial Hall "Blockade".

The main vertical of the monument is a granite obelisk - 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 is the sculptural group "Winners": the figures of a worker and a soldier testify to the unity of the city and the front. The obelisk is a link between the "Performance Square" and the semicircular Blockade Memorial Hall. Wide stairs lead to it on both sides of the obelisk pedestal. The broken lines of the walls, the edges of the breaking of the symbolic ring of the blockade are associated with the chaotic heaps of the all-destroying war. As conceived by the authors, the surface of the walls retains the texture of wooden formwork - such were the defensive structures of the war years. On the "Square of Winners" on granite pylons, 26 bronze sculptures are installed - these are images of the defenders of Leningrad. The sculptural groups face the former front line - the Pulkovo Heights.

The Blockade hall is surrounded by a 124-meter torn granite ring with laconic inscriptions “900 days” and “900 nights”, symbolizing the breaking of the blockade of Leningrad. In the center of the hall is the sculptural composition "Blockade". An eternal flame is always burning here and quiet music is playing, which creates a special atmosphere of the “temple of sorrow and memory”.

There is a museum exposition in the underground Memorial Hall. The mosaic triptych "Blockade 1941", made by S. N. Repin, I. G. Uralov and N. P. Fomin captured the first days of the defense and blockade of Leningrad: volunteers leaving for the front, residents of the city working at the besieged plant; portrait of the composer D. D. Shostakovich - the author of the Seventh Symphony dedicated to Leningrad. The panel "Victory", located at the opposite end of the hall, depicts the meeting of the winners and the July Victory Parade in 1945 in Leningrad. The exposition displays documents, awards, personal belongings of soldiers who gave their lives for Leningrad, wartime weapons, items telling about the life of the besieged city. One of the main relics of the Memorial Hall is a slice of bread weighing 125 grams - a daily ration for a resident of besieged Leningrad from November 20 to December 25, 1941.

The "Chronicle of the Heroic Days of the Siege of Leningrad" and the "Book of Memory" are stored in the Memorial Hall. The bronze pages of the Chronicle tell about each of the 900 days of the siege. Every day, pages are displayed on special pedestals in the Memorial Hall, telling about the events that took place in besieged Leningrad and on the battlefields near Leningrad on that day in 1941, 1942, 1943 and 1944. The daily change of dates and pages makes it possible to trace the real course of historical events.
The "Book of Memory", the pages of which are also made of bronze, contains a complete list of military formations that defended Leningrad.

In the museum exhibition you can see the documentary films "Memories of the blockade" and "Leningrad in the fight." Footage of military newsreels are shown to the musical accompaniment of the Seventh Symphony by D. D. Shostakovich.

Every year, the Monument hosts solemn ceremonies dedicated to holidays and memorable dates in the history of the city and the country:
January 18 on the Day of breaking the blockade of Leningrad;
January 27 on the Day of the complete lifting of the blockade of Leningrad;
February 23, Defender of the Fatherland Day;
May 9 on Victory Day;
June 22 on the Day of Remembrance of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War;
On September 8, on the Day of Remembrance, the blockade of Leningrad began.

The memorial complex located on Victory Square was created by architects and sculptors who themselves were direct participants in those events.

Kamensky and Speransky and the sculptor Anikushin, at one time, took part in the defense of Leningrad.

Perhaps that is why the memorial turned out to be very solemn and majestic.

None of the architectural structures of the Soviet period can even come close to compare with this place.

The monument to the heroic defenders of Leningrad was supposed to take a special place in the so-called Green Belt of Glory.

This is a whole complex of various memorial objects located on the defensive lines around, today already - St. Petersburg.

The complex consists of two parts - ground and underground. The upper part of the monument was solemnly opened for the 30th anniversary of the Victory, on May 9, 1975.

In bronze and granite, the story of a hard life in the blockade is told here. On the south side of the memorial is the "Square of the Winners". These are 26 sculptures of the defenders of Leningrad.

All of them "look" towards the Pulkovo Heights, where the front line passed.

The symbol of Victory is a tall, 48-meter obelisk.

At the base of the granite stele there are sculptures of a worker and a soldier. This group is called "Winners" and symbolizes the unity of front-line soldiers and home front workers.

From the pedestal there are two wide staircases leading to the semicircular Blockade Memorial Hall.

The texture of the walls of the hall imitates the wooden formwork of defensive military structures, and the lines of the walls symbolize the blockade ring.

The granite ring, 124 meters long, and sound design create the atmosphere of a temple inside the hall.

Central here is a sculpture bearing the same name. It is quite low, slightly taller than human height, and, according to its creator, symbolizes everything that the inhabitants of the besieged city had to endure.

The lower Memorial Hall contains documents and photographs that tell about the blockade, defense and liberation of Leningrad.

There is such silence here that one gets the impression of being not in a museum, but in the underworld.

Perhaps this is so, if you remember that the monument symbolizes 900 thousand people who died from bombs and hunger.

The blockade lasted 900 terrible days.

There has never been such a battle, such a siege and such sacrifices in the history of mankind.

First of all, it is necessary to bring foreign tourists here, and not to the Hermitage and Peterhof, so that in the brains of well-fed Europeans at least a little brighten up.

900 lamps, in the form of candles, are installed along the walls.

One at a time, in memory of each blockade day. Under each lamp is the name of the settlement where the fierce battles for the city took place.

Here, in the Memorial Hall, there is an electronic map called "The Heroic Battle for Leningrad", two mosaic panels "1941 - Blockade" and "Victory", as well as a marble plaque with 700 names of heroes of the USSR, who received this title for the defense of Leningrad. .

In 1995, the Museum's exposition was replenished with the Book of Memory, which contains the names of almost all soldiers and civilians who died during the blockade.

The memorial is visited by about a million people every year.

How to get there:

From the Moskovskaya metro station, go to Moskovsky Prospekt, walk past the Moskovsky department store, and go through the underground passage to the square.

The complex, which we will tell you about today, is by no means considered one of the most popular sights of St. Petersburg, which all tourists who come to this beautiful city aspire to. But, of course, it is a visual memory of an important and tragic page in the history of the Northern capital, which will be alive in the memory of many generations of Petersburgers and all Russians. It will be about the Monument to the heroic defenders of Leningrad.

About the monument

The hero of our story is located on the St. Petersburg Victory Square (metro station "Moskovskaya"). This is the address of the Monument to the heroic defenders of Leningrad. It is complex:

• Obelisk.
• Sculptural groups: "Blockade", "Defenders of Leningrad", "Worker and Soldier".
• Underground Museum.

Visiting the ground part of the complex is free (free of charge) at any time. The underground part (museum) has a specific work schedule:

• Mon - Sun - from 11:00 to 18:00.
• Tue - from 11:00 to 17:00.
• Wed - the museum is closed.

A visit to the Museum of the Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad is paid:

• The cost of an adult ticket is 120 rubles.
• Passage for children, pensioners - 70 rubles.

Photo and video shooting are allowed without charging an additional fee from the visitor.

Project Intent

The idea of ​​building such a complex in Leningrad liberated from the blockade was discussed back in the years of the Second World War. But they began to put the idea into practice only thirty years after the Victory. In the sixties, a suitable place was chosen for the implementation of a grandiose project - the square near the Middle Rogatka (in 1962 it will be renamed Victory Square).

This location for the future Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad was not chosen by chance. Leningraders remember that it was Moskovsky Prospekt during the war years that was the front road along which the people's militia marched, troops and equipment passed. Not far from here lay the front line of defense. A powerful resistance center was set up near Srednyaya Rogatka with pillboxes, steel hedgehogs, an anti-tank ditch, artillery firing positions and reinforced concrete gouges. Also, it was here in the joyful June 1945 that a temporary triumphal arch was erected, through which the guards troops of the victorious country passed.

Monument construction

It should be noted that the Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad on Victory Square was partially erected with donations from ordinary citizens. A special account was opened in the state bank for these purposes. Hundreds of thousands of citizens, schoolchildren, factory teams donated their funds to the future majestic monument to the glory of the defenders.

The start of the construction was postponed several times - they could not choose the winner for the implementation of the grandiose project. Finally, in the seventies, a creative group was created. The monument to the heroic defenders of Leningrad was designed by the architects Speransky and Kamensky, as well as the master sculptor Anikushin. I must say that they, too, were the defenders of the city in those terrible days.

According to the plan of the creators, the monument should form the southern entrance to Leningrad from the Pulkovo airport and the heights of the same name. Behind the story about the tragic pages in the life of the city, decorated in bronze and granite, peaceful residential areas should have stretched. And the facade of the memorial will "look" at those entering the city. 26 sculptures of the defenders of the Northern capital will rise on granite pylons. Made of bronze, they will fix their eyes on the Pulkovo Heights - once the front line.

Obelisk

The main vertical of the Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad on Victory Square is an obelisk 48 meters high. It is a symbol of the triumph of the victors - the Soviet people. At the base of this object is a sculptural group called "Winners" - a worker and a soldier, according to the sculptor's plan, symbolizing the unity of the rear and the front.

The obelisk, one might say, connects the "Square of the Winners" and the "Blockade" hall. The broken lines of the walls around the vertical mean the breaking of the blockade ring, and in a broader sense - destruction, chaos in the besieged city, generated by shelling and bombing. You should definitely pay attention to the texture of these walls - it is strikingly similar to the wooden formwork, the defensive fortifications of the war years.

Hall "Blockade"

In the northern part of the complex, the blockade memorial hall faces the city. It is slightly deepened - an open concrete ring with a diameter of 40 m and a total length of 124 m hangs over it. It is a symbol of the breakthrough of the Leningrad sedimentation. In the center of the hall, the sculptor placed the composition "Blockade".

The sculptural composition is made almost to human height, so that the audience can feel as close as possible the sorrow of people who survived that terrible time, see that fine line between life and non-existence. As Anikushin himself said, he expressed everything in his work: incessant bombing, constant killing hunger, fear, despair, ruthless winter cold.

underground museum

The final part of the composition of the Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad is an underground museum space, which is a branch of the Museum of the History of St. Petersburg. The exposition here is dedicated to the blockade, the defense of the city during the Second World War. Visitors should pay attention to 900 candle lamps installed along the walls of the museum. That is how many days the exhausting blockade of the city continued.

In the museum you can see the following:

• 12 artistic and historical compositions filled with objects, documents of that era.
• Mosaic panels dedicated to the events of the Great Patriotic War.
• An electronic map of the defense of the city from the Nazis.
• Commemorative marble plaque with the names of almost 700 defenders of Leningrad.
• Volumes of the Book of Memory, including the names of all civilians and soldiers who gave their lives for Leningrad.

The monument to the defenders of Leningrad is not just a St. Petersburg monument. This is a composition that fully conveys both the triumph of the people - the winner of fascism, and the sorrow of Leningraders, the eternal memory of the terrible war and its victims.