The Museum of the Great Patriotic War, also known as the Victory Museum ( Russian: ''Музей Победы'') is a

history museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make th ...

located in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Poklonnaya Gora Poklonnaya Gora (russian: Покло́нная гора́, literally "bow-down hill"; metaphorically "Worshipful Submission Hill"') is, at 171.5 meters, one of the highest natural spots in Moscow. Its two summits used to be separated by the Setun ...

. The building was designed by architect

Anatoly Polyansky Anatoly Trofimovich Polyanski (russian: Анатолий Трофимович Полянский) (29 January 1928, in Avdiivka, Soviet Union (now Ukraine) – 7 June 1993, in Moscow, Russia) was a Russian architect. Work His work includes t ...

. Work on the museum began on March 3, 1986, and the museum was opened to the public on May 9, 1995. The museum features exhibits and memorials concerning the Eastern Front of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, known in Russia as the "

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), an ...

Exhibits

The museum features 14,143 square meters of exhibit space for permanent collections and an additional 5,500 square meters for temporary exhibits. Near the entry to the museum is the Hall of Commanders, which features a decorative "Sword and Shield of Victory" and bronze busts of recipients of the

Order of Victory The Order of Victory (russian: Орден «Победа», translit=Orden "Pobeda") was the highest military decoration awarded for World War II service in the Soviet Union, and one of the rarest orders in the world. The order was awarded only ...

, the highest military honor awarded by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

Nikol Pashinyan Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War 002

Setting

The museum is set in Victory Park, a 2,424-

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre i ...

park on Poklonnaya Hill. The park features a large, paved plaza, fountains, and open space where military vehicles, cannons, and other apparatus from World War II are displayed. Also in the park are the Holocaust Memorial Synagogue, the Church of St. George, the Moscow Memorial Mosque, a

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, cr ...

, an obelisk, and a number of sculptures.

References

External links

Official Site
(in Russian)
Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War
a
Museums of Russia
(in Russian)
Photos of the museum

Museum of the Great Patriotic War at Google Cultural Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Museum Of The Great Patriotic War, Moscow Museums in Moscow World War II museums in Russia Military and war museums in Russia History museums in Russia