State Museum of Defence of Moscow
A museum dedicated to the Moscow Battle, as well as to the memory of the defenders of the capital. It began with an exhibition dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the Battle of Moscow, where documents and weapons of 1941-1942 were presented. Since 1981, the museum has been open to visitors. The permanent exhibition was created in 1995 and is dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Victory. The Moscow Defence Museum occupies the two lower floors in a five-story building built for the administration of the Olympic Games in Moscow in 1980. At the entrance to the museum there is a platform with an exposition of military equipment, which presents the best examples of artillery pieces from the period of the Great Patriotic War. The museum organizes thematic exhibitions, holds annual military-historical holidays and participates in citywide cultural events. Excursions, cultural and educational programs, lectures and guided tours of the battle sites in the Moscow region are offered for visitors. The museum’s exposition includes about 4,000 authentic exhibits, including documents, photographs, weapons, paintings, personal belongings of participants in the defence of Moscow. Five thematic compositions are dedicated to a certain stage of the defence of Moscow: in the first hall there is evidence of how at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War Moscow mobilized the economic and social spheres to fight the Nazi troops. The next hall of the museum is dedicated to the exploits of the air defence soldiers who repelled the attacks of the fascist army for three years. Here are presented both the means of combating German airstrikes and eliminating the consequences of these bombings. In the third hall there is an exposition telling about the defensive period of the Battle of Moscow – the largest battle during the Great Patriotic War, which contained a complex of various and extremely intense operations, fights and battles that unfolded over a vast territory and continued continuously for 203 days and nights. The fourth hall is dedicated to the most outstanding event of the Moscow Battle – the counteroffensive of the Red Army in 1941-1942. The exposition of the fifth hall, located on two levels, shows the combat path of the formed military units of the Soviet Army from Moscow to Berlin and reveals the international significance of the defeat of German troops near Moscow. In the sixth hall, the museum organizes and holds specialized exhibitions on the theme of the Great Patriotic War on a permanent basis.
Address: Moscow, Michurinsky Ave., Olympic village, 3
