Volgograd

Volgograd

Before breakfast, we entered Lock No 31 which is a double lock, two basins and three lock gates.

And one of the biggest drops yet.

And then we were out...

...and there was one chap standing above the leading edge s the gates opened.

Then we were sailing along the urban landscape of Volgograd which spreads along the river for between 70 - 100 kilometre, depending on how you measure. A ferris wheel on the shore.

A bridge over the river and note that it had a pair of towers sunk into the river bed but the road bed for the second towers has not been built.

The rotunda of the passenger terminal and just down stream Volgograd's pair of Al Burj look a like towers.

Volgograd was the scene for a massive battle from July 1942 to February 1943 and the whole city was destroyed. This is the flour mill, left as it was after the war. It was made with reinforced concrete ad faced with red bricks and built to last as the weight of the flour stored and the machinery and the vibrations meant that it had to be strong.

Opposite the mill was Pavlov's house that a group of soldiers defended for 55 days. Nothing remains of it but a modern reconstruction of part of the building was created.

Around the mill is a collection of weaponry, such as artillery...

...armoured cars...

...a captured German half track...

...plus a locomotive...

...and a view from above.

In the grounds is a reproduction of an iconic statue associated with the city. There is another reproduction near the railway station.

The tower of the memorial.

We drove along Lenin Prospect to the base of the Mamayev Kurgan, where there is a hill that dominates the city and a key strategy position. At last at its base I saw a Volga by the Volga.

This is a massive memorial with an 84 metre tall depiction of Mother Calls at the top of the hill and a long avenue from the main road next to the river to the top.

Unfortunately the statue was covered in scaffolding but you get the picture.

Up another flight of steps is a huge  wall of statues depicting various events during the battle for the hill.

A detail of some soldiers.

A pool at the top of the second flight of steps.

The hall inside the hill with the eternal flame.

The small church besides the Mother.

And then a coach tour of the city, and here is a replica of the cathedral being rebuilt.