Sights of Volgograd

Volgograd means 'Volga-city' and the city stretches approximately 60km along the right bank of the great Russian river, making it one of the longest cities in Russia. Luckily the main sights are predominantly all located in Volgograd's Central District around Prospekt Lenina (Lenin Prospect) and the Mamaev Kurgan hill. A few more sights are located in the surrounding Voroshilovsky and Krasnooktyabrsky districts. However it is also worth venturing down to Volgograd's southern Krasnoarmeisky District to see the massive Lenin statue there guarding the start of the Volga-Don Canal. Instead of a metro Volgograd has a metrotram consisting of one line and 22 stations, although more stations are planned.

In the Central District

'Pamyat' State Museum

  • 2 Ploschad Pavshykh Borstov
  • Komsomolskaya
  • 09:00 - 17:00. Closed on Sundays

In the basement of the TsUM department store on Ploschad Pavshykh Borstov is a small museum which details the Wehrmacht during the time of the Battle of Stalingrad. It is known as the 'Pamyat' State Museum - 'pamyat' being the Russian for memorial. However the most interesting attraction of this museum is the reconstruction of the small room which was used to imprison Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus after his capitulation to the Soviets, which includes a waxwork of the field… Read more »

Aleksandr Nevsky Monument

  • Ploshad Pavshykh Borstov
  • Komsomolskaya

In 2006 Patriarch Alexius II of the Russian Orthodox Church gave his blessing to name Aleksandr Nevsky, a mediaeval Russian prince and saint, as the protector of the city of Volgograd. This decision was then commemorated in 2007 with the erection of a statue of the saintly prince himself on the city's main square. Aleksandr is depicted at full height in armour and flying a banner. Read more »

Battle of Stalingrad Museum-Panorama Complex

  • 47 Ulitsa imena Marshala VI Chuikova
  • Ploschad Lenina
  • 10:00 - 18:00 (17:00 in winter months). Closed on Mondays

The Battle of Stalingrad Museum-Panorama consists of four halls exhibiting more than 3,500 items which detail the famous battle which is considered one of the most pivotal battles of the Second World War and a turning point in the conflict. Expositions include a model of the city which clearly shows the extent of the city’s destruction at the end of the battle and presents given to the city for its heroism; the pride of place being the priceless sword given to the people of… Read more »

Dancing Children Fountain

  • Privokzalnaya Ploschad
  • Komsomolskaya

  One of the most enduring images of the Battle of Stalingrad is the photo of a fountain featuring a group of children holding hands and dancing around a crocodile. The fountain is damaged but more or less whole, whereas all around it stands in ruins. For years many tourists to Stalingrad/Volgograd searched for the famous fountain only to find out that it no longer exists; it was demolished after the war. However the symbolic fountain has since been recreated and reinstalled in… Read more »

Fallen Warriors Square and Alley of Heroes

  • Ploschad Pavshykh Borstov
  • Komsomolskaya

Volgograd's central square is Ploschad Pavshykh Borstov (Fallen Warriors Square). It is decorated with an obelisk and an eternal flame over which school pupils of Volgograd stand guard on anniversaries. Originally the square was created in 1920 to serve as a memorial to the defenders of Tsaritsyn against the Whites during the Revolution. It was rededicated to the heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad after the war. Also worth noting here is the oldest tree in Volgograd to survive… Read more »

Fire Station Watchtower

  • 5 Ulitsa Volodarskogo
  • Komsomolskaya

Another landmark of Volgograd which is somewhat less imposing than the Mother Russia Calls Monument is the watch tower of Tsaritsyn's fire station. The station and tower were built in 1897 and were then state of the art.  Today the building is protected by the state. Read more »

Grigory Zasekin Monument

  • outside 21 Prospekt Lenina
  • Komsomolskaya

  Prince Grigory Zasekin was the first military governor of Tsaritsyn who served in 1589. In addition to being governor of Tsaritsyn he also governed Astrakhan, Samara and Saratov. This monument to him was unveiled in 2009 and depicts the prince on horseback. Read more »

Joseph Stalin Museum

  • 102 Ulitsa Marshala Rokossovskogo (Mamaev Kurgan)
  • Mamaev Kurgan

  Also on Mamaev Kurgan, immediately next to the memorial complex, is a hotel and cultural centre which comprises a small museum dedicated to Joseph Stalin. Unsurprisingly very few museums to the dictator still exist in Russia, so even despite its size it is a rather interesting museum detailing Stalin’s connection with the city which once bore his name. Read more »

Komsomol Monument

  • intersection of Prospekt Lenina and Ulitsa Komsomolskaya
  • Komsomolskaya

Like many monuments in Volgograd, the Komsomol Monument is dedicated to people who lost their lives defending the city during the Battle of Stalingrad. This particular monument though is in memory specifically of the members of the Komsomol (the youth movement of the Communist Party) who were killed during the battle. It depicts three youths, two boys and a girl, and was unveiled in 1973. Read more »

Mamaev Kurgan Historical-Memorial Complex to Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad

  • Mamaev Kurgan, Prospekt Lenina
  • Mamaev Kurgan

Mamaev Kurgan was originally a Tatar burial mound ('kurgan'), although historians consider it is unlikely that it is the burial place of the Mongol-Tatar military commander Mamaev, even though legends and theories often claim the contrary. During the Second World War, the hill was marked on maps as 'Height 102.0' and became known as the Main Height of Russia. It was viciously fought over due to the strategic position it held and changed hands many times, its capture by Soviet… Read more »

Pavlov's House

  • 39 Ulitsa Sovetskaya
  • Ploschad Lenina

Pavlov's House ("dom Pavlova") is the name given to a four-story apartment block which became a base for Sergeant Yakov Pavlov and his platoon in September 1942. The 25 men managed to defend the building for 58 days until they were relieved by Soviet troops in November 1942. This was despite being bombarded by the Nazis several times a day, each day. After the war the building was restored and it now features a memorial to the heroic defence, demonstrating the sheer determination… Read more »

Planetarium

  • 14 Ulitsa Gagarina
  • Ploschad Lenina, Komsomolskaya

Not only does Volgograd's planetarium offer you a trip to the stars it also allows you to take a trip back in time to the Soviet Union. The planetarium was a gift to the city from the East Germany in 1954 and was then the height of technology. The Soviet-style building is topped with a statue of a woman holding a globe, the last work of famous sculptor Vera Mukhina. Inside are mosaics of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Yuri Gagarin and even Stalin.  The show itself is also definitely… Read more »

Regional Museum

  • 7 Ulitsa Lenina
  • Pionerskaya
  • http://vokm134.ru/
  • 09:00 - 18:00. Closed on Tuesdays

  Volgograd's regional museum was founded in 1914 when the city was still known as Tsaritsyn. Much of the original museum's collection was destroyed in the Battle of Stalingrad, but what was evacuated in time was returned to the city in 1954 when the museum was reopened. The current museum is now located in two protected late 19th / early 20th century buildings on Ulitsa Lenina. The museum details the history of the city and its people and includes displays on nature, history,… Read more »

St John the Baptist’s Church

  • 2 Ulitsa Krasnoznamenskaya
  • Pionerskaya

  Tsaritsyn’s first church was originally made out of wood in 1589 and was dedicated to St John the Baptist. The first stone church was built in 1664. This was replaced in 1704 with a traditional ‘octagon-on-cube’ design and added to in 1722. Throughout its history the church was associated with Russia’s Cossacks. However in 1932 the church was closed and subsequently blown up by the Soviets. During the war Germans troops would use the foundations of the church as a pillbox. The… Read more »

Vladimir Lenin Monument

  • Ploschad Lenina
  • Ploschad Lenina

There are several monuments to Lenin located in Volgograd, which is not surprising considering that the city was rebuilt in the Soviet-style after the Second World War. The main statue within the centre of the city is located on Ploschad Lenina (Lenin Square) on Prospekt Lenina (Lenin Prospect). Behind the statue is the memorial arch which surrounds Pavlov’s House. Read more »

Volgograd Memorial Historical Museum

  • 10 Ulitsa Gogola
  • Komsomolskaya

  The Volgograd Memorial Historical Museum is located in an early 20th century estate house and is dedicated to the events of the Russian Civil War in Tsaritsyn (as Volgograd was then known) and the surrounding area around the River Don, in particular the Battle of Tsaritsyn. The building first became a museum in 1937 as the Museum of the Defence of Tsaritsyn which was named in honour of Stalin, who is credited with playing an important role in the Bolshevik victory in Tsaritsyn. … Read more »

Volgograd Museum of Fine Art

  • 21 Prospekt Lenina
  • Komsomolskaya

  Volgograd’s art gallery was founded in 1960 and today displays many Russian, Soviet and foreign works ranging from the 18th century to the beginning of the 20th century, including both portraits and landscapes. The museum also has a large collection of the work of artist Ilya Mashkov who was born in what is today the Volgograd Region. The museum also holds various temporary exhibitions. Read more »

In the Krasnoarmeisky District

Old Sarepta Historical, Ethnographical and Architectural Museum-Reserve

  • 10 Ulitsa Izobilnaya
  • http://altsarepta.ru
  • 09:00 - 17:00. Closed on Mondays.

The Old Sarepta Historical, Ethnographical and Architectural Museum-Reserve was founded in 1989 around the surviving complex of 26 buildings which was once the Moravian Brethren settlement of Sarepta. The colony was established in 1765 when German settlers were invited to settle in south Russia to develop agriculture in the Volga region - these settlers later became known as Volga Germans. In 1920 the settlement was renamed Krasnoarmeisk and has since been incorporated into… Read more »

Vladimir Lenin Monument and the Volga-Don Canal

  • Krasnoarmeiskaya Naberezhnaya, Ulitsa Fadeeva

In addition to the humongous Mother-Russia Calls Monument on Mamaev Kurgan, Volgograd also boasts another of the largest statues in existence: the world’s largest Lenin statue. Here Lenin stands 27 metres high on a 30-metre pedestal, appearing above the trees at the start of the Volga-Don Canal overlooking the water and towering above even the nearby lighthouse. It alone is definitely worth the trip to the southern tip of the city to see it. Located close to the statue is Lock… Read more »

In the Krasnooktyabrsky District

Defenders of Red Tsaritsyn Monument

  • Ploschad Metallurgov
  • Zavod "Krasny Oktyabr"

  Before the famous Battle of Stalingrad, the city - then known as Tsaritsyn - was the site of a fierce battle between the Reds and the Whites from 1918 to 1919 as part of the Russian Civil War. The defence of Tsaritsyn by the Reds is commemorated in this monument which was erected in 1981 and depicts six figures. Read more »

Mikhail Panikakha Monument

  • intersection of Prospekt Metallurgov and Ulitsa Taraschantsev
  • Zavod "Krasny Oktyabr"

  In October 1942 Red Army soldier Mikhail Panikakha went up against a German tank armed with only two Molotov cocktails. When one of the bottles was shot Panikakha was set alight by its contents. He then proceeded to use himself as a human torch and ran at the tank and set off the second bottle, killing the tank driver and stopping the tank, sacrificing his own life in the process. The 28-year-old soldier was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and this… Read more »

In the Voroshilovsky District

Chekist Monument

  • Ploschad Chekistov
  • Ploschad Chekistov

  In 1947 a monument in the form of a 22-metre obelisk topped with a statue of a soldier was erected in memory of the Chekists (members of the Soviet secret police) who lost their lives defending Stalingrad during the war. More recently a small simple chapel was added to the complex which is dedicated to two of Russia's most famous mediaeval heroes: Aleksandr Nevsky and Dmitry Donskoy. In 2011 the Chekist Monument was joined by a memorial to so-called bomber-dogs, who proved to… Read more »

Northern Fleet Marine Memorial

  • 12 Ulitsa Raboche-Krestyanskaya
  • TYuZ

  Standing outside the city's grain elevator is a memorial to the marines of the Northern Fleet who died defending the building during the Second World War. Due to its height, the elevator was of great strategic value and the first battle for it took place in September 1942 when the Nazis managed to capture the building after the ammunition of the Soviet defenders ran out. It was later recaptured by the Soviets in January 1943. The memorial was unveiled in 1977 and consists of a… Read more »

Our Lady of Kazan Eparchial Cathedral

  • 10 Ulitsa Lipetskaya
  • Profsoyuznaya, TYuZ

  The main and prettiest cathedral in Volgograd is the Our Lady of Kazan Cathedral which serves as the eparchial cathedral of the Volgograd and Kamyshin Eparchy. The current version of the cathedral was built as a church between 1897 and 1899 in an eclectic style. After the October Revolution the church was eventually closed and used as a bakery. It was badly damaged during the Battle of Stalingrad but in 1946 the surviving shell of the building was restored in the Russian revival… Read more »