The Russian Academy Of Arts

In Honor of the 65th Anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945

For 15 years of its existence the War Memorial on Poklonnaya Hill in Moscow has become a traditional venue for meetings of veterans and young people, one of the main places for paying tribute to the memory of heroes who won the victory over fascism in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, the most bloody in the history of mankind.

The War Memorial on Poklonnaya Hill was inaugurated on May 9, 1995 at the 50th V-day celebrations. The ceremony was attended by heads of states-victors in the World War II and high ranking officials from many countries.

The construction of a War Memorial and a Victory Park was conceived before the end of the War. In 1957 Poklonnaya Hill was selected as a construction site for the Memorial. Several design projects were approved but failed for various reasons. The Russian Federation resumed the construction of the long-awaited War Memorial in 1992 in the hard times after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was necessary not only to complete the construction of the museum building designed by the architect Anatoly Polyansky but also to have the main monument erected. To execute this formidable task Zurab Tsereteli, then Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Arts, was appointed a chief designer of the project. The construction of the War Memorial had been completed by the Victory Day on May 9, 1995 mostly due to the decisiveness and boundless energy of the Mayor of Moscow Yury Luzhkov and efficient joint work of companies of the Moscow Construction Complex.

The War Memorial ensemble occupies a territory of 20 ha in the Victory Park of 135 ha. The Central Alley “Years of the War” consists of five terraces symbolizing the five war years. Over five water surfaces there are 1418 fountains – according to the exact number of days of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

The Central Alley leads to the round Square of Victors. Here stands the main Victory Monument - a majestic triangular obelisk (architects – Leonid Vavakin, Vladimir Budaev; sculptor Zurab Tsereteli). Its height of 141.8 m is equal to 1418 days of the War. The bronze high-reliefs on the obelisk depict events of the war years. At the foot of the obelisk there is a statue of St. George the Victorious Vanquishing the Dragon symbolizing fascism. The Monument is topped with a figure of the goddess of victory - Nike and angels trumpeting the glory of Russian arms.

The western borderlines of the Victory Park are “protected” by a Monument to Defenders of the Homeland representing three soldiers of various generations (Old Russian knight, soldier of the Patriotic War of 1812 and soldier-victor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945). It was designed by the noted sculptor, Academician-Secretary of the Sculpture Department of the Russian Academy of Arts Anatoly Bichukov and unveiled in 1995.

The composition of the Square of Victors is completed by a white-stone building of the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War (architect Anatoly Polyansky) with a dome and a semicircular colonnade. Each side of the building is adorned by an equestrian statue of the goddess of Glory (sculptor Zurab Tsereteli). The decoration of the façade and interior design of the Museum (56000 sq. m) have been executed under the leadership of the President of the Russian Academy of Arts Zurab Tsereteli.

The Museum has two main halls – Hall of Memory and Hall of Glory. The steps of the central staircase leading to the Hall of Glory are entwined with a bronze ribbon of St. George in honor of the Victors. The front doors of the Hall of Glory (Zurab Tsereteli) consist of eight square cast in bronze insertions-medallions on the war topic. The huge stained-glass “Victory Salute” (Zurab Tsereteli) completes the main composition. The Hall of Glory holds 72 marble books immortalizing the names of 11695 persons of 68 nationalities - Heroes of the Soviet Union awarded during the War and 16 reliefs with coats of arms of Hero-Cities (Zurab Tsereteli), as well as a sculpture “Soldier-Victor” created by the Kiev sculptor Valentin Znoba. The interior surface of the dome in the center of the Hall of Glory is crowned with a unique image of the highest Russian military decoration – the Order of Victory (Zurab Tsereteli).

Halls of the Guards and six dioramas tell about the history of the Great Patriotic War. The expositions of diorama halls are devoted to the major events of the War: counter-offensive near Moscow; life in Leningrad during the siege; battle of Stalingrad; battle at the Kursk Bulge, battle for Berlin.

The Alley of Tears (Zurab Tsereteli) leads to the Hall of Memory where stands a Mother Mourning sculpture (sculptor Lev Kerbel) and there are Books of Remembrance with the names of those who gave their lives for the Homeland.

The memorial complex also includes three religious centers: Orthodox Church of St. George the Victorious (sculptural decoration by Zurab Tsereteli); a memorial mosque and memorial synagogue testifying to the spiritual unity of peoples who together defeated the enemy in the horrendous War.

Behind the Museum stands a monument “Tragedy of Peoples” (Zurab Tsereteli) which memorial slabs bear the inscription in 16 languages “Let the Memory of Them Be Sacred, Eternal May It Be”.

In honor of the 60th anniversary of the Great Victory, on Poklonnaya Hill on May 9, 2005 there was an inauguration for the memorial ensemble immortalizing feats of arms of ten Fronts and three Navies of the Soviet Army, as well as heroic deeds of partisans and all those who served on the home front. The monument has been designed by the People’s Artist of the USSR and the Russian Federation, President of the Russian Academy of Arts Zurab Tsereteli and Academician-Secretary of the Architecture Department of the Russian Academy of Arts, People’s Architect of the Russian Federation Michael Posokhin.

The fifteen memorial stelae of the ensemble have been installed in the sequence and order corresponding to the succession of Fronts, Navies and military units at the Victory Parade in Moscow in 1945. Each 9 m high stele has a 2 m tall base, on which is mounted a column entwined with a ribbon of St. George and topped with an imposing composition of flags. Each base’s facade is decorated with a round cast in bronze relief devoted to victories of each military unit correspondingly. Among them are stelae of Karelsky, Leningradsky, the 1st Pribaltiysky; the 3rd, 2nd and 1st Belorussky Fronts; the 1st , 4th, 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts; the North, Baltic and Black Sea Navies.

There are War Memorials around the country, including small towns and regional centers, but the special status of the War Memorial on Poklonnaya Hill has been emphasized in honor of the 65th anniversary of the Great Victory by lighting here the second Eternal Fire from the Eternal Fire of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Alexandrovsky Garden at the Kremlin Wall.

Historical background

The construction of a War Memorial and a Victory Park was conceived before the end of the War. In 1957 Poklonnaya Hill (“bow-down hill”) was selected as a construction site for the Memorial. Historically, the hill was of strategic importance as a main road from Europe to Moscow. The orthodox believers approaching the capital from the west stopped here to bow down to churches and monasteries of Moscow. In 1812 it was the spot where Napoleon in vain expected the keys to the Kremlin to be brought to him by the Russians. From here in 1941 the Soviet troops left Moscow for the west along Mozhaiskoye Highway.

In 1958 there was an open all-union competition for the best design of the Memorial, however its results had not been realized. The foundations of the Victory Park were laid in 1961 and in the early 1980s they started earth-moving work, communications and road building.

In 1985 there was approved the project of the Memorial elaborated by a team of architects headed by Academician of the Russian Academy of Arts Anatoly Polyansky. The project included construction of a Palace of Victory holding halls of Glory and Memory – Museum of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 with a façade overlooking the center of Moscow in the east. The initial design of the central obelisk by the President of the USSR Academy of Arts Nickolai Tomsky after his death was transformed by a team of his pupils into a monument depicting soldiers ascending a high pedestal with the victorious Red Banner.

The construction was executed by major Moscow construction companies. It was necessary not only to complete the construction of the museum building, but also to have the main monument erected. The author of the project Anatoly Polyansky was not alive by that time. To execute this formidable task the celebrated sculptor-monumentalist Zurab Tsereteli, then Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Arts, was appointed a Chief Designer of the project.

The press-service of www.tsereteli.ru thanks for the illustrations used from the site http://moscowparks.narod.ru/victpark.

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