# Poklonnaya Hill and Victory Park, Moscow

> Moscow’s main World War II memorial: a free park on Poklonnaya Hill with a 141.8-metre obelisk, a church, fountains and the Victory Museum. Allow an hour for the park, half a day with the museums. The Victory Museum costs 450 ₽ and the open-air tank park 400 ₽; both close on Mondays and open 10:00–21:00 Wednesday to Sunday. Metro: Park Pobedy.

Web page: https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/poklonnaya-hill

- City: [Moscow](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow), Russia
- YesGo score: 36/100 (Yes, if nearby)
- Time on site: 1 h
- Entry: Park free; Victory Museum 450 ₽
- Opening hours: Park free to walk; Victory Museum Mon closed, Tue 13:00–21:00, Wed–Sun 10:00–21:00; G.O.R.A. tank park Tue–Sun 10:00–21:00
- With kids: Fine with kids
- Victory Park: Free, open to walk in
- Victory Museum, full ticket: 450 ₽
- G.O.R.A. open-air military equipment: 400 ₽
- Victory Museum hours: Mon closed; Tue 13:00–21:00; Wed–Sun 10:00–21:00; last tickets 19:30
- G.O.R.A. hours: Tue–Sun 10:00–21:00, last entry 19:30; Mon closed
- Free entry: Under-7s, any nationality
- Address: 3 Ploshchad Pobedy (Victory Square), main museum building
- Metro: Park Pobedy (dark blue line 3 and yellow line 8); Minskaya (line 8) for the mosque side
- Paying: Visa and Mastercard issued abroad don’t work in Russia — bring roubles in cash or a Mir card
- Coordinates: 55.73167, 37.50667
- Facts checked: 29.10.2026

## Key facts

- **141.8 m** — the Victory obelisk — 10 cm for each of the 1,418 days of the war (source: English Wikipedia, “Poklonnaya Hill”; Russian Wikipedia, “Victory Park (Moscow)”)
- **9 May 1995** — Victory Park and the Victory Museum opened, for the 50th anniversary of victory (source: English Wikipedia, “Victory Park (Moscow)”; Russian Wikipedia, “Victory Museum”)
- **135 ha** — the park — one of the largest memorial complexes in Russia (source: English and Russian Wikipedia, “Victory Park (Moscow)”)
- **11,800+** — names of Heroes of the Soviet Union and Russia carved on 72 pylons in the Hall of Glory (source: Official Victory Museum website, “Hall of Glory”; Russian Wikipedia, “Victory Museum”)
- **400+** — tanks, aircraft, guns and vehicles across 10 ha in the open-air G.O.R.A. museum (source: Official G.O.R.A. museum website; Afisha, “G.O.R.A. Museum”)
- **1812** — Napoleon waited here for the keys to the Kremlin — nobody brought them (source: English Wikipedia, “Poklonnaya Hill”; Russian Wikipedia, “Poklonnaya Hill (Moscow)”)
- **84 m** — depth of Park Pobedy, the deepest station on the Moscow Metro, with 126 m escalators (source: English Wikipedia, “Park Pobedy (Moscow Metro)”; Russian Wikipedia, “Park Pobedy (metro station)”)
- **6** — dioramas in the museum, from the Battle of Moscow to the storming of Berlin (source: Russian Wikipedia, “Victory Museum”; official Victory Museum website)
- **1829–1834** — Bove’s Triumphal Arch was built; it was rebuilt on Kutuzovsky Avenue by the park in 1966–1968 (source: English Wikipedia, “Triumphal Arch of Moscow”, “Poklonnaya Hill”)
- **1958** — a granite stone promised a Victory monument here — it took 37 years (source: Russian Wikipedia, “Poklonnaya Hill (Moscow)”, “Victory Park (Moscow)”)

## Is Poklonnaya Hill worth visiting?

Yes, if World War II history interests you. Victory Park is the biggest war memorial in Moscow, the Victory Museum has the city’s strongest displays on the war, and the open-air G.O.R.A. park lets you walk among more than 400 tanks, planes and guns. The park itself is free.

If war history isn’t your thing and you only have a day or two, it’s optional. It sits out west, the “hill” is now a gentle slope, and without the museum it’s a vast square with a monument. The YesGo score puts it at “Yes, if nearby”: important and free, but far from the centre.

The easy fix is to pair it with [Moscow City](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/moscow-city), one metro stop away: memorial in the morning, skyscrapers in the afternoon.

> **Closed on Mondays — and Tuesday starts at 1 pm** The park is open every day; the museums are not. **Both the Victory Museum and the tank park close on Mondays**, and on Tuesdays the main museum opens only at 13:00. Ticket sales stop at 19:30 even though the doors close at 21:00 — the museum needs two hours, so arrive by 18:00.

## Victory Museum tickets and opening hours

**A full Victory Museum ticket is 450 ₽; the G.O.R.A. open-air military equipment museum is a separate 400 ₽.** Children under 7 go free. Russian pensioners and teenagers get concessions, and on the last Thursday of each month entry is free for under-18s, students and several other groups listed by the museum.

The Victory Museum opens **Tuesday 13:00–21:00 and Wednesday to Sunday 10:00–21:00**, closed on Mondays. G.O.R.A. opens Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00–21:00. In both, last entry and ticket sales are at 19:30.

Tickets are sold at the desks and on the museum’s official website — but foreign Visa and Mastercard cards haven’t worked in Russia since March 2022, so online booking with them fails. Bring roubles in cash or a Russian Mir card.

Two displays, “Feat of the People” and “Battle for Moscow”, are guided only, in groups of up to 20 on a timetable, and need their own ticket. Expect most museum labels to be in Russian; a guided tour helps if you don’t read it.

## How to get to Poklonnaya Hill

1. From [Red Square](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/red-square), walk to **Ploshchad Revolyutsii** station and take the dark blue **Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line** (line 3) towards Pyatnitskoye Shosse. Get off at **Park Pobedy** — four stops, about 12 minutes.
2. Park Pobedy is the deepest station on the Moscow Metro. The escalator is 126 metres long and the ride up takes about three minutes — stand on the right.
3. The museum suggests riding in the **first carriage from the centre**. Upstairs you come out on Victory Square, at the start of the main avenue.
4. Walk straight up the avenue past the fountain terraces to the obelisk — about 15 minutes, gently uphill. The Victory Museum is right behind the monument.
5. For the tanks: the G.O.R.A. entrance is where the Alley of Memory meets the Alley of Artillerymen, to the left of the main building.
6. Coming from the mosque side, use **Minskaya** on the yellow line 8: turn right out of the exit and follow the Partisans’ Alley to the museum.

## How tall is the Victory monument?

The obelisk at the centre of Victors’ Square is **141.8 metres tall** — 10 centimetres for each of the 1,418 days the Soviet Union fought in the war. You can see it from far down Kutuzovsky Avenue.

Its faces carry bronze reliefs of war scenes. Near the top stands a bronze Nike, goddess of victory, with two angels; at the base, Saint George spears the dragon. Both are by Zurab Tsereteli. The Eternal Flame burns in front, facing the museum entrance.

For the classic photo, stand at the bottom of the main avenue by the metro: the obelisk lines up perfectly with it.

## What to see in Victory Park

- **The main avenue** — five fountain terraces, one for each year of the war, lined with steles for the Soviet fronts. The fountains run only in the warm months, roughly May to September.
- **The Victory Monument** — the 141.8 m obelisk with Nike and Saint George, and the Eternal Flame.
- **The Victory Museum** — the domed Hall of Glory with 11,800 names and a 10 m bronze Soldier-Victor, the Hall of Memory and Sorrow, and six large dioramas.
- **G.O.R.A.** — over 400 pieces of hardware outdoors, Soviet, German and American, in nine themed zones with a bunker and a blown-up bridge; the T-34 and BT-7 tanks and a Yak-3 fighter are interactive.
- **The Church of St George** — an Orthodox church consecrated in May 1995, just before the park opened.
- **The Memorial Mosque** (1997) and **the Holocaust Memorial Synagogue** (1998) — the park remembers the dead of every faith.
- **“Tragedy of Peoples”** — Tsereteli’s 1997 sculpture of falling figures, a memorial to the victims of fascism.
- **The Triumphal Arch** on Kutuzovsky Avenue — Moscow’s monument to the victory over Napoleon, ten minutes’ walk from the metro.

## The open-air military equipment exhibition (G.O.R.A.)

G.O.R.A. stands for “Main Weapon Relics of the Army”. It is a branch of the Victory Museum created in 2022 from the park’s old open-air displays: **more than 400 vehicles and weapons on 10 hectares**, from staff cars to heavy tanks and fighter planes, including captured German equipment.

This is the part of Poklonnaya Hill that kids and non-museum people enjoy most — the T-34, the BT-7 tank and the Yak-3 plane are interactive. Give it an hour to an hour and a half. It’s all outdoors, so plan it for dry weather, and remember it shares the museum’s Monday closure.

## What is Poklonnaya Hill famous for?

Before the memorial, the hill was famous as the western gateway to Moscow, where travellers got their first view of the city. In September 1812 Napoleon stood here waiting for a delegation to hand him the keys to the Kremlin. None came — the city had been abandoned — and a month later his army was retreating.

The hill itself is mostly gone: its eastern side was cut away for Kutuzovsky Avenue, and the summit was levelled in the 1980s to build the park. A stone promising a Victory monument was laid in 1958, but the complex only opened in 1995.

On 9 May, Victory Day, this is Moscow’s main public celebration, with concerts, field kitchens and huge crowds. Come then for the atmosphere, not for a quiet look at the museum.

## Before you go: checklist

- [ ] Not a Monday — otherwise it’s the park only
- [ ] Tuesday: Victory Museum from 13:00
- [ ] At the ticket desk before 19:30
- [ ] Roubles in cash or a Mir card — foreign Visa and Mastercard won’t work
- [ ] Decided: Victory Museum, tank park, or both
- [ ] Comfortable shoes — the avenue is long and uphill
- [ ] Fountain season is May to September

## Victory Park vs Gorky Park vs VDNKh

|  | Victory Park | Gorky Park | VDNKh |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Best for | WWII memorial and museums | Riverside strolling and relaxing | Soviet pavilions and fountains |
| Entry | Free | Free | Free |
| Paid extras | Victory Museum, G.O.R.A. tank park | Rentals and activities | Museums in the pavilions |
| Where | West, 12 min by metro from the centre | Central, by the river | North, about 20 min by metro |
| Time needed | 1 h walk, half a day with museums | 1–3 h | 2–4 h |

For war history there’s only one choice — Poklonnaya Hill. For an easy walk, pick [Gorky Park](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/gorky-park), which runs on to [Sparrow Hills](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/sparrow-hills). For Soviet grandeur on a huge scale, go to [VDNKh](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/vdnkh).

## Moscow history sights compared

Every Moscow history sight rated by YesGo.

- [Red Square](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/red-square) — YesGo score 79/100 (Yes, go) · 30 min · Free
- [Lenin's Mausoleum](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/lenin-mausoleum) — YesGo score 72/100 (Yes, go) · 20 min · Free
- [Cathedral of Christ the Saviour](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/cathedral-of-christ-the-saviour) — YesGo score 72/100 (Yes, go) · 40 min · Free
- [Moscow Metro](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/moscow-metro) — YesGo score 70/100 (Yes, go) · 1 h 30 min · 75 ₽ on Troika
- [St Basil's Cathedral](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/st-basils-cathedral) — YesGo score 65/100 (Yes, go) · 45 min · 2,000 ₽ for foreign visitors
- [Moscow Kremlin](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/moscow-kremlin) — YesGo score 64/100 (Yes, go) · 2 h 30 min · from 1,100 ₽
- [Kitay-gorod](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/kitay-gorod) — YesGo score 58/100 (Yes, go) · 1 h · Free
- [Bolshoi Theatre](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/bolshoi-theatre) — YesGo score 56/100 (Yes, go) · 2 h · Tickets on bolshoi.ru, price varies by show
- [Patriarch's Ponds](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/patriarch-ponds) — YesGo score 53/100 (Yes, go) · 30 min · Free
- [Arbat Street](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/arbat-street) — YesGo score 50/100 (Yes, go) · 1 h · Free
- [State Historical Museum](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/state-historical-museum) — YesGo score 49/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · 2,000 ₽ for foreign visitors
- [Tretyakov Gallery](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/tretyakov-gallery) — YesGo score 49/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h 30 min · 700 ₽
- [Tverskaya Street](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/tverskaya-street) — YesGo score 48/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · Free
- [Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/pushkin-museum) — YesGo score 48/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h · 700 ₽ per building
- [Novodevichy Convent](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/novodevichy-convent) — YesGo score 48/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free, museum 500 ₽
- [Kremlin Armoury](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/kremlin-armoury) — YesGo score 44/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · 1,400 ₽
- [Chistye Prudy](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/chistye-prudy) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Free
- [VDNKh](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/vdnkh) — YesGo score 42/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 3 h · Free entry, pavilions paid
- [Kolomenskoye](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/kolomenskoye) — YesGo score 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h · Park free, palace ≈ 700 ₽
- [Poklonnaya Hill](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/poklonnaya-hill) — YesGo score 36/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Park free; Victory Museum 450 ₽
- [Kuskovo Estate](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/kuskovo) — YesGo score 29/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · Park 100 ₽, palace 500 ₽
- [Tsaritsyno](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/tsaritsyno) — YesGo score 26/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h · Park free, palace 900 ₽

## West Moscow in a day: memorial, towers and the Arbat

Start at Poklonnaya Hill and the Victory Museum. Then ride one stop on the yellow line to Delovoy Tsentr for lunch and a viewing deck in Moscow City. In the evening, walk the Old Arbat down to the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.

1. [Poklonnaya Hill](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/poklonnaya-hill) — YesGo score 36/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Park free; Victory Museum 450 ₽
2. [Moscow City](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/moscow-city) — YesGo score 58/100 (Yes, go) · 1 h 30 min · Free · deck from 1,000 ₽
3. [Arbat Street](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/arbat-street) — YesGo score 50/100 (Yes, go) · 1 h · Free
4. [Cathedral of Christ the Saviour](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/cathedral-of-christ-the-saviour) — YesGo score 72/100 (Yes, go) · 40 min · Free

> **Tanks first, museum second** Do the outdoor G.O.R.A. park in the morning while it’s cool and bright, then head into the main building around midday. You stay out of the weather at the worst hours and save the Hall of Glory and the dioramas for the end.

## Good to know

Locals say Poklonnaya Gora or simply Park Pobedy. St Petersburg has a district with the same name, unrelated to the memorial — don’t let map searches confuse you. The museum building also has a cinema, an interactive shooting gallery, a kids’ centre and a café, each with its own tickets.

## Tips

- In one hour: Park Pobedy metro → main avenue → obelisk and Eternal Flame → Church of St George → back to the metro.
- In half a day: add the G.O.R.A. tank park (1–1.5 hours) and the Victory Museum’s Hall of Glory and dioramas (2–3 hours).
- The escalator at Park Pobedy takes about three minutes — keep children close and stand on the right.
- Eat in the museum café or one stop away in Moscow City, where there are far more options.
- Bring roubles: foreign cards won’t pay for tickets, and cash is the simplest fallback.
- Visit on a weekday if you can: weekends and public holidays bring big crowds and events to Victors’ Square.

## Questions

### Is Poklonnaya Hill free?

The park is free. You pay only for the Victory Museum (450 ₽ full ticket) and the open-air G.O.R.A. military equipment museum (400 ₽). Children under 7 enter both free.

### What are the Victory Museum opening hours?

Closed on Mondays. Tuesday 13:00–21:00, Wednesday to Sunday 10:00–21:00. Last tickets and entry at 19:30.

### How do I get to Victory Park by metro?

Take the dark blue line 3 from Ploshchad Revolyutsii to Park Pobedy — four stops, about 12 minutes — then walk 15 minutes up the main avenue to the obelisk.

### How tall is the Victory monument at Poklonnaya Hill?

141.8 metres — 10 centimetres for each of the 1,418 days of the war. Nike stands near the top, Saint George at the base.

### How long should I spend at Poklonnaya Hill?

An hour for the park and monument; half a day with the Victory Museum (2–3 hours) and the tank park (1–1.5 hours).

### Where are the tanks in Victory Park?

In the G.O.R.A. open-air museum, a branch of the Victory Museum: 400+ pieces on 10 hectares. The entrance is at the Alley of Memory and Alley of Artillerymen; tickets 400 ₽, closed Mondays.

### Can foreigners pay for Victory Museum tickets by card?

Not with Visa or Mastercard issued abroad — they haven’t worked in Russia since March 2022. Pay in roubles cash or with a Russian Mir card.

### What is Poklonnaya Hill famous for?

It was the western approach to Moscow where Napoleon waited in vain for the Kremlin keys in 1812. Today it’s Moscow’s main WWII memorial, opened in 1995.

### When do the fountains run?

In the warm season, roughly May to September. They are drained and closed for winter in October.

## How we checked

Prices (450 ₽ and 400 ₽), hours, the Monday closure, last-entry time and free-entry rules come from the official Victory Museum and G.O.R.A. websites. The museum’s site header says “10:00 to 21:00” without days; we give the day-by-day schedule from its Contacts page. The park’s own hours aren’t published anywhere official — guidebooks and the museum site (which charges only for the museums) confirm free entry, so that row is marked “verifying”. Sources disagree on the number of fountains (225 jets, 1,418 fountains, 15 basins), so we only mention the five terraces. Concession prices aren’t published, so we don’t quote them. Metro and walking times are our estimate from the map.

## Sources

- Official Victory Museum website: prices, contacts, FAQ, Hall of Glory, branches, 29.10.2026
- Official G.O.R.A. museum website (Victory Museum branch): hours, entrance, exhibits, 29.10.2026
- m24.ru: winter shutdown of the Victory Park fountains, 06.10.2026; Moskvich Mag: G.O.R.A. opening, 05.05.2022
- English Wikipedia: Poklonnaya Hill, Victory Park (Moscow), Triumphal Arch of Moscow, Park Pobedy (Moscow Metro); Wikidata Q2370140
- Russian Wikipedia: Victory Park (Moscow), Poklonnaya Hill (Moscow), Victory Museum
- Visa and Mastercard statements on suspending operations in Russia, March 2022

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