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Museum of the Great Patriotic War. Moscow, Russia. Photo by Vyacheslav Argenberg.

Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Metro Victory Park

Metro Victory Park was built as a large outdoor monument to commemorate  Russia’s victory against Nazi Germany. Moscow’s Victory Park is a wonderful green space that pays tribute to the victory of the Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War.

It is located to the southwest of Moscow city center on Poklonnaya Gora, or “Bow-Down Hill”. Victory Park (Park Pobedy in Russian) is a large green space and open-air museum paying tribute to Russian war victories. It was inaugurated in 1960s in celebration of the Russian triumph over Napoleon.

Further memorials were added in the ensuing decades, and in 1995 the first post-Soviet parade was held here. In 2005, Putin opened a new monument to commemorate the Red Army’s efforts in World War II, known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War. The park is cool place to enjoy some peace and tranquil. Here are the Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Metro Victory Park.

1. Victory Park is also home to the Museum of the Great Patriotic War

БМ-13 (BM-13). Photo by Vitaly V. Kuzmin. .

The Museum of the Great Patriotic War contains authentic war memorabilia, dioramas depicting major battles and an exhibition of military hardware. The Memory Hall keeps 385 volumes of the Book of Remembrance that lists the names of those who fell in the Great Patriotic War. All this has been done in honor and remembrance of everyone who was involved in the calamities of World War Two.

2. On the park is the monument to victory

The Victory Monument  is the central point of the park and the highest monument in Russia. Located in Pobediteley Square, it represents an obelisk in the form of a 141-m spiked bayonet. The Eternal Flame lit from the flame above the Grave of the Unknown Soldier  in Alexander Garden burns close by.

3. There’s legend that once the park was opened mysterious things happened

Rumors abounded for a years after the Park opened of strange things happening to people – many said they felt short of breath, or choked, or even fainted. Amid talk of the park having an “aura”, an investigation was set up which discovered that the park was on the site of a brick factory whose ovens were used to burn the corpses of people who died during the Siege of Leningrad, as well as soldiers from the front.

So many people died that many were roughly buried in unmarked graves in the factory’s grounds. Leningraders swear that since a cross was erected on the sight of a mass grave, the ghosts of those who died and were not properly buried have ceased to haunt visitors to the park, and that the previous symptoms have disappeared.

4. It has an open-air Weaponry and Fortification Exposition

IS-3 tank in Park of Victory, Togliatti, Russia. Photo by ShinePhantom.

Victory Park features an open-air Weaponry and Fortification Exposition. The Park boasts a complete collection of armored vehicles, from the light tanks of the early war years to later, heavy models, which fought in Berlin in 1945.

5. It is located on a very symbolic place

Poklonnaya Hill is very important place to the history of Moscow. During ancient times, the hill was used to meet important guests from the West (poklon means ‘bow’ in Russian). As Napoleon and his army entered Moscow in 1812, he set up a camp on Poklonnaya Hill to await the keys to Moscow, and did so in vain.

The Russian army chose to cede the abandoned city and muster its strength for a decisive attack. Symbolically, the hill is just opposite the Triumphal Arch Russian which was built to commemorate Russia’s victory over Napoleon.

6. There are many outdoor activities that can be done at the park

Victory park , Rodniki, Ivanovo oblast, Russia. Photo by Ludvig14.

Thanks to the terrain and the abundance of paved slopes, the park is popular with bike riders, skateboarders and rollerbladers. Sporting equipment rentals are available in the park. Free group exercise classes are also available on a regular basis. In addition, you can have a snack, a rest on a bench, or just stroll along the avenues. It’s a perfect spot to enjoy a warm evening touring Moscow.

7. The idea of setting up the park was born before world war two ended

The idea to establish a huge memorial on the hill to commemorate the heroic deeds of the Soviet people was born even before the end of World War II. A sign reading, ‘A monument to the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945 is going to be erected here’, appeared on Poklonnaya Hill in 1958. Plans to reconstruct the park were underway the same year; trees were planted and avenues were re-designed.

8. Construction of the park begun in 1984

In 1984, that the construction of the memorial on the hill began. The designers were ambitious in their goal to tell the entire history of war through the use of architectural elements. In so doing, they created a memorial to all those who fought the enemy for the common goal.

9. The park has the eternal flame

It is a circle of five red, uncompromising, abstract pillars thrusts skyward, representing the five years of Moldovan involvement in World War II. The eternal flame burns for the unknown soldiers of World War II, and also for those killed in the 1992 War of Transnistria.

10. The park also has various religious buildings

Eternal Flame – Victory Park. Photo by Raki-Man.

War is a tragedy for many people. It tends to bring people closer to the higher beings they believe in. This is because such belief brings a sense of hope. That’s why you can also find in the Park an Orthodox Church, a memorial Mosque, and the Memorial Synagogue to remember people of different religious beliefs who also perished in the war against the Nazis.