A staircase with rune walls leads to the Heroes’ Square. In the center of the square is a rectangular water basin, symbolizing the Volga River. To the left of the pool rises a wall-banner, on which the inscription is carved: “The iron wind hit them in the face, and they kept moving forward, and again a feeling of superstitious fear seized the enemy: were people going on the attack, were they mortal?”. On the right side of the pool there are six sculptural compositions that tell about the exploits of the heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad – this is a soldier supporting a wounded comrade and continuing to fight, and a nurse carrying a wounded man from the battlefield, and a marine going to an enemy tank with a bunch of grenades, and a warrior saving the battle banner of the regiment, and two defenders breaking the fascist swastika. Memorial plaques are also located on the Heroes’ Square,
The retaining wall limits the frontal part of the Heroes’ Square; it is painted with carvings on the themes of the triumph of victory and heroic struggle. It contains the entrance to the Hall of Military Glory. The hall has a cylindrical shape, its inner diameter is 42 m. On the wall of the Hall of Military Glory you can see 34 symbolic red banners made of smalt, on which the names of 7200 defenders of Stalingrad are immortalized, a guards ribbon stretches over the banners around the entire circumference of the Hall. The ceiling of the Hall is decorated with models of orders and medals of the USSR and a gold wreath with a ribbon from the medal “For the Defense of Stalingrad”. In the very center of the Hall is an eternal flame. The fire burns in the monument – a torch that is held by a hand. A guard of honor is constantly posted here.
The exit from the Hall of Military Glory leads to the Square of Sorrow. The central figure of the square is a monument to a grieving mother, in whose arms is a dead warrior, whose face is covered with a battle banner. At the base of the monument is a small pool – the Lake of Tears. On the Square of Sorrow is the grave of twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Marshal of the Soviet Union, former commander of the 62nd Army V.I. Chuikov.
From the Square of Sorrow begins the path to the main monument of Mamayev Kurgan. The remains of 34505 soldiers – the defenders of Stalingrad, were reburied here, as well as 35 granite tombstones of the Heroes of the Soviet Union, participants in the Battle of Stalingrad. From the foot to the top of the mound, a granite staircase was laid, consisting of 200 steps, symbolizing 200 days of the Battle of Stalingrad. At the top of Mamaev Kurgan rises the main monument of the historical and memorial complex – the sculpture “Motherland Calls”. The 52-meter figure of a woman, who stands on a 16-meter foundation and holds a 33-meter sword in her hand, is clearly visible from anywhere in the city. This is the largest sculpture in the world. She is a modern version of the ancient goddess of victory – Nike. The woman takes a swift step forward and, turning around, urges everyone to go to battle with the enemy. This is a truly monumental composition, its total weight is about 8000 tons. In 2004, the Church of All Saints was built on Mamaev Kurgan not far from the memorial cemetery. Its height reaches 38 m. It was opened to the public in 2005.
According to getzipcodes, the city honors the defenders of its Fatherland and cherishes the memory of the events of the Battle of Stalingrad, as well as the battles of those times when the city was still called Tsaritsyn. Volgograd is full of monuments to the heroes of the Civil War and the Great Patriotic War.
Be sure to visit the State Panorama Museum “Battle of Stalingrad”. The modern museum building was built in 1966 in the city center at the historical landing site of the 13th Guards Rifle Division of General A.I. Rodimtsev. The largest panorama of Russia is located here “The defeat of the Nazi troops near Stalingrad”, photographs, documents, wartime items, unique exhibits: a sniper rifle of a Stalingrad soldier, an overcoat of General V.A. Glazkov with 160 bullet and shrapnel holes, Komsomol and party tickets with traces of lumbago, covered in blood, battle banners of units and formations that fought in Stalingrad, personal kits of prominent commanders and their portraits, about 126 thousand items in total.
The canvas of the panorama is written on a canvas 120 m long and 16 m high. It depicts the final stage of the battle of the Battle of Stalingrad on January 26, 1943. Between the observation deck, which is located, according to the idea of the creators, at the top of Mamaev Kurgan, and the canvas is a relief model of the terrain and objects that were involved in the battle. The layout of the area occupies over 1000 square meters. m. The museum complex also includes the ruins of the Grudinin mill (1903), the building of which during the days of the Battle of Stalingrad was a fortified point – the defense center of the 42nd Guards Rifle Regiment of the 13th Guards Rifle Division.
