Eternal flame in the Alexander Garden. Eternal flame in the Alexander Garden Inscription on the monument eternal flame

A date that is inextricably linked with Victory Day. On May 8, in the center of Moscow, in the Alexander Garden near the Kremlin walls, a fire was lit at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This was in 1967 - half a century ago. There are always flowers at the place of common grief and memory. They are still carried today.

A soldier's helmet and laurel branch lying on a battle banner. In Russia there are many monuments related to the war, where the heart aches, but among them, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a special place. Here is the main guard of honor of the country, post number one.

Military personnel of the Presidential Regiment change every hour. Perfect coherence. Every movement is perfected. There are always a lot of people here. And there are many who cannot hold back their tears. Those who come here are those who never found out where their loved ones died in the war, who received a funeral certificate for their grandfather, father or son, which reads: “Missing in action.”

“This is a symbol of all those who died during the war, defending our Motherland, people whom we do not know and will never know, but they selflessly gave their lives,” says the girl.

“Whenever we come here, we come, first of all, to the Eternal Flame to bow and pay tribute to our soldiers who died during the Great Patriotic War,” the man notes.

The idea to perpetuate the memory of ordinary soldiers of the Great Patriotic War appeared in the 60s, then during the time of Brezhnev, celebrations in honor of the victory became regular, and May 9 was declared a day off. In the year when the 25th anniversary of the Battle of Moscow was celebrated, builders discovered a mass grave near Zelenograd. The military insignia of a private was removed from the uniform of one of the soldiers. No documents were found on him. His remains were transferred to the Kremlin wall.

All the way, the hero's ashes were accompanied by a guard of honor. Four months later, the Eternal Flame flared up at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier - a piece of flame was delivered from the Field of Mars in Leningrad on a special armored personnel carrier. Hero of the Soviet Union pilot Alexey Maresyev took the torch relay and passed the torch to party general secretary Leonid Brezhnev. In the footage of the chronicle, a historical moment - the memorial at the Kremlin wall was opened under volleys of artillery salute.

“The entire Alexander Garden, the entire Manezhnaya Square was filled with people. Everyone considered it their duty to bow to the Unknown Soldier. And many believed that it was his relative, or his father, brother, son, and so on, who was buried here,” says Sergei Khmelidze, a veteran of the 154th separate commandant’s Preobrazhensky Regiment.

For 50 years, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was closed to the public only once - in 2009, when the monument was being reconstructed. The Eternal Flame was temporarily moved to Poklonnaya Hill - to the Museum of the Great Patriotic War. A couple of months later he returned to the Kremlin wall.

Neither hurricane winds nor pouring rain can extinguish the flame - there are several special electric fuses inside, they operate automatically and constantly maintain combustion. Once a month - prevention. From the outside, it looks like a ritual - gas workers carefully lift the bronze star, and the crew chief bends over the burner to remove soot and fumes.

Today, at the Kremlin wall, the events of 50 years ago were reconstructed - military personnel of the Presidential Regiment in dress uniform of the 1956 model, using that same historical torch, transferred the flame to a specially equipped armored personnel carrier for the duration of preventive maintenance, and then returned it to its place. Despite the bad weather, hundreds of people came to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, representatives of the Board of the Ministry of Defense and veterans laid flowers and wreaths.

The battle ended a long time ago...

By the hands of all friends

The guy is placed in the globe,

It's like being in a mausoleum...

These words of the front-line poet Sergei Orlov were written almost a quarter of a century before the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier appeared in Moscow, which became a symbol of the valor of nameless heroes. “Your name is unknown - your feat is immortal” - words echoed by another refrain of the Great Victory: “No one is forgotten and nothing is forgotten.”

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a memorial complex located in the Alexander Garden near the walls of the Moscow Kremlin (metro station Okhotny Ryad). Located at the entrance to the Alexander Garden, from Manezhnaya Square.

The remains of a real unknown soldier are buried here. In 1966, near Moscow, on the 41st kilometer of the Moscow-Leningrad highway, near Zelenograd, during construction work, a mass grave from the times of the Great Patriotic War was discovered. One buried soldier was selected from this grave. On December 3, 1966, the soldier’s ashes were delivered to Moscow from Zelenograd on a gun carriage. The last meters of the coffin with the remains of the unknown warrior were carried in their arms and buried in the Alexander Garden, near the Kremlin wall.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier complex consists of:

The tombstone on the grave in the form of a square slab is made of polished red Shoksha quartzite. The right corner of the slab is covered with a sculptural composition made of bronze - folds of a bowed banner, a soldier's helmet and a laurel branch.

Eternal flame.

It was lit on May 8, 1967 from the fire of Eternal Glory on the Field of Mars in Leningrad. The torch with fire from the city on the Neva to Moscow was accompanied by a delegation led by the Hero of the Soviet Union, the legendary pilot Alexei Petrovich Maresyev. The eternal flame in a bronze five-pointed star is located on the platform near the tombstone, which is lined with slabs of polished labradorite. On the platform there is a horizontal inscription made of applied bronze letters: Your name is unknown, your feat is immortal.

To the left of the monument there is a granite wall made of Karelian red quartzite. It is engraved: “1941 To those who fell for the Motherland, 1945.”

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Brest FortressA platform stretches along the Kremlin wall, raised by three steps above the level of the paths of the Alexander Garden. Ten blocks of dark red Shoksha quartzite were installed on the site. On each block there is a relief bronze inscription - the name of the hero city. Inside the blocks there are capsules with earth from these cities.

In the capsules of Odessa, Minsk, Kerch, Novorossiysk, Tula, soil was taken from the places where bloody battles for the defense of these cities were fought. In the capsule of Leningrad there is the land of the Piskarevsky cemetery, of Volgograd - a particle of Mamayev Kurgan, of Sevastopol - the land of Malakhov Kurgan. In Kyiv, a piece of earth was taken from the Obelisk to the participants in the defense of the city, and in Brest - from the foot of the Brest Fortress.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier On the right is a red granite stele lying on a pedestal (installed in 2010). On its left side is the inscription “Cities of Military Glory.” Along the pedestal are the names of cities of military glory.

Post No. 1 - at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier there is the so-called post No. 1, with an honor guard. Post No. 1 was moved here from the mausoleum on Red Square on December 12, 1997 by decree of the President of Russia. The guard is carried out by soldiers of the Presidential Regiment, changing every hour.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is popular among the population. Veterans and their descendants come here, foreign delegations and newlyweds come here.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier complex was created in 1967 and opened on Victory Day (Sculptor N.V. Tomsky. Architects D.I. Burdin, V.A. Klimov, Yu.R. Rabaev).

For the construction of the memorial, the Obelisk, created in honor of the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov, was moved from the entrance to the Alexander Garden to the site near the “Ruin” grotto and the Middle Arsenal Tower.

Every year on May 9, Muscovites go to the Eternal Flame to bow to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. However, few people already remember the people who created this memorial. The eternal flame has been burning for 50 years. It seems like he has always been there. However, the story of its ignition is extremely dramatic. It had its own tears and tragedies.

Every year on May 9, Muscovites go to the Eternal Flame to bow to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. However, few people already remember the people who created this memorial. The eternal flame has been burning for 34 years. It seems like he has always been there. However, the story of its ignition is extremely dramatic. It had its own tears and tragedies.

In December 1966, Moscow was preparing to solemnly celebrate the 25th anniversary of the defense of Moscow. At that time, the first secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee was Nikolai Grigorievich Egorychev. A man who played a significant role in politics, including in the dramatic situation of the removal of Khrushchev and the election of Brezhnev to the post of Secretary General, one of the communist reformers.

The anniversary of the victory over the Nazis began to be celebrated especially solemnly only in 1965, when Moscow was awarded the title of Hero City and May 9 officially became a non-working day. Actually, then the idea was born to create a monument to ordinary soldiers who died for Moscow. However, Yegorychev understood that the monument should not be Moscow, but nationwide. This could only be the monument to the Unknown Soldier.

One day at the beginning of 1966, Alexei Nikolaevich Kosygin called Nikolai Yegorychev and said: “I was recently in Poland, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Why is there no such monument in Moscow?” “Yes,” Yegorychev answers, “we are thinking about this right now.” And he told about his plans. Kosygin liked the idea. When work on the project was completed, Yegorychev brought the sketches to the “premier”. However, it was necessary to familiarize Brezhnev with the project. And at that time he left somewhere, so Yegorychev went to the Central Committee to Mikhail Suslov and showed the sketches.

He also approved the project. Soon Brezhnev returned to Moscow. He received the Moscow leader very coldly. Apparently, he learned that Egorychev had reported everything to Kosygin and Suslov earlier. Brezhnev began to wonder whether it was worth building such a memorial at all. At that time, the idea was already in the air to give exclusivity to the battles on Malaya Zemlya. Moreover, as Nikolai Grigorievich told me: “Leonid Ilyich understood perfectly well that the opening of a monument close to the heart of every person would strengthen my personal authority. And Brezhnev did not like this even more.” However, in addition to the issue of the “struggle of authorities,” other, purely practical problems arose. And the main one is the place for the monument.

Brezhnev insisted: “I don’t like the Alexander Garden. Look for another place.”

Two or three times Yegorychev returned to this issue in conversations with the General. All to no avail.

Yegorychev insisted on the Alexander Garden, near the ancient Kremlin wall. Then it was an unkempt place, with a stunted lawn, and the wall itself required restoration. But the biggest obstacle was something else. Almost on the very spot where the Eternal Flame now burns stood an obelisk built in 1913 for the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov. After the revolution, the names of the reigning house were scraped off the obelisk and the names of the titans of the revolution were knocked out.

The list was supposedly compiled by Lenin personally. To evaluate what follows, let me remind you that at that time touching anything connected with Lenin was monstrous sedition. Egorychev suggested that the architects, without asking anyone for the highest permission (because they wouldn’t allow it), quietly move the obelisk a little to the right, to where the grotto is located. And no one will notice anything. The funny thing is that Yegorychev turned out to be right. If they had started to coordinate the issue of moving the Lenin monument with the Politburo, the matter would have dragged on for years.

Egorychev appealed to the common sense of the head of the Moscow architectural department, Gennady Fomin. Convinced to act without permission. By the way, if something went wrong, for such arbitrariness they could easily be deprived of all positions, or worse...

And yet, before starting global construction work, the approval of the Politburo was required. However, they did not intend to convene the Politburo. Yegorychev’s note on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier had been lying in the Politburo since May 1966, without movement. Then Nikolai Grigorievich once again resorted to a little trick.

He asked Fomin to prepare materials for the monument project: models, tablets - by November 6, the anniversary of the revolution - and display them in the presidium lounge in the Palace of Congresses. When the ceremonial meeting ended and members of the Politburo began to enter the room, I asked them to come and look at the models. Some were even surprised: after all, they had nothing to do with the anniversary of the revolution. I told them about the monument. Then I ask: “What is your opinion?” All members of the Politburo unanimously say: “This is great!” I’m asking if it’s possible to get started?

I see that Brezhnev has nowhere to go - the Politburo spoke in favor...

Memorial complex "Bayonets" near Zelenograd - a mass grave from which the ashes of an unknown soldier were transferred for burial in Moscow

The last most important question is where to look for the remains of a soldier? At that time, a lot of construction was going on in Zelenograd, and there, during excavation work, they found a mass grave that had been lost since the war. The secretary of the city committee for construction, Alexei Maksimovich Kalashnikov, was entrusted with this matter.

Then even more thorny questions arose: whose remains would be buried in the grave? What if it turns out to be the body of a deserter? Or a German? By and large, from the heights of today, no matter who ends up there, anyone is worthy of memory and prayer.

But in 1965 they didn’t think so. Therefore, they tried to check everything carefully. As a result, the choice fell on the remains of a warrior whose military uniform was well preserved, but which did not have any commander’s insignia. As Yegorychev explained to me: “If it had been a deserter who had been shot, the belt would have been removed from him. He could not have been wounded or captured, because the Germans did not reach that place. So it was absolutely clear that this was a Soviet soldier, who died heroically defending Moscow. No documents were found in his grave - the ashes of this private were truly nameless."

The military developed a solemn burial ritual. From Zelenograd the ashes were delivered to the capital on a gun carriage. On December 6, from early morning, hundreds of thousands of Muscovites lined Gorky Street. People cried as the funeral cortege moved past. Many old women quietly made the sign of the cross over the coffin. In mournful silence, the procession reached Manezhnaya Square. The last meters of the coffin were carried by Marshal Rokossovsky and prominent party members. The only one who was not allowed to carry the remains was Marshal Zhukov, who was then in disgrace...

On May 7, 1967, in Leningrad, a torch was lit from the Eternal Flame on the Field of Mars, which was carried by relay to Moscow. They say that all the way from Leningrad to Moscow there was a living corridor - people wanted to see what was sacred to them. Early in the morning of May 8, the motorcade reached Moscow. The streets were also filled to capacity with people. At Manezhnaya Square, the torch was accepted by Hero of the Soviet Union, legendary pilot Alexei Maresyev. Unique chronicle footage has been preserved that captured this moment. I saw men crying and women praying. People froze, trying not to miss the most important moment - the lighting of the Eternal Flame.

The memorial was opened by Nikolai Egorychev. And Brezhnev was supposed to light the Eternal Flame.

Leonid Ilyich was explained in advance what needed to be done. That evening, in the final news program, a television report was shown of the Secretary General accepting the torch, approaching the star with the torch, then there was a cliff - and in the next frame they showed the lit Eternal Flame. The fact is that during the ignition an emergency occurred, which was witnessed only by people standing nearby. Nikolai Egorychev: “Leonid Ilyich misunderstood something, and when the gas started, he did not have time to immediately bring the torch. As a result, something like an explosion occurred. There was a bang.

Brezhnev got scared, recoiled, and almost fell." Immediately came the highest order to cut out this unpleasant moment from the TV report.

As Nikolai Grigorievich recalled, because of this incident, television covered the great event rather sparingly.

Almost all the people involved in the creation of this monument had the feeling that this was the main work of their lives and it was FOREVER, FOREVER.

Since then, every year on May 9, people come to the Eternal Flame. Almost everyone knows that they will read the lines engraved on a marble slab: “Your name is unknown, your feat is immortal.” But it never occurs to anyone that these lines had an author. And it all happened like this. When the Central Committee approved the creation of the Eternal Flame, Yegorychev asked the then literary generals - Sergei Mikhalkov, Konstantin Simonov, Sergei Narovchatov and Sergei Smirnov - to come up with an inscription on the grave. We settled on the following text: “His name is unknown, his feat is immortal.” All the writers signed these words... and left.

Egorychev was left alone. Something in the final version did not suit him: “I thought,” he recalled, “how people would approach the grave. Maybe those who have lost their loved ones and do not know where they found peace. What will they say?

Probably: “Thank you, soldier! Your feat is immortal!” Although it was late in the evening, Yegorychev called Mikhalkov: “The word “his” should be replaced with “yours.”

Mikhalkov thought: “Yes,” he said, “this is better.” So the words carved in stone appeared on the granite slab: “Your name is unknown, your feat is immortal”...

It would be great if we no longer had to write new inscriptions over new graves of unknown soldiers. Although this, of course, is a utopia. One of the greats said: “Time changes, but our attitude towards our Victories does not change.” In fact, we will disappear, our children and great-grandchildren will leave, and the Eternal Flame will burn.

P.S. On October 24, 2014, the State Duma declared December 3 a memorable date in Russia - the Day of the Unknown Soldier. The date was set in memory of all unknown soldiers.

Every year on May 9, Muscovites go to the Eternal Flame to bow to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. However, few people already remember the people who created this memorial. The eternal flame has been burning for 46 years. It seems like he has always been there. However, the story of its ignition is extremely dramatic. It had its own tears and tragedies.
In December 1966, Moscow was preparing to solemnly celebrate the 25th anniversary of the defense of Moscow. At that time, the first secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee was Nikolai Grigorievich Egorychev. A man who played a significant role in politics, including in the dramatic situation of the removal of Khrushchev and the election of Brezhnev to the post of Secretary General, one of the communist reformers.

The anniversary of the victory over the Nazis began to be celebrated especially solemnly only in 1965, when Moscow was awarded the title of Hero City and May 9 officially became a non-working day. Actually, then the idea was born to create a monument to ordinary soldiers who died for Moscow. This could only be the monument to the Unknown Soldier.

One day at the beginning of 1966, Alexei Nikolaevich Kosygin called Nikolai Egorychev and said: “I was recently in Poland, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Why is there no such monument in Moscow?”
Brezhnev did not immediately approve of the idea of ​​a monument: “I don’t like the Alexander Garden. Look for another place.”
Yegorychev insisted on the Alexander Garden, near the ancient Kremlin wall. Then it was an unkempt place, with a stunted lawn,
The wall itself required restoration. But the biggest obstacle lay elsewhere. Almost on the very spot where the Eternal Flame now burns stood an obelisk built in 1913 for the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov. After the revolution, the names of the reigning house were scraped off the obelisk and the names of the titans of the revolution were knocked out. The list was supposedly compiled by Lenin personally. Egorychev suggested that the architects, without asking anyone for the highest permission (because they wouldn’t allow it), quietly move the obelisk a little to the right, to where the grotto is located. And no one will notice anything. The funny thing is that Yegorychev turned out to be right. If they had started to coordinate the issue of moving the Lenin monument with the Politburo, the matter would have dragged on for years.

The last most important question is where to look for the remains of a soldier? At that time, a lot of construction was going on in Zelenograd, and there, during excavation work, they found a mass grave that had been lost since the war. As a result, the choice fell on the remains of a warrior whose military uniform was well preserved, but which did not have any commander’s insignia. It was absolutely clear that this was a Soviet soldier who died heroically defending Moscow. No documents were found in his grave - the ashes of this private were truly nameless."
The military developed a solemn burial ritual. From Zelenograd the ashes were delivered to the capital on a gun carriage. On December 6, from early morning, hundreds of thousands of Muscovites lined Gorky Street. People cried as the funeral cortege moved past. Many old women made the sign of the cross over the coffin. In mournful silence, the procession reached Manezhnaya Square. The last meters of the coffin were carried by Marshal Rokossovsky and prominent party members.
On May 7, 1967, in Leningrad, a torch was lit from the Eternal Flame on the Field of Mars, which was carried by relay to Moscow. They say that all the way from Leningrad to Moscow there was a living corridor - people wanted to see what was sacred to them. Early in the morning of May 8, the motorcade reached Moscow. The streets were also filled to capacity with people. At Manezhnaya Square, the torch was accepted by Hero of the Soviet Union, legendary pilot Alexei Maresyev. Unique chronicle footage has been preserved that captured this moment. People froze, trying not to miss the most important moment - the lighting of the Eternal Flame.

The memorial was opened by Nikolai Egorychev.
Almost all the people involved in the creation of this monument had the feeling that this was the main work of their lives and it was FOREVER, FOREVER.
Since then, every year on May 9, people come to the Eternal Flame. Almost everyone knows that they will read the lines engraved on a marble slab: “Your name is unknown, your feat is immortal.” But it never occurs to anyone that these lines had an author. And it all happened like this. When the Central Committee approved the creation of the Eternal Flame, Yegorychev asked the then literary generals - Sergei Mikhalkov, Konstantin Simonov, Sergei Narovchatov and Sergei Smirnov - to come up with an inscription on the grave. We settled on the following text: “His name is unknown, his feat is immortal.” All the writers signed these words... and left.
Egorychev was left alone. Something in the final version did not suit him: “I thought,” he recalled, “how people would approach the grave. Maybe those who have lost their loved ones and do not know where they found peace. What will they say?

Probably: “Thank you, soldier! Your feat is immortal!” Although it was late in the evening, Yegorychev called Mikhalkov: “The word “his” should be replaced with “yours.”

Mikhalkov thought: “Yes,” he said, “this is better.” So the words carved in stone appeared on the granite slab: “Your name is unknown, your feat is immortal”...

It would be great if we no longer had to write new inscriptions over new graves of unknown soldiers. Although this, of course, is a utopia. One of the greats said: “Time changes, but our attitude towards our Victories does not change.” In fact, we will disappear, our children and great-grandchildren will leave, and the Eternal Flame will burn.

A new holiday has appeared in Russia. Now, every year on December 3, the Day of the Unknown Soldier will be celebrated. Many years have passed since the Great Patriotic War, and people defending their Fatherland are still dying today. The State Duma established this day in memory of Russian and Soviet soldiers who died in combat on the territory of our country or abroad. The date of the holiday was not chosen by chance. On December 3, 1966, the ashes of the unknown soldier were transferred from a mass grave on the Leningradskoe Highway and buried in the Alexander Garden in Moscow. Today, on this date, I offer 10 interesting facts about the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the capital of Russia.

1. The idea of ​​​​creating a monument was anticipated by front-line poet Sergei Orlov in his 1944 poem “He was buried in the globe...”.

2. The first secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU, Nikolai Egorychev, first came up with the idea of ​​​​implementing such a project. By the way, abroad, for example in Paris, the memory of soldiers was honored almost immediately after World War I.

Why didn’t the USSR, which drove out the invaders not only from its territory, but also liberated other countries from the brown plague, think of erecting such a memorial? Initially, Nikolai Egorychev cherished the project of erecting a monument to ordinary soldiers who died in the battle for Moscow. But then he began to see the idea more broadly: he decided that the monument should be dedicated not only to the heroes of the Battle of Moscow, but also to all those who fell during the Great Patriotic War. The same thought came to Alexei Kosygin, who in those distant years was the first deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers. Having secured the support of such a high rank, Yegorychev turned to the specialists who created the first sketches of the monument.

3. But the final “go-ahead” had to be given by the country’s leader, Secretary General Leonid Brezhnev, who... did not like the initial project. He considered that the Alexander Garden was not suitable for such a memorial, and suggested finding another place. But Yegorychev did not even think of retreating.
4. Where the Eternal Flame is now located, there was an obelisk dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov, which later became a monument to revolutionary thinkers. To create the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the obelisk was moved.

But Brezhnev was still in no hurry to give a positive answer. And then Nikolai Egorychev came up with a tactical move. Before the ceremonial meeting in the Kremlin on November 6, 1966, dedicated to the anniversary of the October Revolution, he placed all the sketches and models of the monument in the recreation room of the Politburo members. When those present got acquainted with the project and approved it, Yegorychev actually put Brezhnev in a position where Leonid Ilyich had no choice but to sign the papers. So the project of one of the symbols of the Kremlin wall received approval.

5. Memorial by memorial. But who will personify this collective name, the Unknown Soldier? Where to look for the remains of a soldier who is destined to go to a new grave? The requirements were strict, excluding any possibility of accident. The hero must be a private, he must not have any war crimes on him, he must not have died in captivity, and most importantly, he must not have any identification documents with him. But the matter was decided by chance. Construction was actively underway in Zelenograd near Moscow. One day, workers came across a mass grave of soldiers who died in battles near Moscow. The grave chosen to take the ashes from was located in a place where the Germans did not reach, which means that the soldiers certainly did not die in captivity. One of the fighters is wearing a well-preserved uniform with the insignia of a private. The belt on the tunic was preserved (and this accessory was removed from deserters and other war criminals before execution). And he did not have any documents: he died as an unknown hero.

6. On December 2, 1966, at 14:30, his remains as a soldier were placed in a coffin, in front of which a military guard was posted every two hours. On December 3 at 11:45 the coffin was placed on a gun carriage, after which the procession headed to Moscow. The Unknown Soldier was seen off on his last journey by thousands of Muscovites who lined the streets along which the funeral column was moving. A memorial meeting took place on Manezhnaya Square, after which party leaders and Marshal Rokossovsky carried the coffin in their arms to the burial place. Under artillery salvoes, the Unknown Soldier found peace in the Alexander Garden.

7. The “Tomb of the Unknown Soldier” memorial, designed by architects Dmitry Burdin, Vladimir Klimov, Yuri Rabaev and sculptor Nikolai Tomsky, was opened on May 8, 1967. In the center of the memorial there is a niche with an inscription. The authorship of the famous epitaph “Your name is unknown, your feat is immortal” is attributed to several poets: Sergei Narovchatov, Konstantin Simonov, Sergei Mikhalkov, Sergei Smirnov. Initially the phrase was: “His name is unknown, his feat is immortal.” But it is precisely the more sincere, personal appeal that belongs to Nikolai Egorychev, already known to you, who changed only a couple of words.

8. The tombstone of the grave-monument, made of red quartzite blocks, is topped with a bronze composition - a soldier’s helmet and a laurel branch lie on the battle flag.
9. On the day of the opening of the monument, the fire lit in Leningrad from the memorial on the Champ de Mars was delivered to Moscow on an armored personnel carrier. The solemn funeral relay of the torch was accepted by Hero of the Soviet Union pilot Alexey Maresyev, who passed on the unquenchable flame to the head of the USSR Leonid Brezhnev. The Soviet General Secretary, himself a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, lit the Eternal Flame in a bronze 5-pointed star at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

10. On December 12, 1997, a guard of honor was installed at the memorial. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier today is one of the symbols of Russian history. Every year on Victory Day, the whole country honors the memory of the victims with a minute of silence, and flowers are laid at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.