Smolninskoye II - The Sands of Leningrad
"- Am I at Smolny?
- Yes, this is Smolny"
- Lieutenant Sukhomlin interrogates a guard, not being able to recognize any building in the area due to street defences and camouflage
9/9/1941 - In this picture we see several low-medium wealth buildings in the historical area of Peski, east of Suvorovskiy Prospekt. The name of "Peski", meaning "Sands", describes the nature of the soil.
The streets are full of wooden boards protecting shop windows, and everywhere there are Soviet posters attempting to rise the morale of the citizens. Two buildings have been destroyed during the last barrage, one north of 5-ya Sovetskaya Ulitsa and the other south of 4-ya Sovetskaya Ulitsa.
An example of Soviet propaganda; it reads "destroy the German monster".
Nevsky Prospekt showing wooden boards on every store window.
9/9/1841 - A hundred years before the first picture was taken, the Church of the Nativity was the centerpiece of Peski. Sadly, Soviet authorities ordered its destruction in 1937 and today only the name of the square remembers its location. Horizontal streets in this historical area were numbered 1 to 9 Nativity Street, but they were re-baptised as 1-9 Sovetskaya Ulitsa (Soviet Street).
Disclaimer: This CJ includes original photos taken during the siege. To my knowledge none of them is protected by copyright, but if I were wrong I'm happy to delete any picture that infringes the law.
----------------------------------[AUTHOR'S COMMENT]----------------------------------
I hope you enjoyed both the huge mosaic and the old-fassioned picture :-)
I'd also like to mention that a some years ago it was announced that the Church of the Nativity was going to be rebuilt in the exact same location were it once stood. If you check Google Earth you'll find the square fenced and most of the park gone.
Looking forward to read your comments!
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