Obelisk to the Feat of the Three Heroes (Veliky Novgorod)

The Obelisk to the Feat of the Three Heroes is a Second World War memorial in the small square at Yaroslav's Court, on the Trade Side of Veliky Novgorod, near Nikolskaya Street and the Volkhov embankment. It honours three Heroes of the Soviet Union, Ivan Gerasimenko, Leonty Cheremnov and Alexander Krasilov, who blocked the embrasures of German pillboxes with their own bodies near Novgorod in January 1942.

History of the memorial

The obelisk was unveiled in November 1957 for the 40th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was the city's first monument to those who defended and liberated the Novgorod land in 1941–1944. It was designed by Lyudmila Ashikhmina.

The obelisk is a truncated pyramid faced with granite, standing on a rectangular brick pedestal. Each face carries a ribbed metal star resembling the Hero's Gold Star. The front, turned towards the Volkhov, bears a memorial plaque with the Gold Star medal and the names of the three heroes. The plot around it is enclosed by a chain fence.

By a resolution of the Novgorod Region Administration of 23 January 1997 the obelisk was listed as a cultural heritage site of regional importance.

The feat of the three heroes

The three men served in the 225th Rifle Division of the 52nd Army on the Volkhov Front: Sergeant Ivan Savvich Gerasimenko and privates Leonty Arsentyevich Cheremnov and Alexander Semyonovich Krasilov. On the night of 29 January 1942 their group was fighting on the left bank of the Volkhov, not far from the river's source and an unfinished bridge, when it came under crossfire from two hidden enemy pillboxes. Cheremnov threw himself onto the embrasure of one, Gerasimenko and Krasilov covered the other, and their unit was able to get out of the line of fire.

By a decree of 21 February 1944 all three were posthumously made Heroes of the Soviet Union and awarded the Order of Lenin. A second memorial, designed by V. N. Borisov, was opened on 8 May 1975 at the place where they fell, near Lake Myachino.

What to see nearby

Yaroslav's Court is the old heart of the Trade Side, named, according to tradition, after Prince Yaroslav the Wise. Legend tells of his splendid palace here, though no trace of it has been found. The chronicles first mention the prince's court in 1113, when St Nicholas Cathedral was founded. After Novgorod lost its independence in the 15th century it became the Sovereign's Court and for centuries afterwards served as a marketplace. Around the obelisk stand St Nicholas Cathedral, the 13th-century Church of St Paraskeva, other churches of the 12th–18th centuries and the arcade of the Merchants' Court. Since 1992 the ensemble has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Historic Monuments of Novgorod and Surroundings".

Getting there

The obelisk is about a 15-minute walk from the Novgorod Kremlin: leave the Kremlin towards the Volkhov and cross the river by the footbridge to the Trade Side. The square is open at all hours and free to visit. Nearby, on Alexander Nevsky Embankment, is the Yaroslav's Court pier used by river cruise boats.