Sinyavino: The Sinyavinskie Heights and Their Memorial Sites

• The Sinyavinskie Heights rise to up to 50 meters above sea level.
• From 1941 to 1943, fierce and costly battles took place there in an effort to break the Siege of Leningrad.
• The central feature of the “Sinyavinskie Heights” memorial is the Wall of Remembrance.

The heights are an elevated area within the municipality of Sinyavino. Their history is closely linked to the battles to break the Siege of Leningrad: fierce fighting with heavy losses took place here between 1941 and 1943. A visit to this place therefore focuses on the remembrance of a specific chapter in the history of the war.

The memorials were not all created at the same time. In the 1950s and 1960s, at the initiative of veterans of the battles in the southern Ladoga area and with the support of local authorities and young people from Leningrad, individual memorials were erected at soldiers’ graves, along with memorial stones commemorating the troops and units that fought there. The memorial site thus continued to develop over several decades.

Two avenues lead to the central part of the “Sinyavinskie Heights” memorial. The Avenue of Glory features 64 plaques bearing the names of fallen heroes. Together with the Wall of Remembrance, these named and structural elements give remembrance different forms: they connect a central place of remembrance with individual names and units.

One distinctive nature destination in Leningrad Oblast is the Vepsian Forest Nature Park in the far east of the region. It includes seven nature reserves with particularly strict protection rules. The park has numerous lakes; the largest is Lake Lerinskoye, in the reserve of the same name. The surviving old spruce and pine forests in the “Vepsian Forest” and “Aschtschozjorski” reserves are important for numerous organisms that can survive only in forests undisturbed by economic activity.

Wildlife is also part of this regional nature theme: brown bears are found in significant numbers in the nature park; the wolverine, extremely rare in the region, has also been recorded there. These landscape and nature-conservation themes offer a different focus from the memorial sites in the municipality of Sinyavino. When planning your trip, it helps to distinguish between these interests rather than treating them as one local offering.

Discover more destinations: Vistino, Luga, Sosnovy Bor, Trubnikov Bor, Zaporozhskoye, Volochayevskoye, Olkhovka, Shapki.

Why are different time periods mentioned?

The fierce battles to break the siege took place from 1941 to 1943. The dates 1941 to 1944 refer to the years of death of the heroes commemorated by a memorial stele in the municipality of Sinyavino.

Who designed the Wall of Remembrance?

The Wall of Remembrance at the “Sinyavinskie Heights” memorial was created in 1985 based on a design by architect B. K. Amandzholov.

Who are the Veps?

The Veps have traditionally lived in the Vepsian Forest Nature Park in Leningrad Oblast. They are a small people of Russia with their own culture and traditions.

Go to the regional travel overview: Leningrad Oblast.