Victory Park on Poklonnaya Hill. Victory Park and Poklonnaya Hill What attractions are there in Victory Park?

Poklonnaya Hill (or Victory Park) is a majestic memorial erected in Moscow in memory of the fallen soldiers for the freedom of the Fatherland. People's grief and pride for the Russian people are reflected in this architectural complex with grandiose monuments, beautiful, slender buildings and outstanding monuments.

Each of them carries pain and glory, memory and tears, valor and suffering. The history of the creation of this memorable place is not simple - it included popular enthusiasm, protests, and heated discussions. Nevertheless, now it is one of the favorite vacation spots of citizens and guests of the capital, who deservedly appreciated the solemnity of the architecture, the splendor of the fountains and alley paths, and the grandeur of the design. In addition, Poklonnaya Gora is a gigantic platform for large-scale events dedicated to significant events in the history of our country, as well as the life of the city.

History of Poklonnaya Gora

Poklonnaya Gora, or rather, what remains of it, is located in the western region. Once upon a time it was a high hill, from the top of which a magnificent view of the capital opened. Even 100 years ago, the mountain was outside the city limits, and according to one version, its name comes from the established tradition of stopping at this place when approaching the capital and bowing to the city churches, their golden domes and snow-white walls.

The history of the mountain is connected with the most significant milestones in the life of the Fatherland. At the end of the 16th century, the Crimean Khan Gazhi Giray set up his camp on the hill when he tried to capture the capital of Muscovy. And a few years later, in 1610, Hetman Stanislav Zholkiewski stopped here, intending to place the Polish prince on the Russian throne. Finally, it was from here that on a cold September morning in 1812 Napoleon looked at Moscow, waiting in vain for a delegation with the keys to the city. And during the Second World War, thousands of volunteers went to the front line, bypassing this line.

The idea of erecting a memorial dedicated to the heroism of the defenders was born during the war. However, the country, exhausted by hardships and millions of victims, could not yet implement a large-scale plan that would require significant costs. Only in February 1958, on Defender of the Fatherland Day, a memorial symbol was laid on the hill, proclaiming the construction of a memorial on this site. Soon, an area of 135 hectares was planted with greenery and a park was laid out. For many years, the territory of the mountain served Muscovites as a natural park, where they loved to spend their free time in winter and summer. Even then, there was a tradition of organizing mass events and folk festivals at this place.

In 1968, the Arc de Triomphe was erected near the park, recreating an architectural monument of the early 19th century dedicated to the crushing of Bonaparte’s army.

In the 1980s, a collection of money was organized for the construction and arrangement of the memorial. About 200 million people's rubles were collected, and construction began. However, the decision to demolish part

Poklonnaya Gora caused public discontent and led to one of the first protests during perestroika. On May 6, 1987, hundreds of protesters came to Manezhnaya Square with posters calling to save Poklonnaya Hill. Construction of the memorial was suspended for several months, but by the end of the year part of the mountain was demolished. However, the money soon ran out, and the construction of Victory Park and the building of the Great Patriotic War Museum turned into long-term construction. Only a few years later, construction on Poklonnaya Hill continued, and on May 9, 1995, the official opening of Victory Park took place.

So, on May 9, 1995, on the day of the 50th anniversary of the Great Victory, the grand opening of the memorial took place on Poklonnaya Hill . The event was attended by the President of the Russian Federation B.N. Yeltsin, a parade of troops of the city garrison took place.

Victory Park on Poklonnaya Hill is a majestic architectural complex consisting of dozens of grandiose and beautiful buildings, landmarks, and monuments. The space of the memorial and its architectonics are imbued with deep symbolism, reflecting the greatness of the feat of the Soviet people and the unprecedented trials that our Fatherland went through in a terrible war. Thus, the main monument of the park is the Victory Monument, a stele in the shape of a triangular bayonet has a height of 141.8 m. In addition to the fact that it is the tallest Russian monument, its height reflects the number of days of the Second World War. At an altitude of 104 m, sculptures of the goddess Nike and two angels, signifying victory, are attached to the monument. At the foot of the obelisk there is an expressive sculpture of St. George the Victorious. The number of days of the war is also reflected in the number of fountains decorating the park. There are also 1418 of them. Of these, 225, which is equal to the number of weeks the war continued, are located on the main avenue. The alley consists of 5 ledges - according to the number of years of war. The red tint of the fountains fills the water cascades with tragic and mournful meaning.

Attractions

The architectural complex of Victory Park has been taking shape for more than two decades. Every year new monuments and buildings are added to its space.

The main attractions of the park, in addition to those listed:

15 steles reflecting the contribution of fronts and flotillas to the victory.
An open-air exhibition of military equipment. It displays tanks, torpedo boats, aircraft, howitzers, partisan dugouts, pillboxes, torpedoes, shells and other types of military equipment. This is a favorite place for all the boys and their dads who visit the park.
Church of St. George the Victorious. The temple contains the relics of the saint in whose honor the temple is named, transferred from Jerusalem. The architecture of the building combines motifs of ancient Russian architecture and Russian Art Nouveau style.
Mosque. Opened in memory of the Muslims who died on the fronts of the Second World War. The architecture of the building intertwines motifs of Tatar, Uzbek, and Azerbaijani architecture.
Synagogue. The building houses an exhibition dedicated to the Holocaust.
Eternal flame.
Monument "Tragedy of Nations". Dedicated to the victims of genocide.
Monument to internationalist soldiers. Built with funds from Afghan veterans.
Monument to "Missing Soldiers without Graves." Made in the form of a mortally wounded soldier.
Memorial plaque "Spirit of Elbe". Dedicated to the memorable meeting of the Allied forces on the Elbe;
The monument to the “Defenders of the Russian Land” is a sculptural group consisting of three warriors - an ancient Russian hero, a grenadier of 1812 and a soldier of the Second World War;
Monument to a front-line dog. Perhaps one of the most touching monuments in the park;
Monument to the heroes of the First World War. Opened on August 1, 2014, the centenary of Russia’s entry into the First World War;
Monument “We were together in the fight against Nazism.” Symbolizes the united will of different peoples united in the fight against Nazism;
Monument to Spanish volunteers who died in the battles of the Second World War. Designed as a Catholic chapel;
Monument to the countries participating in the anti-Hitler coalition. It is a marble monument with a gilded wreath on top;
The world's largest clock made of flowers - the diameter reaches 10 m, the length of the minute hand is 4.5 m, the hour hand is 3 m.

Central Victory Museum

The Victory Museum houses more than 60 thousand relics. Personal belongings of major military leaders and ordinary soldiers, letters from the front, awards, weapons, uniforms, banknotes and other rarities convey the breath of wartime and allow you to touch the evidence of the past.

The museum on Poklonnaya Hill is a unique monument to soldier’s courage and heroic feat of the entire people.

In the Hall of Glory there is a sculpture of the victorious Soldier, and the names of all the Heroes of the Soviet Union are placed on the boards.

In another room - the Hall of Memory - there is an automatic system in which you can find the names of all those who gave their lives for their homeland.

6 video walls show chronicles of war days and rare photographs. Large-scale dioramas will introduce you to the largest battles, and interactive excursions will allow museum visitors to try on military uniforms and hold weapons in their hands.

Events

For 20 years now, Poklonnaya Hill has been hosting fateful events that are significant in the lives of thousands of citizens. Weddings take place here, entrance into student life is celebrated, mass celebrations and veterans’ meetings take place.

Rental points are open for children and adults, which provide velomobiles, rollerblades, bicycles and other equipment. Collective yoga classes, CrossFit, martial arts, and running training are held on the paths of the park.

There are 15 attractions for children, and a train excursion will introduce you to the main attractions of the park. There are free drawing and painting clubs.

Every weekend, and even on weekdays, large-scale events are held in the park - song competitions, festivals, sports events, concerts, performances, all kinds of events and rallies.

Poklonnaya Hill, ice sculptures of 2016 delighted the New Year and the Ice Moscow festival. The fantastic show of transforming blocks of ice and snow into works of art will remain in the memory of tens of thousands of spectators for a long time.

Poklonnaya Hill and the Victory Park located on it are a grandiose memorial to the resilience of the Soviet and other peoples who exterminated the fascist threat. The vast territory of the park allows you to combine majestic monuments and buildings with recreational opportunities for children and adults. There is no doubt that the enormous potential of Poklonnaya Gora as a memorial complex and recreation park will develop further and take on new forms and incarnations.

Children about Russian history: Poklonnaya Hill. Video excursion for children to Poklonnaya Hill. Dedicated to Victory Day.

I am sure that after watching this video you will already know what to talk about with your children on Poklonnaya Hill and what you can show them on their first family excursion to this memorable place. Of course, there are still many interesting exhibits on Poklonnaya Hill - both a museum of military equipment and an interesting exhibition. But about them another time.

What you will learn from this short video:

Why is Poklonnaya Hill called that?
Why is there a statue of St. George the Victorious near the obelisk on Poklonnaya Hill? Who is St. George the Victorious? What is the St. George's Cross and St. George's Ribbon?
You can see the monument “Defenders of the Russian Land” on Poklonnaya Hill. Take a closer look at this monument in the photo below. Who will the child see in him? From what time did these warriors come to us? (Russian hero. warrior of 1812 and warrior of the Great Patriotic War). Do such warriors still exist today? How did he know that these were warriors from a long time ago, from our history? How is their military uniform different from modern military uniforms?
What is the “Book of Memory”?
What do the names of streets and villages in our cities and villages say?

After listening, be sure to talk with your children about the names of the streets that are around your house. Why are they called that? What is their story? What did these people do, because they are still remembered and a street was named after them?

Have you been with your children to Poklonnaya Hill? What impressions did your kids have from visiting this museum? What interested them most about the video? Do you have a desire to visit Poklonnaya Hill with the whole family and show these monuments “live”? I will be glad to see your comments on this topic.

Victory Park is located in the west of Moscow, between Kutuzovsky Prospect and the branch of the Moscow Railway of the Kyiv direction.
During the walk we will see the Triumphal Gate, Poklonnaya Hill with a flower clock, the Temple of St. George the Victorious, as well as the multi-meter stele Victory Monument.

And if we turn back, we will see the arch of the Triumphal Gate, located on Kutuzovsky Prospekt.

We will definitely return to it, but first we will go to Victory Park.

Now it is difficult to imagine the capital without the memorial complex on Poklonnaya Hill, but it appeared relatively recently, in 1995, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Victory. Prior to this, Victory Park, founded in 1958, was one of the many garden and park areas of the city.

Poklonnaya Mountain is part of the Tatarovskaya Upland, which also includes the Krylatsky Hills and the heights of the Filevsky Forest Park. Previously, Poklonnaya Hill was much higher and larger in area; it offered a panoramic view of the city and its surroundings. Travelers stopped here to look at the city and worship its churches, which is where the name of the mountain came from. Guests of the city were solemnly welcomed here. Knowing this fact, it was on Poklonnaya Hill that Napoleon Bonaparte waited for the keys to Moscow in 1812.

In 1966, most of Poklonnaya Hill was razed. All that remains of it is a small hill located in the eastern part of Victory Park, directly at the exit from the metro.

The hill is decorated with a flower clock - the only one in Moscow. They were built in 2001 and were listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest in the world. But due to the fact that the technical elements of the clock system are constantly exposed to conditions of high humidity and pollution, they do not always work; at times they are just a large flower garden.

At the top of the hill you can see a small wooden cross. It was installed in 1991 in honor of all Orthodox soldiers who took part in the Great Patriotic War, preceding the construction of the Church of St. George the Victorious, erected in 1995.

It is not necessary to climb the hill itself, since there are no steps or any other devices; you will have to climb directly on the grass, and if in winter, then on the snow. But if you are confident in your abilities, then you can rise. From the top of the mountain there is a good view of the city.

The “Years of War” alley is decorated with a fountain complex of the same name. It consists of 15 bowls, each with 15 jets, thus forming the number 255 - the number of weeks the war lasted. At night, the fountains are illuminated, the illumination is made in red tones, for which the fountains are sometimes even called “bloody fountains.”

On the left side of the fountains there is a sculptural ensemble consisting of 15 columns dedicated to the fronts and other units of the Soviet army.

From a distance, the sculptures look the same: a column mounted on a granite pedestal, the top adorned with a five-pointed star and military banners.

And at the base of each of the columns there is a bas-relief dedicated to one of the divisions.

This is in turn: Home front workers; Partisans and underground fighters; Black Sea, Baltic and Northern fleets; 3rd, 2nd, 4th and 1st Ukrainian Fronts; 1st, 2nd and 3rd Belorussian Fronts; 1st Baltic Front; Leningrad Front.

From the alley “Years of War” we turn left to the Church of St. George the Victorious. It, like most of the monuments included in the memorial complex, was erected in 1995, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Victory.

The facade of the Temple is decorated with bas-reliefs with the faces of the Savior, the Virgin Mary and St. George.

Near the entrance to the Temple, we will see a sculpture depicting a wounded soldier. This is the Monument to Missing Soldiers without Graves. It was brought as a gift to Moscow by the Republic of Ukraine.

From the Temple you can return to the main alley of the park, or, if we have already seen everything there, go straight up to the Victory Monument. The staircase starts immediately from the monument to the missing.

The architectural complex, including the Victory Monument and the majestic building of the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, makes an indelible impression. The stela is one of the tallest monuments in Moscow, its height is 142 meters. The top is crowned with a sculpture of the goddess of victory Nike.

And at its base there is a monument to St. George the Victorious slaying the dragon - a symbol of the victory of good over evil, taken from Orthodoxy.

If we digress a little from the military theme and look around, we will see that from the hill on which the monument is located there is a magnificent view of the city. On the left are the high-rise buildings of the Moscow City Business Center.

On the right is one of the famous Stalinist skyscrapers - the Main Building of Moscow State University on Vorobyovy Gory.

Between the Monument and the entrance to the museum the Eternal Flame burns.

It appeared in Victory Park relatively recently, much later than the construction of the sculptural ensemble of Poklonnaya Gora. In December 2009, the Eternal Flame from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was moved here. Engineering and technical communications were being repaired in the Alexander Garden, and since the Eternal Flame should not go out for a minute, it was decided to temporarily move it. And in April 2010, on the eve of the celebration of the 65th anniversary of the Victory, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, the Eternal Flame entered the Victory Park memorial on a permanent basis, becoming the third in the capital after the lights in the Alexander Garden and at the Preobrazhenskoye Cemetery.

Having passed the Eternal Flame, we approach the Museum of the Great Patriotic War. Inspecting the museum’s exhibits can take a whole day, so we won’t go inside today, leaving the visit to the museum for another day. Having seen the artillery pieces from the times of the Great Patriotic War located at the entrance, we will head into the passage between the columns of the building.

Let's go to the right wing of the building. Here is the Front Dog Monument, erected in memory of the four-legged soldiers who helped soldiers during the war. The dogs served in the medical troops (distributing medicines, and sometimes pulling the wounded out of the battlefields), guard duty, found explosives, and helped scouts. Demolition dogs, hung with explosives, threw themselves under enemy tanks. About 350 units of military equipment were destroyed in this way.

Behind the trees we will see another monument. Even from a distance it makes a depressing impression.

As we come closer, we will be convinced that our emotions are correct. This sculptural composition is called “Tragedy of Nations”, it is dedicated to all the victims of Nazi concentration camps.

In the center are sculptures of emaciated people without clothes, and to the right and left are books, children's toys, clothes, shoes and other household items, scattered in a chaotic manner.

On the right side of the composition there is a granite slab, on which is engraved the inscription “Let the memory of them be sacred, may it be preserved for centuries.”

And if we come closer and pass through the narrow passage between the fragments of the monument, we will see that there are many such slabs. The same words are written on them in different languages - Ukrainian, Tatar, Armenian, Hebrew, etc., symbolizing the multinationality of the victims of fascism.

Next to the “Tragedy of Nations” there is another memorial sign, a small granite plaque with a bronze bas-relief located directly on the ground, called “Spirit of the Elbe”. It is dedicated to the meeting of Soviet and American troops on the Elbe River in April 1945.

Passing by the rear facade, in the distance we will see another monument, located with its back to us.

We will definitely come to it, but later. If we go there now, we may get off the route and miss other equally important attractions.

Entrance to the territory is paid, however, the price is purely symbolic (70 rubles). You can also walk along the exhibition fence; it is made of metal rods, through which most of the exhibits can be viewed without entering the museum territory, but moving along the fence.

The first part of the exhibition, located at the main entrance, presents a reconstruction of the battle from the beginning of the war, when the Soviet army defended its own territories. On one side of the conventional front line there are tanks, artillery installations of the Nazi army,

on the other - Soviet technology.

The front line is represented by trenches, anti-tank hedgehogs and other defensive structures. You can go down into the trench to look at the exhibition from the bottom up, as soldiers had to do sitting in the trenches.

Artillery pieces:

Railway equipment:

And even aviation.

The collection features not only small fighters, but also more powerful winged aircraft.

From a distance, the territory fenced off from outsiders looks like a scrap metal dump, but when we get closer, we see that these are parts of military equipment found on battlefields, from which exhibits are assembled. After all, there is not a single dummy in the exhibition; all the equipment presented actually took part in the battles of the Great Patriotic War.

After going through the main part of the exhibition, we will find ourselves in a small forest. A model of a partisan camp has been set up here: dugouts, a watchtower and other wooden structures.

The next part of the exhibition is dedicated to the navy: there are ship engines, guns, and a submarine wheelhouse:

And even entire parts of ships:

At the exit from the exhibition area there is a collection of military equipment from one of the main German allies - Japan.

From the exhibition area you can clearly see the oriental-style building with crescent moons on the domes. This is a memorial mosque in honor of Muslim soldiers who died in the Great Patriotic War.

Once outside the exhibition gates, we will find ourselves at a crossroads, from which four roads diverge in different directions. In the center there is a small monument made in the style of a Catholic chapel.

The association, created during the Second World War to confront Nazi Germany and its satellites (primarily Italy and Japan), by 1945 consisted of 53 states. Some actually took part in the hostilities, others helped with food and weapons. The greatest contribution to the victory was, of course, made by the USSR, and from other countries it is customary to single out the armies of the USA, Great Britain and France. Therefore, against the background of a granite stele topped with a gilded UN symbol, there are four figures of soldiers in the uniform of the armies of these particular countries.

Let's return from the monument back to the intersection. Standing with our back to the WWII Museum and facing the exhibition of military equipment, we turn left, deep into the park. After walking a few tens of meters, we will see another sculptural composition.

In its center is a sculpture of Soviet soldiers Egorov and Kantaria hoisting the Victory Banner over the Reichstag. The pedestal under the sculpture is also made in the spirit of the walls of the destroyed Reichstag; it is painted with the names of various cities of the Soviet Union: Yerevan, Dushanbe, Tbilisi, Tashkent, etc. On the sides of the pedestal there are two bronze bas-reliefs. One depicts the triumph of Soviet soldiers against the backdrop of the same Reichstag:

On the other - the Victory Parade on Red Square in 1945 with the burning of fascist regalia.

And on the granite slab behind the monument are the words: “We were together in the fight against fascism!”

This sculptural composition appeared in Victory Park in 2010. The impetus for its creation was the notorious events in Georgia a year earlier, when a similar monument was destroyed in the city of Kutaisi.

The monument is intended to symbolize that only thanks to the unity and cohesion of people of different nationalities and concessions, our country won this Great Victory. Its creation is a call to the fact that even today fraternal peoples should live in peace.

From the monument we can see a construction site surrounded by a fence behind the trees. There is nothing interesting here yet, but this phenomenon is temporary. Here, the construction of the chapel of the Armenian Apostolic Church in honor of the Armenian soldiers who participated in the Great Patriotic War is in full swing.

Let's return to the intersection again and follow the remaining of the four roads, which leads to Kutuzovsky Prospekt (it can already be seen in the distance). Walking along it, we will come to an unusual building with a triangular dome decorated with a six-pointed Star of David. This is a Jewish memorial synagogue, also erected in memory of the Great Patriotic War.

If we remember all the religious objects that we saw on our way, we can state that almost all the main religions of the peoples who participated in the Great Patriotic War are represented in Victory Park: the Orthodox Church of St. George the Victorious, an Islamic mosque, a Catholic chapel and a Jewish synagogue.

At the exit from the park there is a sculpture depicting a Soviet soldier. If you look closely, you can see even from afar that the shape on it is much more modern than that one. What they wore during the Great Patriotic War. The monument is dedicated to the internationalist soldiers who died in Afghanistan.

The monument was erected in 2004, and five years later another one appeared next to it: a BMD-1 self-propelled gun (Airborne Combat Vehicle) was installed right on the park alley.

A commemorative plaque on the armor states that two anniversaries took place in 2009: the 20th anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, as well as the 100th anniversary of the birth of V.F. Margelov, a Soviet military leader considered the founding father of modern airborne troops. There is even a widespread joke among the paratroopers themselves that the abbreviation “VDV” does not mean “Airborne Forces”, but “Uncle Vasya’s Troops” - in honor of Vasily Margelov.

Leaving the territory of Victory Park, we will find ourselves on Kutuzovsky Prospekt. However, let’s first turn not to the right, towards the metro, but to the left. After walking a couple of tens of meters, we will see another monument located on a small hill. The composition consists of three figures of warriors from different eras: an ancient Russian hero, a grenadier from the Patriotic War of 1812 and a soldier of the Soviet army.

The monument is called “Heroes of the Russian Land” and symbolizes the connection of times and the inevitability of victory in the war, if this war is of a liberation nature.

At this point our walk is almost over, but we were quite far from the metro. If you are not tired and the weather permits, you can return back to the park and simply stroll along one of the alleys running parallel to Kutuzovsky Prospekt. Or you can take any public transport running along the avenue and get to the Park Pobedy metro station, from where we started our walk.

Here it is worth paying attention to the monument that at the beginning of the journey we saw only from afar - the Triumphal Gate. The arch, located directly above Kutuzovsky Prospekt (cars drive between its columns) was installed in honor of the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812.

The tradition of installing triumphal gates has existed since ancient times. In 1814, such gates, then still wooden, were installed at the Tverskaya Zastava. It was along the Tver road that Russian troops entered the city, returning from Europe after the victory over Napoleon. In 1834 they were replaced by stone ones.

In 1936, during the execution of the General Plan for the reconstruction of the center of Moscow, the Triumphal Gate was dismantled, its components were placed in the Museum of Architecture, located on the territory of the Donskoy Monastery. According to the plan, upon completion of the reconstruction of Tverskaya Zastava Square, the gate was planned to be returned to its original location. However, for a number of reasons this was not done, and the monument remained in storage for half a century. Only in 1966 it was decided to install it on Kutuzovsky Prospekt, not far from the Battle of Borodino Panorama Museum. So, by 1968, the Triumphal Gate appeared on Kutuzovsky Prospekt.

In 2012, during the anniversary celebrations of the 200th anniversary of Victory in the Patriotic War of 1812, the gate underwent a major reconstruction, so today it looks great.

This concludes our walk.

Poklonnaya Hill is a memorable place in Moscow and all of Russia as a whole. Poklonnaya Gora was first mentioned in documents of the 16th century, although at that time it was called somewhat differently - Poklonnaya Gora on the Smolensk (Mozhaisk) road. It is believed that Poklonnaya Hill got its name thanks to an ancient tradition: every person arriving in Moscow and leaving the city bowed to him at this place. It was here that important people—princes, high dignitaries, and ambassadors of foreign states—were greeted with a bow. Napoleon did not receive such an honor. “Napoleon, intoxicated with his last happiness, waited in vain for Moscow, kneeling with the keys of the old Kremlin: No, my Moscow did not go to him with a guilty head...” These unforgettable lines of the greatest Russian poet Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin are associated with the Russian-French war of 1812, when The French emperor, who reached the walls of the capital with his troops, tried in vain to wait for the keys to Moscow from the city authorities.

Memorial complex on Poklonnaya Hill

From time immemorial, Poklonnaya Hill has been one of the holy places of both Moscow and the entire Russian land. From here the Orthodox worshiped her shrines. Years and decades passed, and Poklonnaya Hill became a real symbol, personifying the Russian soul, the Russian character with such qualities as cordiality and hospitality on the one hand, freedom and independence on the other. And first of all, of course, this is connected with the construction of a memorial complex here in honor of the Victory of our people in the Great Patriotic War. This memorial complex and Poklonnaya Hill itself are now strongly associated among Russians with the immortal feat of the Soviet people, performed in the name of saving the Fatherland.

The decision to build the Victory Monument was made on May 31, 1957. On February 23, 1958, a granite foundation stone was installed on Poklonnaya Hill with the inscription: “A monument to the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941 - 1945 will be built here.” In 1961, Victory Park was laid out on Poklonnaya Hill. But active construction of other components of the memorial complex (the Victory Monument and the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War of 1941 - 1945) began only in 1985.

On May 9, 1995, on the day of the 50th anniversary of the Victory, the memorial was inaugurated. Leaders from 56 countries of the world attended its opening. Today it consists of several exhibition complexes - an art gallery, a site for military equipment, a military-historical exhibition, dioramas, cinema and concert halls, providing all the necessary conditions for scientific, educational, patriotic and educational work. The exhibition space occupies 44 thousand square meters, where more than 170 thousand exhibits are presented.

The museum is rich not only in its unique exhibits. Here, in a solemn atmosphere, ceremonies of taking the Military Oath of young soldiers and meetings with famous veterans of the Great Patriotic War are held.

Temples of memory on Poklonnaya Hill

The heritage of the Memorial complex is represented not only by the Museum of the Great Patriotic War. Every monument, every building reminds of the feat of such different but united people of the Soviet Union.

On the territory of the memorial complex there are three temples that belong to different religions. This once again characterizes the multinationality of the liberators of our Motherland.

The first to be built was the Church of St. George the Victorious. In 1995, its solemn consecration took place. The shrine of the temple is a particle of the relics of the Great Martyr George the Victorious, donated by the Patriarch of Jerusalem Diodorus.

Two years later, in September 1997, a memorial mosque was opened. This event occurred on the day of the celebration of the 850th anniversary of Moscow.

The Temple of Memory - Synagogue was inaugurated on September 2, 1998. The synagogue building was built based on the concept of the Israeli architect Moshe Zarhi. The President of Russia was present at the opening. An exhibition dedicated to Jewish history and the Holocaust was set up in the ground floor and gallery of the prayer hall.

In 2003, the Memorial complex was supplemented by a chapel erected in memory of the Spanish volunteers who died during the Great Patriotic War. In addition, it is planned to build a Buddhist stupa, an Armenian chapel and a Catholic temple on Poklonnaya Hill in Moscow.

Monuments on Poklonnaya Hill

In Victory Park, which is part of the Memorial complex, there is an obelisk 141.8 meters high. This height characterizes 1418 days and nights of the Great Patriotic War. At the hundred-meter mark there is a bronze figure of the Goddess of Victory - Nike.

At the foot of the obelisk, there is a sculpture of St. George the Victorious, who kills a snake with a spear - a symbol of evil. Both sculptures were made by Zurab Tsereteli.

In 2005, a monument to soldiers of the countries participating in the anti-Hitler coalition was unveiled on the Alley of Partisans. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan attended the opening. The author of the monument is Mikhail Pereyaslavets.

In Victory Park there is another beautiful attraction - the flower clock - the largest in the world, the dial diameter of which is 10 m, the length of the minute hand is 4.5 m, and the hour hand is 3.5 m. The total number of flowers planted on the clock is 7910 pcs. The clock mechanism is based on the principles of electromechanics and is controlled by an electronic quartz unit.

The closest metro station to Poklonnaya Gora is Park Pobedy. Immediately upon exiting the station, you will see the Moscow Triumphal Gate, or simply the Arc de Triomphe.

It was built in 1829-1834 according to the design of the architect O. I. Bove, in honor of the victory of the Russian people in the Patriotic War of 1812. Initially, the arch was installed on Tverskaya Zastava Square, on the site of a wooden arch built in 1814 for the ceremonial welcome of Russian troops returning from Paris after the victory over the French troops. Currently, the Triumphal Arch is located on Victory Square, which is crossed by Kutuzovsky Prospekt, very close to Poklonnaya Gora. It was moved to this place in 1966-1968. The Moscow Triumphal Gate in its architecture is reminiscent of the Narva Triumphal Gate in St. Petersburg.

Poklonnaya Hill has become a traditional gathering place for veterans of the Great Patriotic War. Since inexorable time takes us further and further away from those heroic events, it is important to use every opportunity to turn to those memorable days, to tell and show young people how their great-grandfathers fought, defending the freedom and independence of our Motherland. The exhibitions of the memorial on Poklonnaya Hill make it possible to do this.