Aerial view of city monument Defenders of Soviet Arctic Alyosha.

© Parilov/Shutterstock

Alyosha

Top choice


One of Murmansk’s most memorable sights is a gigantic concrete soldier nicknamed Alyosha, erected to commemorate the Arctic fighters who perished in the Great Patriotic War (WWII). From his hilltop perch, Alyosha's stony visage stares across the Kola Inlet at the snow-speckled Arctic moors beyond. To the south, the port spreads out in all its magnificent industrial dreariness. The statue is a 20-minute ramble past Semyononvskoye Lake through the hilly park from one of the Ozero bus stops.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Monument To Semyon The Cat

0.51 MILES

This bronze monument to a fat little cat carrying all his worldly possessions in a knapsack was unveiled in 2013 in honour of an act of incredible feline…

2. Ice Bathers' Hut

0.6 MILES

Home to Murmansk's ‘walruses’ – hardy souls who swear by the health benefits of regularly bathing in icy waters – this wooden hut on the edge of Lake…

3. Church of the Saviour on the Waters

0.68 MILES

This gold-domed church, built in 2002 from public donations, is part of a memorial complex dedicated to the memory of Murmansk's seamen who perished in…

4. Nuclear Icebreaker Lenin

1.33 MILES

Murmansk is a centre for nuclear icebreakers that carve their way to the North Pole, but even in port you can give in to your wildest seafaring–Arctic…

5. Regional Studies Museum

1.39 MILES

Comprehensive exhibits at Murmansk's oldest museum include one on Sami culture and handicrafts, a vast natural-history section with all manner of…

6. Fine Arts Museum

1.39 MILES

The 1927 Fine Arts Museum hosts temporary exhibitions that range from female nude photography and Kanozero petroglyphs to severe Arctic landscape painting.

7. British Naval Cemetery

2.56 MILES

In 1919 the British navy assisted the White Russians against the Reds – Winston Churchill, war secretary at the time, wanted to see if the Bolsheviks…