Volga-Don Canal

Volgograd

LoginSave

Built in 1952, the Volga-Don Canal is the grandiose gateway of an aquatic avenue that now connects the White and the Black Seas via the Volga and Don Rivers. The huge Stalinesque neoclassical arch marks the first lock in the Volga-Don Canal. Take marshrutka 15a, 91a, 93a, 93c, 93 or 55a from ul Lenina south from the centre for about 10km to the first stop after crossing the canal.

One million people, including 236,000 Axis prisoners of war and Russian Gulag inmates, took part in the construction of the canal, and even a planet is named after it.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • 1185976570

    Mamaev Kurgan

    15.41 MILES

    Known as Hill 102 during the Battle of Stalingrad, Mamaev Kurgan was the site of four months of fierce fighting and is now a memorial to Soviet fighters…

  • The graves of soldiers at the Soviet War Memorial Cemetery of those killed in the Battle of Stalingrad in the village Rossoshka Gorodishchensky District.

    Rossoshka Memorial Cemetery

    28.4 MILES

    This reconciliation cemetery, near the village of Rossoshka, 35km northwest of Volgograd, marks the final resting place of some 20,000 fallen Soviet…

  • Museum Reserve Old Sarepta

    Museum Reserve Old Sarepta

    0.54 MILES

    An hour by marshrutka from the centre, what is now known as the Krasnoarmeysk district was once the German colony of Sarepta. Today the entire quarter is…

  • Museum of the Volga-Don Canal

    Museum of the Volga-Don Canal

    0.2 MILES

    Alongside the canal, this small museum tells the story of the canal and gives insight into water transport in Europe. Take marshrutka 15a, 91a, 93a, 93c,…

View more attractions

Nearby Volgograd attractions

1. Museum of the Volga-Don Canal

0.2 MILES

Alongside the canal, this small museum tells the story of the canal and gives insight into water transport in Europe. Take marshrutka 15a, 91a, 93a, 93c,…

2. Museum Reserve Old Sarepta

0.54 MILES

An hour by marshrutka from the centre, what is now known as the Krasnoarmeysk district was once the German colony of Sarepta. Today the entire quarter is…

4. Mamaev Kurgan

15.41 MILES

Known as Hill 102 during the Battle of Stalingrad, Mamaev Kurgan was the site of four months of fierce fighting and is now a memorial to Soviet fighters…

5. Rossoshka Memorial Cemetery

28.4 MILES

This reconciliation cemetery, near the village of Rossoshka, 35km northwest of Volgograd, marks the final resting place of some 20,000 fallen Soviet…