Victory Square in Minsk

Practically in every city of the former USSR there is Victory Square - a place of sorrow and bright memory of soldiers who died in the severe years of the Second World War. Every year on May 9, solemn events are held here in honor of people who fought for the freedom of the Soviet people.

Victory Square in Minsk is located on Independence Avenue. In former times it was called Round. And only in 1954 (with the erection of the monument) received a new symbolic name, which is used to this day. Victory Square is one of the most beautiful places in Minsk, built according to a single architectural plan. A thirty-meter obelisk, bendable on both sides by the roadway and located near two picturesque squares, was erected in July 1954. Its top is decorated with the Order of Victory. The famous Belarusian architect G. Zaborsky, believing in the firm spirit of the Soviet people, began work on the monument in the distant 1942. At the base of the monument on the pedestal is a sword, adorned with a laurel branch. On the four sides of the obelisk there are cast reliefs from bronze - works by eminent sculptors A. Bembel, S. Selikhanov, Z. Azgur and A. Glebov. Architects did not forget about the national flavor - the granite stele is decorated with "belts" with Belarusian ornament. Wreaths of bronze, located around the monument, symbolize the four fronts that participated in the bloody liberation of the country from the Nazi invaders. Granite for facing was brought to Belarus from Zhytomyr and Dnepropetrovsk, a mosaic for the order was from Leningrad, Ukrainian craftsmen, high reliefs, sword and other elements of the composition were cast in stone in St. Petersburg. At the foot of the monument on July 3, 1961, a memorable eternal flame was solemnly lit.

In connection with the construction of the underground (in 1984), Victory Square (Minsk) was re-planned. The reconstruction project was taken up by the architects B. Shkolnikov, B. Larchenko, K. Vyazgin. From round it has turned to an oval. The renovated Victory Square was decorated with granite blocks, embodying Soviet hero cities. Under the monument there was a ring gallery, passing in a memorial hall of memory to heroes of the Second World War. In its center is a glass wreath with illumination from the inside, created by the artist V. Poznyak. On the walls are fastened plates with the names of 566 Soviet soldiers who participated in the liberation of the Republic of Belarus and awarded the honorary title "Hero", as well as the main award - the Star.

Since 1984, stone pedestals have been installed on the square, inside which there are capsules with the land of all the Soviet hero cities: Volgograd, Moscow, Odessa, Leningrad, Kiev, Kerch, Sevastopol, Tula, Novorossiysk, Brest, Murmansk and Smolensk.

Every year, in honor of the liberators in the Russian capital, the Victory Parade on Red Square is held. In the distant 1945, this solemn event was hosted by the hero of the Great Patriotic War, the famous marshal - Georgy Zhukov. The parade was held under the command of K. Rokossovsky in the presence of Stalin, Voroshilov, Molotov, Kalinin and other prominent political figures of the time. Today, the Victory Parade is a sign of remembrance and of great gratitude to all the soldiers who defended the freedom of our country.