Museum of the Great Patriotic War


The Museum of the Great Patriotic War is the centrepiece of Park Pobedy (Victory Park). The massive museum has hundreds of exhibits, including dioramas of every major WWII battle the Russians fought in, as well as weapons, photographs, documents and other wartime memorabilia. The building also contains two impressive memorial rooms: the Hall of Glory honours the many heroes of the Soviet Union, while the moving Hall of Remembrance and Sorrow is hung with strings of glass-bead ‘teardrops’ in memory of the fallen.

Victory Park is a huge memorial complex celebrating the Great Patriotic War. The park includes endless fountains and monuments, the Memorial Synagogue at Poklonnaya Hill and the memorial Church of St George. The dominant monument is a 142m obelisk (every 10cm represents one day of the war).


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Park Pobedy

0.15 MILES

The Great Patriotic War – as WWII is known in Russia – was a momentous event that is still vivid in the hearts, minds and memories of many Russian…

2. Memorial Synagogue at Poklonnaya Hill

0.29 MILES

The Memorial Synagogue at Poklonnaya Hill opened in 1998 as a memorial to Holocaust victims, as well as a museum of the Russian Jewry. Admission is with a…

3. Exposition of Military Equipment

0.29 MILES

Tucked into a corner of the vast Park Pobedy, this exhibition displays weapons and military equipment from the WWII era. There are plenty of Red Army…

4. Triumphal Arch

0.77 MILES

Just east of Park Pobedy, the Triumphal Arch celebrates the defeat of Napoleon in 1812. The original arch was demolished at its site in front of the…

5. Borodino Panorama

0.95 MILES

Following the vicious but inconclusive battle at Borodino in August 1812, Moscow’s defenders retreated along what is now Kutuzovsky pr, pursued by…

6. Church of the Intercession at Fili

1.43 MILES

West of the center, Fili is a residential neighbourhood that was once the estate of Lev Naryshkin (brother-in-law to Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich and uncle to…

7. Moscow International Business Centre

1.87 MILES

This strip along the Moscow River is the site of one of the capital’s largest ongoing urban projects, also known as 'Moscow City'. Here, skyscrapers of…

8. Novodevichy Cemetery

2.01 MILES

Adjacent to the Novodevichy Convent, the Novodevichy Cemetery is one of Moscow’s most prestigious resting places – a veritable who’s who of Russian…