Sights of Belgorod

The main sights of Belgorod are located around its main square - Sobornaya Ploschad (Cathedral Square) situated between Svyato-Troitsky Bulvar and Grazhdansky Prospekt which leads to the railway station.  Belgorod more or less consists of a grid system and to the north of Sobornaya Ploschad, above Prospekt Slavy and Ulitsa Preobrazhenskaya, is Narodny Bulvar, a large part of which has been pedestrianised.  The area at the beginning of Ulitsa Popova, next to River Vezyolka and Victory Park, is known as Museum Square precisely because Belgorod's most famous museums are located here. There are fewer sights in the side of the city located to the south of River Vezyolka, the main sight here is the St Vladimir Monument on Kharkovskaya Hill.

Around Belgorod city centre

Archangel Gabriel's Church

  • Universitetskaya Naberezhnaya

Located in the territory of the Belgorod State University (BelGU), on the embankment along the River Bezyolka, is the small Archangel Gabriel's Church which was consecrated in 2001. Its most interesting architectural feature is its entrance with is made to look as though you are entering the church through pages of an open Bible. The church holds seminars where Christianity and pressing national and international issues are discussed. Read more »

Army-General Apanasenko Monument

  • Vokzalnaya Ploschad

In the sqaure outside the railway station is a statue of Iosif Apanasenko who held the rank of Army-General during the Second World War. In the first years of the war Apanasenko commanded the army on the Far-Eastern Front, but was transferred at his request to serve as deputy commander on the Voronezh Front. However in less than two months of his transfer Apanasenko was killed in an enemy air raid. This monument to him was unveiled in 1949 and depicts the army-general in full… Read more »

Marfo-Mariinsky Convent

  • 19 Ulitsa Pushkina

Although the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent itself was only recently founded in 1992, it was established around two pre-existing buildings which date from the 18th century. The Russian Orthodox Church first decided to establish a convent in Belgorod around the Intercession Church which was returned to its possession in 1991. Subsequently the larger Dormition and St Nicholas' Cathedral was returned to the Church and became the convent's cathedral. Work was carried out in the 1990s to… Read more »

Mikhail Schepkin Monument

  • Sobornaya Ploschad

Located next to the Mikhail Schepkin State Academic Drama Theatre, at the opposite end of the square to the administration building, is a statue of the theatre's namesake - Mikhail Schepkin who was one of Russia's most famous actors in the 19th century.  Schepkin even founded his own style of acting which later had an influence on Konstantin Stanislavsky who famously pioneered method acting. He was born in 1788 in the Belgorod Region, then part of the Kursk Governorate. This… Read more »

Narodny Bulvar

  • Narodny Bulvar

Nardony Bulvar, which translates as People's Boulevard, is Belgorod's main pedestrian street and one of its prettiest being decorated with unusual statues. At its beginning is a memorial stone with an engraving dedicated to the Belgorod Regiment which participated in the Battle of Poltava in 1709. The "My First Teacher" Monument pays homage to favourite teachers. The "Shuttle Merchants" Monument depicts an entrepreneurial pair dragging behind them two trollies filled with goods… Read more »

Our Lady of Smolensk Cathedral

  • 50 Grazhdansky Prospekt

The Our Lady of Smolensk Cathedral was built between 1727 and 1762 to commemorate a miraculous event when according to legend on the site where the cathedral now stands a copy of the Our Lady of Smolensk Icon started to emit a ray of light which could even light a candle. The pretty blue cathedral has two storeys and the main part of the church is attached via a vestibule to a tall bell tower. The cathedral suffered during the Nazi occupation of Belgorod when its bell tower was… Read more »

State Literary Museum

  • 38 Ulitsa Preobrazhenskaya
  • 9:00 - 18:00. Closed on Sundays.

Belogorod's State Literary Museum is located in the building known as the Selivanov House, which dates from the 18th century and is one of the oldest buildings in the city. The museum has four halls and exhibitions on folk culture, journalism and classical and modern literature. It includes manuscripts of famous authors, Pushkin among them, and examples of ancient books. Read more »

Stepan Degtyarev Monument

  • outside 55 Prospekt Grazhdansky

A few metres from the Our Lady of Smolensk Cathedral, standing in front of the Stepan Degtyarev Musical School, is a statue of Stepan Degtyarev himself.   Degtyarev was a renowned composer who was born in 1766 in the Belgorod Region, which was then part of the Kursk Governorate. His most famous work is the oratorio "Minin and Pozharsky, or the Liberation of Moscow" which he composed in 1811. The monument depicts Degtyarev in a rather active pose with his hands thrust wildly into… Read more »

Transfiguration Eparchial Cathedral

  • 63 Ulitsa Preobrazhenskaya
  • http://www.favor.csn.ru/

The Transfiguration Cathedral was built in 1813 to commemorate Russia's victory over Napoleon. It is built in the Russian classical style and is turquoise in colour with five golden domes and an attached bell tower. In 1923 it became the eparchial cathedral after the Trinity Cathedral was closed down and eventually destroyed. The Transfiguration Cathedral too was later closed in 1962 and from 1973 it was used as a regional museum until it was returned to the Orthodox Church in 1990… Read more »

Vladimir Lenin Monument

  • Sobornaya Ploschad

Belgorod's monument to Vladimir Lenin stands on the northern side of the city's main square - Sobornaya Ploschad (Cathedral Square), which was previously known as Ploschad Revolyutsi (Revolution Square). Lenin stands in his usual pose immediately in front of the Administration of the Belgorod Region building. However there is a chance that Lenin might lose this prime location as there have been talks to move him to a city park and to install in his place a monument honouring… Read more »

War Memorial and Eternal Flame

  • Svyato-Troitsky Bulvar (off Sobornaya Ploschad)

Belgorod's War Memorial and Eternal Flame is located just off Sobornaya Ploschad at the start of a boulevard. The memorial complex incorporates two stelae - one with the figure of a soldier and one with a worker, both lowering banners in remembrance. Behind these monuments is the eternal flame with a statue of a mother and child in mourning. In addition, memorial slabs are engraved with the surnames of the 167 identified soldiers who fell defending Belgorod. Read more »

Around Kharkovskaya Hill

Kharkovskaya Hill Church Complex

  • 37 Ulitsa Schorsa

In a park at the corner formed by Ulitsa Schorsa and Ulitsa Korolyova, a new church complex has been built comprising of two churches and two small chapels. The main church here is dedicated to Ss Faith, Hope and Charity and their mother Sophia which was consecrated in 2010 by Patriarch Kirill. It has 17 golden domes and a separate bell tower. The smaller of the two churches is the wooden St George's Church which was built between 1997 and 2001 in the ancient Russian style. Read more »

Monument to the Incorruptible Traffic-Policeman

  • intersection of Ulitsa Gubkina and Ulitsa Vatutina

In 2004 a monument was unveiled on a roundabout on the intersection of Ulitsa Gubkina and Ulitsa Vatutina dedicated to Pavel Grechikhin who was a local traffic-policeman famed for never accepting bribes. Grechikhin also made no exceptions due to rank or title and was not afraid to fine the city's most important citizens for violating traffic rules. Legend also has it that he even once fined his own wife! Read more »

St Vladimir the Great Monument

  • opposite 4 Prospekt Vatutina

St Vladimir the Great was a 10th century grand prince of Kiev, under whom Kievan Rus adopted Christianity in 988. Belgorod's monument to St Vladimir by sculptor Vyacheslav Klykov stands on the Kharkovskaya Hill overlooking the city. In total the monument is 22 metres tall, with the figure of St Vladimir standing on a pedestal with two sections. The upper section has three large reliefs of St Ioasaf of Belgorod, Emperor Nicholas II and St Seraphim of Sarov and the lower tier has… Read more »

Around Museum Square

"Salient of Fire" Museum-Diorama

  • 2 Ulitsa Popova
  • http://www.31md.ru/
  • Summer: 10:00 - 19:00 (break from 14:00 - 15:00). Winter: 09:00 - 18:00 (break from 13:00 - 14:00). Closed on Mondays and the last Friday of the month.

Belgorod's Museum-Diorama is dedicated to the Belgorod offensive of the Battle of the Kursk Salient. Inside the arch-shaped white building are both a museum and a diorama which were both opened in 1987. The museum exhibits many materials related to the offensive and the people who took part. However the main attraction is its 67 metre long diorama which depicts the events of the tank battle which took place at the nearby Prokhorovka Field on 12 July 1943. Various military vehicles… Read more »

Afghan War Memorial

  • behind the Museum-Diorama

Behind the museums at the back of Museum Square among its parks, is a memorial to the citizens of Belgorod who fell during the 1979-1989 Soviet-Afghan War. The memorial comprises four arches in the centre of which is a sculpture of Christ being crucified on the cross. On the top of the front arch is a small bell. Read more »

Belgorod State Historical and Regional Museum

  • 2A Ulitsa Popova
  • http://bgikm.ru/
  • 10:00 - 19:00. Closed on Mondays.

The Belgorod State Historical and Regional Museum was founded in 1924 although during the Nazi occupation of Belgorod its exponents were destroyed or looted. The museum was housed in the converted Transfiguration Cathedral from 1973 until it moved to its current location in 1991. The museum has displays on the nature of the Belgorod Region, including stuffed animals, and on the history of the foundation of Belgorod and the city's role in the history of the Russian Empire and the… Read more »

Belgorod State Museum of Art

  • 77 Ulitsa Pobedy
  • http://belghm.ru/
  • 10:00 - 19:00 (break from 14:00 - 15:00). Closed on Tuesdays and the last Friday of the month.

The Belgorod State Museum of Art was opened in 1983 in an old three-storey building decorated with colourful mosaics which once housed the city's first cinema. Despite it being relatively young, it already has a rich collection of over 4000 paintings, sculptures, icons and examples of applied art. Many of the works of art on display are by Russian artists and date from the beginning of the 20th century right up until present day. Read more »

Belgorod Victory Park

  • Ulitsa Popova

On the opposite side of Museum Square and running along River Bezyolka is Victory Park, which in addition to its natural features also has several monuments dedicated to the Soviet Union's victory in the Second World War. The Alley of Heroes was established in 2001 and is bordered with busts of Belgorod's Heroes of the Soviet Union and ends with a bust of Marshal Zhukov. The Victory Monument depicts jubilant Soviet soldiers celebrating the victory. Read more »