Zavokzalny War Memorial, War memorial in central Sochi, Russia
The Zavokzalny War Memorial in Sochi is a memorial to local soldiers killed in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945. It was designed by architects G. Kh. Nazaryan and R. I. Semerdzhiev. Memorial plaques bearing soldiers' names are arranged in a semicircle around an eternal flame. The site is the burial place of more than 2,000 Soviet Army soldiers who died of severe wounds in Sochi hospitals.
The memorial was established in 1985 to commemorate the end of World War II and holds the remains of thousands of soldiers. It was created as part of broader Soviet efforts to honor military casualties across the nation.
The name comes from the Zavokzalny microdistrict, meaning "behind the station", next to Sochi's main railway station. The memorial is a citywide site of remembrance, and its Eternal Flame was lit on 8 May 1985 with fire brought from Malaya Zemlya. In May 2015, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry laid wreaths here.
The memorial stands in the Zavokzalny microdistrict of Sochi's Central District, a short walk from the railway station that gives the area its name. The site is open without tickets; the eternal flame burns at the centre of the semicircle of plaques. Allow time to read the names on the memorial boards and to walk the burial ground, which holds more than 2,000 graves.
Many visitors are surprised that the grave markers are not standardized, but rather bear individual names and dates, making each grave a personal memorial. This personal dimension sets the memorial apart from many other monumental cemeteries.
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