Monument to Victims of Political Repressions

Saint Petersburg, Russia

Freely accessible

Public space — no opening hours to check.

Strollie cannot guarantee access — always check before you travel.

Opened in 1995 on the Voskresenskaya Embankment of the Neva River in Saint Petersburg, this memorial honors the millions who suffered state terror under Soviet rule. Positioned across the water from the notorious Kresty Prison, the monument features a pair of "metaphysical sphinxes" sculpted by Mihail Chemiakin—their faces divided vertically to show youthful profiles facing the city and exposed skulls facing the prison, embodying the tragic division of Soviet society. Architects Vyacheslav Bukhayev and Anatoly Vasiliev designed the surrounding composition: a granite structure shaped as an early Christian cross, adorned with a crown of thorns rendered in barbed wire and a prison window. Bronze and granite plaques inscribed with texts by renowned writers and dissidents encircle the pedestals, anchoring the monument's meditative blend of Postmodern, Egyptian Revival, and metaphysical imagery in solemn commemoration.