Memorials and victory monuments
St. Petersburg was the capital of the Russian Empire for over two centuries, the birthplace of the Bolshevik Revolution, and on the front line of the Soviet struggle to repel the Nazi forces during the Second World War. It's no surprise, then, that the city has a huge number of monuments celebrating great victories and commemorating those who gave their lives in the service of their country. Two events in particular - the 28-month Siege of Leningrad (1941-1944) and the victory over Napoleon's invading armies in 1812 - have a particular resonance in Russian history, and each has inspired several public monuments in the city. Other memorials commemorate naval tragedies and those who suffered during the bloody repressions of the Soviet era.
Located in the middle of Palace Square, opposite the world-famous Hermitage Museum, this column is an impressive 47.5 meters (156 feet and 9 inches) tall and its body is made of a single piece of red granite.
At the point where our grandfathers halted the WWII Nazi advance on the city, there now stands an impressive memorial to the bravery of the citizens of Leningrad, combining an eternal flame, an obelisk, numerous heroic Soviet sculptures and an underground museum.
A sobering monument and the burial site of over 500,000 victims of the Siege of Leningrad. The cemetery's date-marked common graves stand as a constant reminder of those thousands of heroic citizens who died protecting the city from the Nazis.
This triumphal arch was built between 1827 and 1834 to commemorate the victory of Russia and its allies in the war with Napoleon in 1812-14.
This triumphal arch, which stands on the city's southbound Moskovsky Prospekt, was built between 1834 and 1838 in memory of Russia's victory in the 1828-29 War with Turkey.
Although not built to mark any particular naval victory, these famous columns, designed to hold beacons for what was once St. Petersburg's main port, were inspired by Roman victory monuments and are a powerful symbol of Russian sea power.
Designed by the controversial artist Mihail Chemiakine, this unsubtle but effective monument to those killed and incarcerated in Stalin's purges stands across the river from the notorious Kresty Prison.
This elegant grey granite obelisk, designed by court architect Vincenzo Brenna, was erected to honour Field-Marshal Pyotr Rumyantsev, who led the Russian forces to victory in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774.
Erected to mark Russia's victory in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, this unusual monument was constructed using 128 salvaged canon. This is actually a copy of the original monument, which was dismantled by the Soviet authorities in the 1930s.
Standing next to the Horse Guards Riding School, these two columns by Carlo Rossi were built to support two statues copied from works by the great German sculptor Christian Daniel Rauch, a gift from Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia.
A comparatively recent addition to St. Petersburg's war memorials, this distinctive star-shaped obelisk in front of Moscow Railway Station was erected in 1985, marking 40 years from the end of the Great Patriotic War.
The site of St. Petersburg's Eternal Flame, which would more normally honour the dead of the Great Patriotic War, this memorial on the Field of Mars was established round the mass graves of those who died in the February Revolution of 1917.
The Steregushchiy was a torpedo-boat captured in the Russo-Japanese War and supposedly sunk by the surviving sailors. This monument in Alexandrovskiy Park celebrates this legend of heroism.
