The Shtyki Memorial also named the Monument to the Defenders of Moscow , is a memorial complex in honour of those who defended Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 in the Battle of Moscow

Battle of Moscow

The Battle of Moscow is the name given by Soviet historians to two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated Hitler's attack on Moscow, capital of...

. At the site are a common grave

Mass grave

A mass grave is a grave containing multiple number of human corpses, which may or may not be identified prior to burial. There is no strict definition of the minimum number of bodies required to constitute a mass grave, although the United Nations defines a mass grave as a burial site which...

 and an architectural complex. It is located on the 40th km of Leningrad highway, at the second entry into the city of Zelenograd

Zelenograd

Zelenograd is a city, which, along with the territories and settlements under its jurisdiction, forms one of the administrative okrugs of Moscow - Zelenograd Administrative Okrug...

 heading south, and the road to Mendeleyevo

Mendeleyevo

Mendeleyevo is an urban locality in Solnechnogorsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia. It stands on the Klyazma River, about from its source, near the city of Zelenograd, and opposite of the ancient Russian village of Lyalovo...

 heading north. The memorial complex obtained its name because of the central obelisk

Obelisk

An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...

, which represents the stylized image of three bayonet

Bayonet

A bayonet is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit in, on, over or underneath the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar weapon, effectively turning the gun into a spear...

s held together. The first burials in the common grave were in the winter of 1941; the architectural features were completed on 24 June 1974.Памятник-монумент защитникам Москвы на 40-м километре Ленинградского шоссе ] The architects of the project were I. A. Pokrovsky, and Y. A. Sverdlovsky, with sculptors A. G. Shteyman, and E. A. Shteyman-Derevyanko.

Components

The complex is composed of a kurgan

Kurgan

Kurgan is the Turkic term for a tumulus; mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves, originating with its use in Soviet archaeology, now widely used for tumuli in the context of Eastern European and Central Asian archaeology....

, the Shtyki obelisk, and a bas-relief triptych

Triptych

A triptych , from tri-= "three" + ptysso= "to fold") is a work of art which is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all multi-panel works...

 with inscriptions. The kurgan contains the common grave known as Hill of Glory , which rises to a height of 27 meters. The Shtyki obelisk is composed of three stylized bayonets that symbolize the rifle, tank and cavalry divisions. It is made of reinforced concrete

Concrete

Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...

 and has a height of 42 meters from the apex of the barrow. The bas-relief triptych is on the southwestern side of the kurgan. Sculpted into three concrete stele

Stele

A stele , also stela , is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab...

 are reliefs depicting a soldier in the helmet, a laurel branch, and the inscription: "1941 г. Здесь защитники Москвы, погибшие в бою за Родину, остались навеки бессмертны" in English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

: "1941 Here the defenders of Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

, fallen in battle for the Motherland, remain forever immortal." Under the bronze wreath rest the ashes of hundreds of Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 soldiers. On the wreath is inscribed: "Никогда Родина-мать не забудет своих сыновей" in English: "Never will the Motherland forget her sons".

Connections with other monuments

The Shtyki Memorial is connected with other monuments, particularly the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Moscow)

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a war memorial, dedicated to the Soviet soldiers killed during World War II...

 at the Moscow Kremlin

Moscow Kremlin

The Moscow Kremlin , sometimes referred to as simply The Kremlin, is a historic fortified complex at the heart of Moscow, overlooking the Moskva River , Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square and the Alexander Garden...

, and the Kurgan of Glory in Minsk. On 3 December 1966, in the commemoration of the 25 summer anniversary of the defeat of Hitler's troops

Wehrmacht

The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...

 in the environs of Moscow, ashes of the soldiers were carried to the Kremlin. The Shtyki complex is sometimes confused with the Belarusian Kurgan of Glory complex due to their similarities. Both are memorial complexes built on kurgans. Zelenograd's memorial has 3 "bayonets", and the Belarusian memorial has 4. The names of the memorial mounds are also similar, where Zelenograd has the name "Hill of Glory", and the Belarusian "Kurgan of Glory".

Flag and coat of arms of Zelenograd

The monument has become an element of the flag of the city of Zelenograd, which is incorporated into the city's coat of arms. A stylized drawing of the monument in silver or white is displayed on the flag which is in turn displayed on the center shield of the coat of arms. It is on a red background in the lower right portion of the flag, which is divided into two portions by a gold and silver diagonal. On these two emblems the monument symbolizes the important boundary in the defense of the capital, and the beginning of the defeat of Hitler's troops in the environs of Moscow in 1941. Opposite the monument on the flag is a stylized golden image of a microchip

Integrated circuit

An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...

in the form of an equilateral cross.