‘Valour’ Brest Hero-Fortress Memorial Complex

Location: Brest, Belarus

Completed: 1971

Architects: Vladimir Karol, Viktor Volchak, Valentin Zankovich,  Yuri Kazakov,  Oleg Stakhovich, Georgy Sysoev (architects), Alexander Kibalnikov, Andrei Bembel and Vladimir Bobyl (sculptors)

Genre: Soviet memorial, former USSR

The defence of Brest Fortress (22-29 June 1941) was the first battle of Operation Barbarossa, the code word used by the Nazis for their all-out attack on the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War (World War II). ‘Valour’ is a 30 metres high and 54 metres wide monument depicting the head of a Soviet soldier. Although it gives the appearance of being carved out of one large piece of stone, it is in fact made up of two hundred individual concrete parts and is hollow inside. More information about Brest Fortress

‘Valour’ Brest Hero-Fortress Memorial Complex in Brest, Belarus | Soviet memorial | former USSR

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