Poklonnaya Gora (or Victory Park) is a majestic memorial erected in Moscow in memory of the soldiers who died for the freedom of the Fatherland. People's grief and pride for the Russian people are reflected in this architectural complex by 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 easy - it included popular enthusiasm, protests, and heated discussions. Nevertheless, now it is one of the favorite places for rest of the townspeople and guests of the capital, who deservedly appreciated the solemnity of architecture, the splendor of fountains and alley paths, the grandeur of the idea. In addition, Poklonnaya Gora is a gigantic platform for large-scale actions 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 remained of it, is located in the western region. Once it was a high hill, from the top of which there was a magnificent view of the capital. Even 100 years ago, the mountain was outside the city, and according to one version, its name comes from the established tradition, when approaching the capital, to stop at this place and bow to the city temples, their golden domes and snow-white walls.
The history of the mountain is associated with the most significant milestones in the life of the Fatherland. At the end of the 16th century, the Crimean khan Gazhi Giray spread his camp on a hill when he tried to seize the capital of Muscovy. A few years later, in 1610, hetman Stanislav Zholkiewski stayed here, intending to put the Polish prince on the Russian throne. Finally, it was from here that Napoleon looked at Moscow on a cold September morning in 1812, 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 lines, 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 realize a large-scale plan that required 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, green spaces were created on an area of 135 hectares, and a park was laid. For many years, the territory of the mountain served as a natural park for Muscovites, where they liked 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, not far from the park was installed Triumphal Arch recreating architectural monument the beginning of the 19th century, dedicated to the crushing of Bonaparte's army.
In the 1980s, a fundraiser was organized for the construction and arrangement of the memorial. About 200 million national 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 out to Manezhnaya Square with posters calling for the rescue of Poklonnaya Gora. The construction of the memorial was suspended for several months, but by the end of the year, part of the mountain was nevertheless torn down. However, the money soon ran out, and the erection of the Victory Park and the building of the Museum of the Great Patriotic War turned into a long-term construction. Only a few years later, construction on Poklonnaya Gora continued, and on May 9, 1995, the Victory Park was officially opened.
So, on May 9, 1995, on the day of the 50th anniversary of the Great Victory, the grand opening of the memorial on Poklonnaya Gora took place . The event was attended by the President Russian Federation B.N. Yeltsin, a parade of troops of the city garrison took place.
Victory Park on Poklonnaya Gora is a majestic architectural complex consisting of dozens of grandiose and beautiful buildings, monuments 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 unprecedentedness of the trials that our Fatherland went through in a terrible war. So, the main monument of the park is the Victory Monument, the stele in the form of a triangular bayonet has a height of 141.8 m. In addition to being the tallest Russian monument, its height reflects the number of days of the Second World War. At a height of 104 m, sculptures of the goddess Nike and two angels marking the 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 war is reflected in the number of fountains that adorn the space of 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 alley. The alley consists of 5 ledges - according to the number of years of war. The red tint of the fountains fills the cascades of water with a tragic and sorrowful meaning.
sights
Architectural complex Victory Park has been developing 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 the fronts and flotillas to the victory.
- Exhibition under open air military equipment... It displays tanks, torpedo boats, airplanes, 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.
- Temple of St. George the Victorious. The temple contains the relics of the saint, after whom the temple is named, transferred from Jerusalem. The architecture of the building combines the motives of Old Russian architecture and Russian Art Nouveau style.
- Mosque. Opened in memory of the Muslims who laid down their heads on the fronts of the Second World War. The architecture of the building intertwines the motives of Tatar, Uzbek, Azerbaijani architecture.
- Synagogue. The building houses an exhibition dedicated to the Holocaust.
- Eternal flame.
- The Tragedy of Nations monument. Dedicated to the victims of genocide.
- Monument to Soldiers-Internationalists. Built with funds from Afghan veterans.
- Monument "Missing Soldiers Without Graves". Made in the form of a mortally wounded soldier.
- Memorial plaque "Spirit of the Elbe". Dedicated to the memorable meeting on the Elbe of the allied forces;
- 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 the front 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 the date of Russia's entry into the First World War;
- Monument "We were together in the fight against Nazism." It symbolizes the united will of different peoples united in the fight against Nazism;
- Monument to the 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 at the top;
- The world's largest flower watch - 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 contains over 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, allow you to touch the evidence of the past.
The Museum on Poklonnaya Hill is a unique monument of soldier's courage and heroic deeds of the whole people.
In the Hall of Fame there is a sculpture of the Soldier-winner, and the names of all Heroes of the Soviet Union are placed on the boards.
In another hall - 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 the chronicle of the war days, rare photographs. Large-scale dioramas will acquaint you with 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, fateful events have been held on Poklonnaya Gora that are significant in the lives of thousands of townspeople. Weddings are celebrated here, the entry into student life is celebrated, mass festivities and meetings of veterans take place.
Rental points are open for children and adults, where velomobiles, rollers, bicycles and other equipment are given out. On the paths of the park, there are collective yoga classes, crossfit training, martial arts, and running.
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 circles.
Every weekend, and on weekdays, large-scale events are held in the park - song contests, festivals, sports events, concerts, performances, all kinds of promotions and rallies.
Poklonnaya Gora, ice sculptures of 2016 have delighted the New Year and the Ice Moscow festival. The fantastic show of the transformation of 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 Gora 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 a recreation park will develop further and acquire new forms and incarnations.
For children about Russian history: Poklonnaya Gora. Video excursion for children to Poklonnaya Gora. Dedicated to Victory Day.
I am sure that after watching this video you will already know what to talk to children about on Poklonnaya Hill and what you can show them on the first family excursion to this memorable place. Of course, there are still many interesting exhibits on Poklonnaya Gora - both a museum of military equipment and an interesting exposition. But about them - another time.
What you will learn from this short video:
- Why is Poklonnaya Gora so called?
- Why is there a statue of St. George the Victorious near the obelisk on Poklonnaya Hill? Who is George the Victorious? What are 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 a warrior of the Great Patriotic War). Are there such warriors now? How did he know that these were the warriors of the ancient times, from our history? What is the difference between their military uniforms and modern military uniforms?
- What is a "Book of Memory"?
- What do the names of streets and villages in our cities and villages say?
Be sure to talk to your children about the names of the streets around your house after listening. Why are they called that? What's their story? What did these people do, because they are still remembered and the street was named after them?
Have you been with your children on Poklonnaya Hill? What impressions did your kids have from visiting this museum? What interested them the most about the video? Did you have a desire to visit Poklonnaya Gora with the whole family and show these monuments "live"? I would be glad to receive your comments on this topic.
Victory Park is located in the west of Moscow, between Kutuzovsky Prospekt and the Moskovskaya branch railroad Kiev direction.
During the walk, we will see the Triumphal Gate, Poklonnaya Hill with a flower clock, the Church of St. George the Victorious, as well as the multi-meter Victory Monument stele.
And if we look back, we will see the arch of the Triumphal Gates, 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 a 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 zones in the city.
Poklonnaya Gora is part of the Tatarovskaya Upland, which also includes the Krylatsky Hills and the heights of the Filevsky Forest Park. Previously, Poklonnaya Gora was much higher and larger in area, from which a panorama of the city and its surroundings was opened. Travelers stopped here to look at the city and worship its churches, which is why the name of the mountain appeared. The guests of the city were solemnly greeted here. Knowing about this fact, it was on Poklonnaya Hill that Napoleon Bonaparte waited for the keys to Moscow in 1812.
In 1966 most of The Poklonnaya Mountain was torn down. Only a small hill remained of it, located in the eastern part of Victory Park, directly at the exit from the metro.
The hill is adorned with a flower clock - the only one in Moscow. They were built in 2001 and were included in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest in the world. But due to the fact that the technical elements of the watch system are constantly in conditions of high humidity and pollution, they do not always work, at times they are just a large flower garden.
A small wooden cross can be seen at the top of the hill. It was installed in 1991 to the glory of all Orthodox soldiers - participants in the Great Patriotic War, anticipating the construction of the Church of St. George the Victorious, erected in 1995.
It is not necessary to climb the hill itself, since no steps or any other devices are provided, 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. A good view of the city opens from the top of the mountain.
The Alley "Years of War" is decorated with the eponymous fountain complex. It consists of 15 bowls, each hitting 15 jets, thus forming the number 255 - so many weeks the war lasted. In the dark, 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 divisions of the Soviet army.
From a distance, the sculptures look the same: a column mounted on a granite pedestal, the top is decorated with a five-pointed star and military banners.
And at the base of each of the columns is a bas-relief dedicated to one of the units.
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" turn left, towards the Cathedral of St. George the Victorious. He, like most monuments, is included in memorial Complex, 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 and St. George.
Near the entrance to the Temple, we will see a sculpture depicting a wounded soldier. This is the Monument to the Missing Soldiers without Graves. It was donated 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 examined everything there, go up immediately to the Victory Monument. The staircase starts right 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 stele is one of the most high monuments 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 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 a magnificent view of the city opens up from the hill on which the monument is located. On the left - the skyscrapers 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.
An eternal flame burns between the Monument and the entrance to the museum.
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 was moved here from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. In the Alexander Garden, engineering and technical communications were being repaired, and since the Eternal Flame should not fade out for a minute, it was decided to temporarily postpone it. And in April 2010, on the eve of the 65th anniversary of 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 fires in the Alexander Garden and at the Preobrazhensky Cemetery.
Having passed the Eternal Flame, we come to the Museum of the Great Patriotic War. Inspection of the museum's expositions can take a whole day, so we will not go inside today, leaving the visit to the museum for another day. Having made out the artillery pieces of the Great Patriotic War, located at the entrance, we will head to the passage between the columns of the building.
Let's go to the right wing of the building. Here is the Monument to the frontline dog, erected in memory of the four-legged soldiers who helped the soldiers during the war. Dogs served in the medical troops (delivered medicines, and sometimes pulling out the wounded from the battlefields), sentry, found explosives, helped scouts. Demolition dogs, hung with explosives, threw themselves under enemy tanks. In this way, about 350 units of military equipment were destroyed.
We will see another monument behind the trees. Even from afar, it makes a depressing impression.
Coming closer, we will be convinced of the correctness of our emotions. This sculptural composition is called "Tragedy of Nations", it is dedicated to all the victims of Nazi concentration camps.
In the center - sculptures of emaciated people without clothes, and on the right and left - books, children's toys, clothes, shoes and other household items, scattered in a chaotic manner.
In the right part of the composition there is a granite slab on which the inscription "May the memory of them be sacred, may it be preserved for centuries" is engraved.
And if we come closer and go 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 right on the ground, is called "Spirit of the Elbe". It is dedicated to the meeting of Soviet and American troops on the Elbe River in April 1945.
Passing the rear facade, in the distance we will see another monument with its back to us.
We will definitely approach it, but later. If we go there now, we may go astray and miss other, equally important sights.
The entrance to the territory is paid, however, the price is purely symbolic (70 rubles). You can also walk along the fence of the exposition, it is made of metal rods, through which most of the exhibits can be viewed without entering the museum, but moving along the fence.
The first part of the exposition, located at the main entrance, presents a reconstruction of the battle from the beginning of the war, when Soviet army held the defense of their own territories. On one side of the conventional front line 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 exposition from the bottom up, as the soldiers sitting in the trenches had to do.
Artillery pieces:
Railway technology:
And even aviation.
The collection includes not only small fighters, but also more powerful winged aircraft.
The territory, fenced off from outsiders, looks like a scrap metal dump from afar, but if we get closer, we will see that these are parts of military equipment found on the battlefields from which the exhibits are assembled. Indeed, there is not a single dummy in the exposition, all the equipment presented really participated in the battles of the Great Patriotic War.
Having passed the main part of the exposition, we will find ourselves in a small copse. A model of a partisan camp is equipped here: dugouts, a watchtower and other wooden structures.
The next part of the exhibition is dedicated to the navy: there are naval engines, guns, submarine deckhouse:
And even whole parts of ships:
At the exit from the territory of the exposition there is a collection of military equipment of one of the main German allies - Japan.
From the territory of the exhibition you can clearly see the building in the oriental style with crescents on the domes. This is a memorial mosque in honor of the Muslim warriors who died in the Great Patriotic War.
Leaving the exhibition gates, we 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. Someone really participated in hostilities, someone helped with food and weapons. The greatest contribution to the victory was made, of course, by the USSR, and it is customary to allocate the armies of the USA, Great Britain and France from the rest of the countries. Therefore, against the background of a granite stele crowned with a gilded UN symbol, there are four figures of soldiers in the form of the armies of these countries.
Let's go back from the monument to the crossroads. Standing with our backs to the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, and facing the exposition of military equipment, turn left, into the depths of the park. After walking several tens of meters, we will see another sculptural composition.
In its center is a sculpture of Soviet soldiers Yegorov and Kantaria, hoisting the banner of Victory over the Reichstag. In the spirit of the walls of the destroyed Reichstag, the pedestal under the sculpture is also made; 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 background 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, the words are engraved: "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 the 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. 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 here.
Let's go back to the intersection and follow the remaining of the four roads, which leads to Kutuzovsky Prospekt (it can already be seen in the distance). After passing along it, we come to an unusual building with a triangular dome, decorated with the six-pointed Star of David. This is a Jewish memorial synagogue, also erected in memory of the Great Patriotic War.
If we recall all the religious objects that we saw on our way, we can state that almost all the main religions of the peoples participating in the Great Patriotic War are represented in the Victory Park: the Orthodox Church of St. George the Victorious, an Islamic mosque, a Catholic chapel and a Jewish synagogue.
A sculpture depicting a Soviet soldier is installed at the exit from the park. If you look closely, even from a distance you can see that the form on it is much more modern than that. What was worn during the Great Patriotic War. The monument is dedicated to the soldiers - internationalists who died in Afghanistan.
The monument was erected in 2004, and five years later another one appeared next to it: a self-propelled vehicle BMD-1 (Airborne combat vehicle) was installed right in the park alley.
A commemorative plaque on the armor says that in 2009 two anniversaries took place at once: 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 who is considered the founding father of modern airborne troops. There is even a joke among the paratroopers themselves that the abbreviation "Airborne Forces" 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, at first we turn not to the right, towards the metro, but to the left. After passing a couple of tens of meters, we will see another monument located on a small hill. The composition is made up of three figures of warriors different eras: an ancient Russian hero, a grenadier of the Patriotic War of 1812 and a soldier of the Soviet army.
The monument bears the name "Bogatyrs of the Russian Land" and symbolizes the connection of times and the inevitability of victory in a war if this war is of a liberating nature.
This is where our walk is almost over, but we ended up quite far from the metro. If you are not tired and the weather permits, you can go back to the park and just walk along one of the alleys that run parallel to Kutuzovsky Prospekt. And you can sit on any public transport running along the avenue and get to the metro station "Park Pobedy", from which we started our walk.
Here it is worth paying attention to the monument, which at the beginning of the journey we saw only from afar - the Triumphal Gate. The arch, located directly above Kutuzovsky Prospekt (cars pass 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 a gate, then still wooden, was installed at the Tverskaya Zastava. It was along the Tverskaya road that Russian troops entered the city, returning from Europe after the victory over Napoleon. VK 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 Gates were dismantled, its components were placed in the Museum of Architecture, located on the territory of the Donskoy Monastery. According to the plan, at the end of the reconstruction of the Tverskaya Zastava square, it was planned to return the gate to its original place. 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 Borodino Battle Panorama Museum. So, by 1968, the Triumphal Gates appeared on Kutuzovsky Prospekt.
In 2012, during the jubilee celebrations of the 200th anniversary of Victory in the Patriotic War of 1812, the gate underwent a major reconstruction, so it looks great today.
This concludes our walk.
