Piskarevsky Memorial in St. Petersburg: a memory that is always with us

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:44

Piskarevsky Memorial in St. Petersburg is one of the most iconic memorial sites not only in St. Petersburg, but also in Russia. These are nine hundred days embodied in stone, these are tears, blood and suffering experienced by Leningraders during the years of the blockade, this is eternal memory and the lowest bow to those people who defended our freedom and independence during the cruel years of the Great Patriotic War.

Memory must live with us

Leningrad during the war became a symbol of the resilience of the inhabitants and the courage of Soviet soldiers. However, the 900-day blockade was not in vain: more than four hundred thousand inhabitants and seventy thousand soldiers of the Red Army were killed or died of hunger and cold. The vast majority of them were buried in the main cemetery of the city - Piskarevsky.

The war ended, and the city gradually began not only to restore the destroyed objects, but also to build new houses, factories, educational institutions,he alth and culture. Piskarevo, which had previously been the outskirts of Leningrad, quickly became the center of a young district, and new-fangled high-rise buildings began to gradually build up on the territory of the cemetery. It was then that the leadership of the city and the residents decided to create a Piskarevsky memorial dedicated to the heroic pages of 1941-1944.

Construction and opening of the complex

From the very beginning of its creation, the memorial at the Piskarevsky cemetery has become the work of all residents of Leningrad. The people who survived the blockade considered it their duty to make a contribution to the cause of perpetuating the memory of their dead relatives, neighbors, friends.

Construction progressed quite rapidly. On May 9, 1960, just before the 15th anniversary of the Great Victory, the Piskarevsky Memorial was opened. The solemn ceremony was attended by all the leadership of the city and region. Special honors were given to the architects of the complex - A. Vasiliev and E. Levinson.

"Motherland" and other monuments of the memorial

Memorial "Motherland" at the Piskarevsky cemetery occupies a central place. Its creators - R. Taurit and V. Isaeva - tried to make it so that with all her posture she would tell tourists about the huge sacrifices made by Leningraders in the name of the Motherland. The mournful character is given by severe oak leaves in the hands of a woman, which are intertwined with a mourning ribbon.

From the sculpture of the Motherland, walking three hundred meters along the central alley, you can get to the central stele, in front of which since May 9, 1960year, without fading for a single second, the Eternal Flame burns. The inscription on the Piskarevsky cemetery memorial was made by the famous poetess O. Bergolts, who herself survived the terrible blockade. The last line is read with special anguish: “no one is forgotten and nothing is forgotten.”

Memory Alley was planted on the eastern side of the complex. In tribute to the heroic defenders of the city, memorial plaques from all the republics of the former Soviet Union, as well as from enterprises that forged industrial glory for the city, were installed here.

Piskarevsky memorial in St. Petersburg: eternal memory of heroic defenders

On both sides of the Central Alley there are endless mounds of mass graves. As you know, the 900-day blockade led to the death of seventy thousand soldiers of the Red Army and more than four hundred thousand civilians in the city. Most of them are buried here, and the graves are mostly nameless.

In addition to the fraternal ones, there are about six thousand individual burials at the Piskarevsky memorial, as well as the graves of soldiers who died during the winter campaign of 1939-1940. The lists of the military at the memorial at the Piskarevsky complex can also be carefully studied in the local museum. Here is the latest information catalog, which mentions all the inhabitants of the city who died in the blockade, as well as all Leningraders who gave their lives on all fronts of the Great Patriotic War.

Piskarevsky Memorial is one of the largest military museums in Russia

Even before the official opening of the memorialat the Piskarevsky cemetery, the Council of Ministers of the USSR approved a special resolution, according to which this complex was to eventually turn into a modern museum. For several years, a composition was opened on the first two floors of the main building, reflecting the heroism of the defenders of the city and the intentions of the Nazi leadership to completely destroy Leningrad and all its inhabitants.

The museum almost immediately became an extremely popular place not only among the Leningraders themselves, but also among the guests of the city. A visit to the Piskarevsky memorial has become an obligatory part of almost any excursion, and on memorable days of May 8, September 8, January 27 and June 22, solemn events are held here.

The museum exposition is based on documents, photographs, newsreels. At any time, you can watch the films "Memories of the Siege" and "Siege Album" here.

New age - new ideas

Any museum complex should not only preserve and carefully store the already accumulated material, but also develop in accordance with new achievements of scientific and technological progress. The Piskarevsky memorial can serve as a model for all other similar complexes in this regard.

On the one hand, there is a constant replenishment of the museum exposition and the creation of new objects. So, at the beginning of the current century, almost simultaneously, the Piskarevsky memorial in St. Petersburg acquired a small chapel, whichsubsequently should be replaced by the monumental Church of the Resurrection of Christ, as well as the memorial plate "Blockade Map", which symbolizes the feat of the teachers of Leningrad during the blockade, who continued to give knowledge to children, despite shelling and bombing.

At the same time, the administration and technical staff of the Piskarevsky Memorial are constantly striving to use the most modern technologies in their events, realizing that interactivity provides new opportunities in educating the younger generation.