Route “Phantom Monuments of the Siege”

12 points7 km3.5 hours

The Siege left an indelible mark on Leningrad, firmly inscribed in the history of this unbending city, yet few people know that the spirit of those hard times lingers on literally every corner. On this route you will be able to spot the fleeting details of the Northern Capital that still hold the memory of the Siege. Many traces of those years have already dissolved in time, but some can still tell us about those fateful 872 days.

Route author

Leonid Kruglov

Things to do

📜 Learn the city's history
🗺️🎒 Themed route
🏛️🕰️ Compare the eras

Route points (12)

Shelling Warning Signs in Saint Petersburg

Point on route “Route “Phantom Monuments of the Siege””

Point 8

Shelling Warning Signs

🖌️ Street art

Historical Background

The inscriptions “Citizens! During shelling, this side of the street is the most dangerous!” appeared in besieged Leningrad in the first winter, 1941–1942, on the initiative of the townspeople themselves, who spontaneously painted warnings on the walls of buildings. Later, in 1943, the Leningrad City Council began putting up signs in an organized way. They were placed on the walls of 1,353 buildings. After the Siege was lifted in 1944, the inscriptions and signs were removed from the walls of Leningrad's buildings. Then in 1962, on the initiative of the poet Mikhail Dudin, it was decided to immortalize the inscription on the wall of School No. 210 at 14 Nevsky Prospekt, as a symbol of the lives it saved in the besieged city. Later, similar inscriptions were put up on Lesnoy Prospekt, on Vasilyevsky Island, and in Kronstadt.