Novorossiysk · RU

Memorial "Malaya Zemlya".

On the Sudzhuk Spit, where the calm water of Tsemes Bay meets the Black Sea coast of Novorossiysk, a colossal granite-and-bronze prow looks as though a landing ship has just beached itself and frozen mid-charge. This is the Memorial "Malaya Zemlya" ("Small Land"), a museum and monument raised to one of the most dramatic episodes of the Battle of the Caucasus: the 1943 amphibious assault that gave Soviet forces a foothold from which they eventually retaken the city. Opened on 16 September 1982, the 39th anniversary of Novorossiysk's liberation, the complex is the work of sculptor Vladimir Tsigal and architects Yakov Belopolsky, Roman Kananin and Viktor Khavin. It combines a powerful outdoor sculpture, an interior Gallery of Military Glory, surviving trenches from the actual battlefield and an open-air display of wartime hardware—making it both a place of remembrance and one of the city's most striking sights.