Footsteps of WWII · Russia & Belarus
Museum of the Defence and Siege of Leningrad
Museum · Sep 1941 – Jan 1944 (museum from 1944)
The story
This museum began while the siege was still on: an exhibition, 'Heroic Defence of Leningrad', opened in the Solyanoy Gorodok halls on 30 April 1944, and it became the Leningrad Defence Museum on 27 January 1946, the second anniversary of the siege being lifted. In 1949 it was closed during the 'Leningrad Affair', Stalin's purge of the city's wartime leadership; its managers were persecuted, it was liquidated in 1952, and weapons were melted down. It reopened in the same building on 8 September 1989. It covers the 872 days of encirclement, the Road of Life across Lake Ladoga and daily life on bread rations that fell to 125 g for dependants.
What to look for
The main exhibition is in one large hall on the upper floor: weapons, uniforms, posters and models, a big map of the Road of Life, a recreated siege-time room with a small iron stove, and a display of the 125 g bread ration. Labels are mostly in Russian; an audio guide is offered.
Plan your visit
FCDO advises against all travel to Russia. Open 10:00–18:00, closed Tuesdays and the last Wednesday of the month (ticket office closes 17:30). Modest admission charge; audio guide extra. Check the website before you go.
Things change, so check opening times before you travel.
Nearby sites
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Footsteps of WWII: Europe 1939–1945
A free field guide for your phone: the route, the maps and the stories built in, even with no signal. The whole Second World War in Europe, from the first shots at Westerplatte on 1 September 1939 to the German surrender in May 1945: Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, Normandy, Arnhem, Bastogne, Stalingrad, Berlin and the camps, in 15 areas from Britain to Russia.
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