Murmansk

Murmansk is a great place and it is so good to be here at last and there is a lot to see so I set off early for a walking tour. A city sign on the main road welcoming guests to the city.

The city's coat of arms and a lot easier to read than English heraldry. Top left is the Hero of the Soviet Union, the highest award. Then on the shield, the Northern Lights often seen at these latitudes, and the two most important things economically for the city, shipping and fishing.

From the restaurant of the hotel I could see part of this building. It is a former theatre and cinema although it is derelict now and in need of some attention to revive it. A side view and...

...a view of the front.

I walked up a main road out of town towards Lake Semyonovskoye. A view across the lake.

Also overlooking the lake is the Military Monument to the Residents of Murmansk. It shows some pictures of the city and the devastation resulting from continued German bombing during the war.

All the wooden houses were burnt in a fire storm killing over 4,100, injuring 2,500 and 1,200 missing. Only the brick chimneys remained.

A general view of the monument.

Next it was a walk up a hill to the Alyosha Monument. A view of the monument with a back view of the stone soldier with anther monument to the protectors of the city in the foreground.

Another view of the soldier plus some of the other cities that received the Hero of the Soviet Union medal from left to right, Murmansk, Leningrad, Odessa, Sevastopol, Bretskaya Kreposti, Kiev and Moscow. Other cities received them as well for heroic achievements.

A side view taken later in the day from the harbour.

A general view of some of the docks along the river mouth. There are miles and miles of docks and a naval base further along the estuary full of both commissioned and decommissioned ships, nuclear powered ships and submarines.

The eternal flame at the foot of the stone soldier.

I was early in the morning so got a back lit view of the statue.

A Soviet helmet.

One of my first attempts of a selfie....perhaps someone will buy me a photography course for a Christmas or birthday present.

Another attempt...but my shadow is still in the photo.

The Monument to the Waiting Women a little way down the road from the Alyosha monument.

A general view of the Monument to the Waiting Women. Oh, and in the background is the 5th District Intelligence Building with the German Embassy off behind to the right.

It is also a place where lover leave their padlocks.

A view across the port from the statue.

Back around Lake Semyonovskoye, I passed the cone roofed Oceanarium and found myself at the Amusement Park.

The bronze Semyon the Cat Monument can be found just outside the amusement park. The cat went missing on a trip to Moscow in 1987 and then made its way back over the next six years to the owners apartment in Murmansk...a true act of faithfulness.

Another place where lovers leave their padlocks overlooking the lake.

Despite it being summer, the beach on the lake isn't quite finished yet.

The Saviour on the Waters church. It was built in 2002 after the Kursk disaster when there was an explosion on a Soviet submarine and the crew of 118 perished.

The separate belfry. A service was being held inside so there are no photos inside but I did have a look but inside it is as faithful to traditional Orthodoxy so that other than the history, there is nothing to distinguish it from an 18th century church. It was built in 2002 with donations from the public following the disaster of the Kursk submarine.

A slight incongruous detail, a centenialnial monument to the Armenian genocide of 1915 of Orthodox Armenians at the hands of Muslim Ottoman troops.

Memorial Complex to the Soldiers and Seamen who died in Peacetime

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And a view of the same tower, similar to a lighthouse, with the sun shining on it from the other side.

This is a memorial to the crew of the submarine Kursk with a piece of the wreckage which suffered an explosion on board in 2000 and all 118 crew died.

Another detail of the memorials at the site.

The monument to the Arctic Convoys.

A detail of the globe showing the routes to Murmansk from Britain, the USA and through the Arctic Ocean from other ports in Russia.

The Regional Museum...a lovely building with a wealth of local artefacts from the indigenous people, wildlife, geology and the Second World War. Unfortunately everything was in Russian so I had to do a lot of guessing but they did have a stuffed beaver although with a narrower tail then the North American beaver...so those piles of branches may have been dams after all.

Next to the museum is a monument for the Yermak icebreaker. It was the first icebreaker in the world built in 1898 with a strenthed bow and hull to break through thick ice.

A memorial to Anatoly Bredov, who received the Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin who was killed here aged just 21 in 1944.

I was making my way to the Icebreaker Lenin, the first nuclear powered ice breaker but first I had to get through the marshalling yards and there was so much to see but I forwent some of the railway thrills to get to the icebreaker.

The Memorial to the Dockworkers who lost their lives during the Great Patriotic War.

The Icebreaker Lenin...altough the next tour was in the afternoon so I had to fill in some time.

But it is also a place where lovers leave their padlocks.

A detail of the rising bollards at level crossings that prevent vehicles from dodging or ignoring the flimsy horizontal bar. I had seen them from the train but this was the first time that i had seen one from the landward side.

And the barrier was across the road as there were shunting operations being undertaken.

Another view of the docks from the 16th floor of my hotel.

A Memorial to the Victims of the Intervention 1918 - 1920, when the White Army with support from foreign nations occupied the port and fought the Red Army during the civil war.