Mamayev Kurgan

Mamayev Kurgan with The Motherland Calls statue

Mamayev Kurgan (Russian: Мама́ев курга́н) is a dominant height overlooking the city of Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad) in Southern Russia. The name in Russian means "tumulus of Mamai".[1] The formation is dominated by a memorial complex commemorating the Battle of Stalingrad (August 1942 to February 1943). The battle, a hard-fought Soviet victory over Axis forces on the Eastern Front of World War II, turned into one of the bloodiest battles in human history.[2] At the time of its installation in 1967 the statue, named The Motherland Calls, formed the largest free-standing sculpture in the world.[3]

  1. ^ Mamai commanded the Tatar Golden Horde in the 1370s — no historical evidence exists of his burial on the site.
  2. ^ Roberts, Geoffrey (2006). Stalin's Wars. Yale University Press. p. 154. ISBN 978-0-300-11204-7.
  3. ^ Antill, Peter (2007) Stalingrad 1942, Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84603-028-5.