Hotels- a village located 56 kilometers southwest of St. Petersburg and 25 km south of Peterhof, in the northern part of the Izhora Upland. The surroundings of Gostilitsy are hilly, the highest point here - Mount Kolokolnaya - is located north of Gostilitsy, closer to Porozhki. Vast fields alternate with forests and copses. There are many springs, streams, and rivulets. Placers of granite boulders are often found.
The new post-war village of Gostilitsy stretches along the sides of a large ravine, on the slopes of which there are springs, and trout ponds dark at the bottom.
Near the ravine there is an old manor in which centuries-old trees have been preserved, in the still visible remains of a regular park and a group of stone buildings XVIII - XIX centuries, (the palace was practically destroyed during the battles of 1944 and since then complete chaos has reigned there, the estate, park and ponds are dying - see photo).
Some researchers associate the origin of the name Gostilitsa with the Slavic word “guests,” that is, visiting people, merchants. According to another version - from the ancient Novgorod proper name “Gostilo”. The indigenous population of these places are the Finno-Ugric people and Izhoras. In the 11th-12th centuries, Slavic peoples settled here, who were mainly engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding. . This ancient settlement, which was part of the Dyatlitsky churchyard of Novgorod the Great, was located on one of the most important roads of that time - Koporskaya (now Gostilitskoye Highway). It is known that at the turnXVI and XVII For centuries, the village belonged to Novgorodian Nikita Captain.
During excavation work in XVIII - XIX For centuries, ancient treasures have been discovered in the vicinity of Gostilitsa. In one of them - in the mound - there were 150 ancient silver coins. Another, found while plowing, consisted of 400 coins from different countries IX -X centuries. There were also ancient burials in the ground, including sedentary ones, as well as limestone crosses ranging in size from one to two arshins. And at present, there are still many unexplored mounds left in these places.
Judging by the relief, a deep river once flowed near Gostilitsy. Its deep bed has been preserved. This is the current ravine. The displacement of rivers as a result of the karst process is a common phenomenon. Obviously, the Kovashi River once left here, now flowing somewhat to the north and flowing into Koporye Bay. Judging by the bed, the river was navigable in the distant past. It is possible that once a water trade route reached Gostilitsa, and here the path “over the mountain” began. The full flow of the disappeared river is evidenced by the names of neighboring villages: Porozhki and Zaostrovye.
A trade route passed through these lands, which belonged to Lord Novgorod the Great. Then, Gostilitsy, an old Russian village, went to Sweden under the Treaty of Stolbovo. During the rule of the Swedes, Gostilitsy belonged to Novgorodian Nikita Kalitin. At the end of the Northern War, the manor became part of the St. Petersburg province and was granted to the Doctor of Philosophy and Medicine of the University of Oxford, Archpriest (head of the medical service of Russia) Erskine.
In 1721, Gostilitsy received a gift from Peter I captain (later field marshal) Burchard Christopher Minich (1683-1767). He did not yet have any services to Russia, but Peter foresaw that this man could benefit the country. Developing construction in the Neva Delta and its environs - in the land of rivers and swamps - Peter I was interested in the science that we now call hydrology. Minich inherited from his father, the royal overseer of dams and all water work in Denmark, this rare profession in those days. He received a good education, studying engineering, drawing and mathematics in different countries. He worked in France and Germany, where he gained extensive experience, and Peter I knew how to find the people Russia needed. The Russian envoy in Warsaw, Count Dolgoruky, offered Minich the position of general engineer in Russia. The 37-year-old “engineering captain” came to Russia in 1720, and remained there until the end of his life. Minich supervised the construction of docks and harbors in Kronstadt, built the famous Ladoga Canal, designed drainage canals in St. Petersburg, was the “chief director of fortifications,” rebuilt the Russian army, in particular, introduced a new type of military: engineering units (predecessors of sappers).The first exam that Peter gave I Minich, who had just arrived in Russia, was designing a canal that would go around the dangerous Pellsky (now Ivanovo) rapids on the Neva. But the canal was not built - Peter soon died. Minich was also entrusted with the calculations of the Peterhof water pipeline, the design of which had already been developed by Peter I and Tuvolkov. Minich's calculations confirmed the correctness of the plan, and in the winter of 1720/21 they began to transport logs for the dams. The 20-verst water conduit was ready at the end of summer, and on August 8, 1721 the water was turned on. She soared to a great height - “higher than the King of France.”
In the Gostilitsa estate that was donated to him, Minikh immediately began to create a magnificent estate, fortunately the place turned out to be picturesque and corresponded to the professional inclinations of the owner. First of all, they blocked the river bed with a dam; Streams running down the slope of the ravine filled the pond, where they began to breed trout. An exotic-looking mill was built near the dam. Minich also built a dyeing plant.
Above the pond, on a gentle slope, in the 20s XVIII centuries they laid out the park. The wild trees that grew here were used, and new ones of different species were planted with them. Under the canopy of trees, pavilions with earthen slides and gazebos were built, and the stairs going down to the pond were lined with stone. A manor house and outbuildings in the “Dutch style” were erected on a hill near the pond.
Minikh owned the estate for 20 years. In 1741, he fell into disgrace and was exiled by Elizaveta Petrovna to Pelym.
By decree of October 7, 1743, Gostilitsy with all the land and the dyeing plant were donated to the Empress’s closest favorite, Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky. He was also “granted” lands from Porozhki to Koporye, as well as the Slavyanka and Murzinka manors near St. Petersburg and Gorenki near Moscow. And Ropsha, located near Gostilitsa, then became the residence of the empress (now also in oblivion and complete desolation).
A. G. Razumovsky, originally from the Ukrainian village of Lemeshi, was a shepherd and church choirboy until 1731. One of the capital's patrons of the arts, driving through Lemeshi, heard Alexei's bass in the church choir and took him to the imperial chapel. Soon the Empress “granted” A.G. Razumovsky the rank of field marshal.
In the middle of the XVIII century, the wooden house of Minich in Gostilitsy was rebuilt and enlarged. There is information that according to the design of V. Rastrelli, who then worked in most of the royal residences, the Tea Pavilion and the Hermitage were built in Gostilitsy - they have not survived. The Grotto above the spring has survived to this day - a double of the Ropshinsky Grotto. It can be seen in Gostilitsky Park above a powerful spring feeding the ponds. An intricate staircase descends to the Grotto above the spring, the granite steps of which have sunk significantly into the ground.
The forest adjacent to Gostilitsy, the so-called Bear End, was dissected by clearings-alleys diverging from the central round area, like rays of the sun. It was the Menagerie. Star-shaped layout in menageries XVIII centuries allowed hunters, standing in one place - on the central platform, to shoot along all the clearing alleys at wild animals and animals that were driven out of the forest into these alleys. In Gostilitsy, Razumovsky bred bears and deer for court hunting. There is information about the delivery of live deer from Gostilitsa to both Tsarskoe Selo and Peterhof. Judging by the messages from the middle XVIII centuries, crowded court hunts in Gostilitsy were quite frequent, and due to the “rampage in hops” of the owner of the estate, they were sometimes unsafe; the wives of St. Petersburg dignitaries who were leaving for hunting ordered thanksgiving prayers when their husbands returned home unharmed...
In Gostilitsy there was an Upper Park, of which only boundary earthen ramparts with a barely noticeable canal are now preserved, and a Lower Park, which can be seen on the slope facing the pond. Trout continued to be bred in the ponds, and lacy gazebos for fishermen, entwined with greenery, were built on the shore.
Between the Upper and Lower parks, stone one-story “cavalier wings” were built, decorated with baroque round windows in the high roof. Some distance away there were stables, a kennel, and a kitchen. The placement of stone and wooden buildings is somewhat reminiscent in plan of the Ropshinsky complex.
In 1755, Trinity Church was built in the park. After the fire and subsequent reconstruction, it changed its appearance and has remained this way to this day.
A stone tower was built near the wooden palace “to view the sea with Kronstadt.” Later, the wooden palace was replaced by a stone one - with many chambers, stairs, and passages. Three entrances to the palace - one central and two side - were decorated with front porches. The palace with the observation tower adjacent to it became the compositional center of the Goslitsa complex (in 1845 the palace was rebuilt “in a new taste”).
The Gostilitsa estate was owned by three generations of the Razumovskys - until 1824. Under the last of them, Pyotr Kirillovich, who brutally oppressed the serfs, a peasant revolt broke out in Gostilitsy. It was the eve of the Decembrist uprising, when a wave of anti-serfdom uprisings swept across Russia. The protest of the Goslitsa peasants was suppressed. 60 people were exiled to Siberia, and all the rest were flogged.
In 1824, Gostilitsy was acquired by A. M. Potemkin, then the estate passed from hand to hand, and in 1917 it was nationalized.
During the period of collectivization, the main estate of the collective farm (now state farm) "Gostilitsy" was located in Gostilitsy. The village adjacent to the estate grew.
In early September 1941, after bloody battles, the Nazis occupied Gostilitsy, creating a powerful fortified area here. The front line of the Oranienbaum bridgehead lay nearby. To create ceilings for dugouts and dugouts, the Nazis cut down many trees in the ancient park and dismantled the houses of the village. There were almost no local residents left in the front line - they either died, were taken prisoner, or went into the forests to join the partisans.
Gostilitsy and neighboring villages were liberated by soldiers of the 43rd Rifle Corps, advancing as part of the 2nd Shock Army from the Oranienbaum bridgehead. Naval gunners and pilots provided great assistance to the ground forces.The fascist machine gunners holed up in the Gostilitsky Palace stubbornly resisted.
The commander of the 43rd Rifle Corps, Lieutenant General A.I. Andreev recalls: “The pincers around Gostilitsy narrowed, but the reckless resistance of the fascists continued. In the center of the village, a heavy machine gun fired from the basement of a stone house (meaning the palace). It disabled almost the entire Pisarev's gun crew, operating with the forward company of captain Makarov. The gun commander, Pisarev, remained alone at the gun, and did not lose his presence of mind, loaded the gun, aimed for a long time and with a successful shot brought down the wall, burying both the machine gun and the machine gunners of Makarov. But she rose headlong, captured the house and helped the regiment take possession of Gostilitsy." The hotels were liberated from the Nazis on the evening of January 14, 1944. Troops of the 2nd Shock Army rushed to Ropsha...
The ruins of the palace still stand today in the middle of the thinned-out Gostilitsky Park. External and internal. The walls of the building, built of red brick, gape with huge gaps. Not far from the ruins is a large fraternal cemetery for Soviet soldiers. It is dominated by a strict granite obelisk, created in 1957 according to the design of architect A.I. Lapirov. There is a park around. (now also in poor condition - see photo)
The economic complex of the estate and guest outbuildings are well preserved. There are more than a dozen of them. In front of the palace there remains a long alley of centuries-old oak trees, and in the clearing there is a larch tree that is at least 200 years old.
Going down the slope, you will see at the bottom of the ravine; a long chain of large and small ponds connected by channels. As you get closer - of course, not close, because there are evil dogs sitting on chains near the ponds - you will see; in clear water, as if in a large aquarium, there are schools of large fish. This is the “river panther” - a spotted predator of trout.
During the war, the Nazis blew up the dams and caught all the fish. You already see a new, post-war “fish generation”. It was brought out by workers of the Ropshinskaya Central Experimental Station of the State Research Institute of Lake and River Fisheries; this station has its own branch in Gostilitsy.
The urban planning value of the ensemble consists of a high degree of preservation of the surrounding landscapes with many historical monuments, good preservation of the main views opening from the terraces of belvederes, fortress towers and the palace tower, visual isolation and compactness of the multi-storey development of the village, visually cut off from the park by a complex of stables and patriarchal oaks. Historically, the boundaries of the park itself have been fluid; its northern boundaries have been difficult to determine. From the north, the protected border, approved in 1991, extended to gardening areas. On other sides, the border was defined by roads, as well as the need to protect a large household yardXVIIIin, church site and plot around the estate manager's house. As a result, the entire territory was about 150 hectares. Bell Mountain, where you can still find individual profiled stones (from the bell towerXVIIIc.?) was found to be outside the park area, but is subject to protection as a monument to the Great Patriotic War.Unfortunately, the continuity of the protected areas was not ensured.
The uniqueness of the ensemble lies in the fact that its history is connected with individuals who opened new horizons in the field of science, education and art. Among them are Erskine, whose collection of kunsts, medals and instruments was bequeathed to Emperor Peter, Burchard Christopher Minich, field marshal, hydrological engineer, who formed a spectacular system of hydraulic structures with cascades and fountains on his estate. These are Alexey and Kirill Razumovsky, whose aesthetic needs responded to the most advanced ideological trends of the Rococo and early Classicism era (numerous Rococo park compositions and the early Classical building of the Church of the Holy Trinity), this is Tatyana Borisovna Potemkina, a famous philanthropist, a conductor of Talleyrand’s ideas, who founded an elementary school in Gostilitsy. The era of romanticism dates back to the amusing fortress with a Gothic chapel included in the wall and a rock garden (tuff labyrinths and a tuff niche in the fortification gap), also a pavilion made in Gothic taste - a mysterious structure based on an earlier time (nowadays a residential building on the opposite side of the ravine ). In addition, by order of Potemkina, A. Stackenschneider built a palace.
The most valuable layers include traces of the presence of the owners of the estate at the end
XIX - early XXcenturies - Wrangels, Siemens and Greventsov. For example, details of the power plant structure have been preserved 1903 based on the middle millXVIII century, made by Siemens, the founders of the famous electrical engineering company.
1 - Ruins of the palace, cavalry corps and outbuildings of the Minikha-Razumovsky-Potemkin estate.
(The ruins of the Potemkin Palace, built in 1845 under the direction of the architect A. I. Stackenschneider. Ruins of a two-story outbuilding of the Cavalry Corps XVIIV.)
2 - Trinity Church now and during restoration (2004)
(The Church of the Holy Trinity, which is being restored, was built by order of A. G. Razumovsky in 1764 by the architect A. V. Kvasov. Photographs of the interior and exterior of the church, which were taken by the archaeological commission in 1908, have been preserved. Nowadays it is a functioning temple.)
XIX century designed by the architect G. Quarenghi?. Until 1997, it housed a children's music school.)
Note. The map shows the approximate location of objects.
And now about the very recent and very dramatic history of these places....
about the bloody, merciless and ruthless Heroic Defense of Leningrad 1941-44.
"Green Belt of Glory" - line of defense of the Oranienbaum "patch" (41-44)
Memorial of military glory on Mount Bell Tower "Unconquered Height 105.3", erected for the 60th anniversary of the Victory. (Included in the Green Belt of Glory)
In the 20s XVIII century, Field Marshal Minich built an earthen “amusing fortress” on the top of Mount Kolokolnya, from the bastions of which cannons fired on holidays, as well as announcing the visits of Peter I. In the middle of the XVIII century, under A.G. Razumovsky, a bell tower was built on the mountain - the ringing of its bells could be heard “ten miles away.” That's when the mountain got its name (the bell tower has not survived).
WITH September 1941 Particularly fierce battles broke out for Mount Bell Tower. This is explained by the fact that it dominated a vast territory. Much depended on whose hands the height would be. The Nazis captured the Gostilitskoye Highway and the surrounding area, but were unable to reach the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland and capture the Bell Tower. Soviet troops stopped the advance of the Nazis. The legendary Primorsky bridgehead, or Oranienbaum "patch", was formed, stretching along the shore of the bay for only 60 kilometers: from the Voronka River (Kernovo village) to Old Peterhof; The width of the bridgehead was even smaller - 25 kilometers. During 1941-1943, our troops held the defense on this “Little Land”, covering Kronstadt and the Baltic Fleet, otherwise we would have lost the country’s most powerful fleet. In turn, naval gunners, pilots and infantrymen supported the ground forces in the beachhead.
At the beginning of 1944, many command and observation posts were located on Mount Kolokolne. On the morning of January 14, commander of the Leningrad Front L.A. Govorov, commander of the 2nd Shock Army I.I. Fedyuninsky, commander of the 43rd Rifle Corps - the main breakthrough formation - A.I. Andreev, and also commanders of his divisions and regiments.This is where Operation Neva-2 began - the operation to lift the blockade of Leningrad.
...that's the story
(and next time I’ll tell you where I learned about this amazing place and how I ended up there)
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Leningrad region, Lomonosovsky district
Memorial "Unconquered Height" on Mount Bell Tower 105.3
The “Unconquered Height” memorial on Mount Kolokolnya in the form of the number 105.3, which is how Mount Kolokolnya was designated on military maps - 105.3 meters above sea level. The height of the monument is 13 meters, the opening of the memorial took place in May 2005 in honor of the 60th anniversary of the Victory.
Project by architect V.A. Kim, with the participation of architects N.E. Mikhailov and Evlanova V.I.
Mount Kolokolnya (area of the village of Gostilitsy, Leningrad Region) - here in January 1944 there was a command post of Soviet troops. From here the operation to lift the blockade of Leningrad began.
The height of the mountain, 105.3 meters above sea level, allowed our troops to monitor the enemy’s movements. For this point, since the fall of 1941, there have been fierce battles with the Nazis, who received orders to capture Mount Kolokolnya.
The spruce trees on the mountainside were planted after the war. And during the war years it was bare land scorched by fire, carved up by fragments of mines and shells...
About the defense of the mountain fortifications, A. N. Gusev recalled: “The Germans threw thousands of shells and mines at us every day. The mountain shook. Smoke covered the sky. And the ground is all black, the trees are broken, and those that survived stand bare, like candles. Many brothers died at the height, but the living are lying... They are waiting: will the German crawl up the mountain again?
Archaeologists who searched for army artifacts after the war noted that the ground was so hard and soaked in blood that it was impossible to dig.
At a cruel price, Bell Tower Mountain became the “Unconquered Height.”
On January 14, 1944, the Second Shock Army went on the offensive from the unconquered Oranienbaum bridgehead. From the command posts on Mount Kolokolnya, the offensive of the Soviet troops was controlled by General Leonid Govorov, Admiral Vladimir Tributs, and Lieutenant General Ivan Fedyuninsky. At 9:25 a.m., artillery preparation began in the zone of the 90th Infantry Division of Major General N. G. Lyashchenko. All trenches, settlements, artillery and mortar batteries of the enemy were on fire. This indomitable barrage of all-destroying artillery fire continued for 65 minutes. Then the soldiers of the 2nd Shock Army rose from the trenches to their full height and rushed towards the insidious enemy in an unstoppable avalanche. The soldiers fired machine guns as they ran, dragging machine guns behind them. They overcame the first enemy trench and captured several strong points on the move - Perelesye, Zrekino... Success also accompanied their neighbor on the left - the 131st division of Colonel P. L. Romanenko. The division broke through the enemy’s defenses in a 3.5-kilometer sector, occupied Porozhki and covered the left flank of the 90th Division, which was making its way to Gostilitsy. Thus began the operation of lifting the blockade of Leningrad...
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Goryukhova Elena Anatolyevna
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Burakov Daniil
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Source: a-121/ru
Source: a-121.ru
From September 1941 to January 1944, next to Leningrad, cut off from the world, in another small blockade, a patch of land lived and did not surrender to the enemy in the area of the city of Oranienbaum - the so-called Oranienbaum bridgehead.
Its length from east to west was about 70 kilometers, from south to north - 5 km in the Martyshkino area, 15 - 20 kilometers in the center and west.
Mount Kolokolnya, which is located in the area of the village of Gostilitsy in the Leningrad Region, designated on military maps as height 105.3 and located at the forefront of the Primorsky Operational Group (POG), at the cost of thousands of lives of Russian soldiers, was not given to the enemy, and this was decisive in the fate of the Oranienbaum bridgehead and Leningrad.
It was from here that the operation to lift the blockade of Leningrad began and in January 1944 the command post of the Soviet troops was located.
Fierce battles raged here for months and years. Veterans recalled how during the battles they several times managed to get close to the village of Gostilitsy, to reach its outlying streets, but then the enemy brought down fire with renewed vigor, brought reinforcements into the battle, and our soldiers had to retreat to their original lines, suffering heavy losses.
The mountain was defended by sailors from the 2nd Marine Brigade. The Nazis bombarded the mountain with shells and mines and sprayed them with machine guns. At the top of the mountain, where the sailors held the defense, there was a real hell. But the Baltic people stood firm.
Over two years of continuous and unchangeable combat watch, the soldiers of the 2nd Separate Marine Brigade showed themselves to be courageous, fearless sons of our Motherland. The names of those who distinguished themselves in those years are preserved in memory: Chief Petty Officer D.M. Butuzov, foreman 1st class Elerdashvili, foreman N. Granovsky, sergeants Veshnevetsky, Kovzol, Stoyakin.
Message passages and dugouts
The activity of our defense in November - December 1941 was combined with successful reconnaissance activities. “From the observation points on the Kolokolna and the Beryozka high-rise, they reported to the command that enemy reconnaissance of up to a platoon was moving towards us along the no-man's land. An order immediately came to organize an ambush, meet the fascist scouts with fire and, if possible, capture prisoners.
Regimental intelligence was then commanded by Pavel Burmashev. The platoon was divided into two groups. One was headed by Burmashev, the other by Zhuravlev. The plan was developed as follows: the first group lets the enemy scouts through, the second, letting them get closer, destroys them point-blank with fire.
It happened as planned. The Nazis did not detect our scouts and came very close to Zhuravlev’s ambush. The command rang out: “Fire!” The Nazis who survived rushed back. And they ran into Burmashev’s ambush, which completed the rout. We then took three “languages”. We did not suffer any losses ourselves,” recalled M.G. Kozenko (“Behind the Language // Unconquered Bridgehead”).
Scheme from the book by A.G. Savelyev "Man at War".
In 1943, preparations began for the liberation of Leningrad from the siege. In the areas from Oranienbaum to Mount Kolokolnya, the commandant service was strengthened. Traffic was allowed to move only at night with the headlights off. Attention was also drawn to the strict radio silence here.
According to the plan of Operation Neva - 2, the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts were supposed to defeat the flank groups of the enemy’s 18th Army southwest of Leningrad and near Novgorod, and then, developing the offensive, reach the line of the Luga River and destroy the main forces of the enemy. Subsequently, together with the troops of the 2nd Baltic Front, they were to operate in the Narva, Pskov and Idritsa directions, defeat the enemy’s 16th Army and complete the liberation of the Leningrad region.
Units of the 2nd Shock Army were secretly transferred by water to Oranienbaum. The Red Banner Baltic Fleet transported troops and equipment to the bridgehead. The landing of troops and loading of equipment took place in Leningrad and on Lisiy Nos, where a pier 200 meters long was built.
Army field control moved to the bridgehead on November 7 and took over the troops defending there from the Primorye Task Force. At the height of Mount Kolokolnya in January 1944, the command post of the commander of the 2nd Shock Army, General Ivan Fedyuninsky, was deployed. Nearby were the OPs of the commander of the 43rd Corps, General Andreev, and the commander of the 90th Division, Colonel Lyashchenko. Thus, three observation points were located on a small patch.
“But there was no other choice: Mount Kolokolnya was the only place from which one could see the battle formations of the formations in the main direction,” Ivan Fedyuninsky later recalled.
The front line of the enemy's defense ran along the line of Kernovo, Zakornovo, Gostilitsy and further along the Gostilitsy-Peterhof road. Using the wooded and swampy terrain, the enemy built a defense along the line of hills, from which the location of our troops was clearly visible to a considerable depth. In front of the front line there were continuous minefields and wire barriers of two or three stakes. Behind them stretched trenches with machine gun platforms.
Complex of memorial structures of the 70s.
The 2nd Shock Army had to, with the forces of at least five to six divisions, break through the enemy’s defenses in the Goslitsa direction, capture Ropsha and, uniting with the troops of the 42nd Army, destroy the Pegerhof-Strelny group of Nazis. Later, after the formation of a common front with the 42nd Army , we had to develop an offensive against Kingisepp and Gatchina.
From the beginning of January, preparations for the starting position for the offensive began. On January 13, the first trenches were brought within 150 to 350 meters of the enemy. The rifle units moved out into no man's land at night and quickly dug in. This came as a complete surprise to the enemy. On the night before the start of the offensive, nine sapper companies in front of the three first-echelon rifle divisions made 109 passes through minefields and laid reinforced charges under the enemy's wire barriers. The charges were detonated as artillery preparation began.
On January 14, 1944, at 9:35 a.m., a powerful cannonade began. 1,200 cannons and mortars, more than 70 rocket artillery installations, main-caliber guns of the ships of the Baltic Fleet, Kronstadt and forts, and units of the 2nd Shock Army began artillery preparation. The firestorm continued for more than an hour. “During the first five minutes, a powerful fire strike was carried out on the enemy’s trenches, his manpower, command and observation posts, nodes and communication lines. Then the artillery began to conduct methodical fire to destroy trenches and fortifications.
At 10:40 a.m., the formations that were part of the army’s strike group, working closely with tanks and artillery, went on the attack. The sounds of a brass band were heard from the sector of the 286th Regiment of the 90th Division. The regiment's battle flag was carried into the first trench.
On January 18, the second echelon of the army entered the battle - the 108th Rifle Corps, which received the task of reaching the line of Volosovo, Bolshie and Malye Gorki, Ropsha and then advancing in the direction of Krasnoe Selo.
“It seems simply a miracle that we managed to defend this small strip of coastline against such limitless enemy superiority. It is difficult to say how the defense of the city of Lenin and Kronstadt would have proceeded if there had not been “Malaya Zemlya”.
On January 19, units of the 168th Infantry Division occupied Russko-Vysotskoye and linked up with the advanced units of the 42nd Army. The encirclement of the Peterhof-Strelninsky enemy group was completed. The liberation of the territory of the Leningrad region from the enemy began.
Marshal of Artillery Georgy Odintsov (former artillery commander of the Leningrad Front) wrote in his memoirs about the role of the Oranienbaum bridgehead in the defense of Leningrad: “It seems like a miracle that we managed to defend this small strip of coastline against such limitless enemy superiority. It is difficult to say how the defense of the city of Lenin and Kronstadt would have proceeded if there had not been “Malaya Zemlya”.
Mount Kolokolya (area of the village of Gostilitsy, Leningrad Region) - here in January 1944 there was a command post of Soviet troops. From here the operation to lift the blockade of Leningrad began.
The height of the mountain, 105.3 meters above sea level, allowed our troops to monitor the enemy’s movements. For this point, since the fall of 1941, there have been fierce battles with the Nazis, who received orders to capture Mount Kolokolnya.
In the text are my photos of the memorial and the surrounding area of Mount Kolokolnya
It is better to visit these places in winter, in those days when battles took place here, in order to imagine and remember...
For some reason, on this mountain, surrounded by snow-covered fir trees, I suddenly remembered the words of Bulat Okudzhava’s song, although they relate not only to the defense of Leningrad:
“A deadly fire awaits us,
And yet he is powerless.
Doubts away, goes into the night separately
Our tenth airborne battalion..."
The new memorial “Unconquered Height” on Mount Kolokolnya in the form of the number 105.3, which is how Mount Kolokolnya was designated on military maps - 105.3 meters above sea level. The height of the monument is 13 meters, the opening of the memorial took place in May 2005 in honor of the 60th anniversary of the Victory.
Project by architect V.A. Kim, with the participation of architects N.E. Mikhailov and Evlanova V.I.
The battles for the Bell Tower even reached hand-to-hand combat, as evidenced by the records of the feat of the platoon commander Rudy G.P. “Huge in stature, slanting fathoms at the shoulders, enraged by the battle, he instilled fear in the fascists. In a bayonet fight, with butt shots, he sent five fascists to the next world.”
The spruce trees on the mountainside were planted after the war.
And during the years of battle, everything around was like in Okudzhava’s song “The birds don’t sing here, the trees don’t grow, and only we grow shoulder to shoulder into the ground here...”
A. N. Gusev recalled about the defense of the mountain fortifications: “The Germans threw thousands of shells and mines at us every day. The mountain shook. Smoke covered the sky. And the ground is all black, the trees are broken, and those that survived stand bare, like candles. Many brothers died at the height, but the living are lying... They are waiting: will the German crawl up the mountain again?
According to officer V.V. Laptev: “Departing from Gostilitsy, we had a very difficult battle near Mount Kolokolnaya and were surrounded. Many times we attacked the village of Porozhki and beat the Nazis... The regiment occupied defense along the highway near Porozhki. Mount Kolokolnaya was part of our sector. We mined the lowland between road and height. The neighbor on the right was the naval battalion of Karnaukh."
Tour organizer Iliana Adamenko and tour guide Pavel Kotlyar from the company "Great Peter" They gave us flowers so that we ourselves could put them at the memorial as a sign of memory...
Archaeologists who searched for army artifacts after the war noted that the ground was so hard and soaked in blood that it was impossible to dig.
At a cruel price, Bell Tower Mountain became the “Unconquered Height.”
The words of the song came to mind again: “And we need just one victory, just one, we won’t stand up for the price.”
Reverse side of the memorial
On January 14, 1944, the Second Shock Army went on the offensive from the unconquered Oranienbaum bridgehead. From the command posts on Mount Kolokolnya, the offensive of the Soviet troops was controlled by General Leonid Govorov, Admiral Vladimir Tributs, and Lieutenant General Ivan Fedyuninsky.
Artillery commander of the Leningrad Front V.F. Odintsov recalled: “From Kolokolnaya Mountain at 9:30 a.m. on January 14, I observed how artillery preparation began in the zone of the 90th Infantry Division of Major General N. G. Lyashchenko. Shells from Kronstadt and 305-millimeter "goodies" from the battleship "Marat" rushed over our heads. All trenches, settlements, artillery and mortar batteries of the enemy were on fire. This indomitable barrage of all-destroying artillery fire continued for 65 minutes. As soon as the infantry went on the attack in the deep snow, the fire from the guns “crept” into the depths..." 
There are still traces of army fortifications on the mountain
The commander of the 43rd Rifle Corps said: “An unforgettable picture unfolded from Mount Kolokolnaya. At first the smoke filled the snowy plain, but gradually it cleared. When the rifle chains of the regiments of the 48th and 90th divisions rushed out of the trenches, it was clearly visible to the naked eye how quickly they rushed forward. The soldiers fired machine guns as they ran, dragging machine guns behind them. Quickly and without serious losses, they overcame the first enemy trench and captured several strong points on the move - Perelesye, Zrekino... Success also accompanied their neighbor on the left - the 131st division of Colonel P. L. Romanenko. The division broke through the enemy’s defenses in a 3.5-kilometer sector, occupied Porozhki and covered the left flank of the 90th Division, which was making its way to Gostilitsy. Enemy resistance increased noticeably by the middle of the day, especially near the village of Varvarosi and Gostilitsa...” 
According to veterans' memories: “From the observation post, we clearly saw how enemy vehicles, kicking up snow dust, were moving towards Mount Kolokolnaya... The artillerymen did not disappoint. They knocked out and set fire to some of the tanks, and drove the rest with fire into an impenetrable swamp.”
The old monument to the “Heroic Defenders of Leningrad, who stood here to the death in 1941-1944” stands to the side, but attracts no less attention. Always decorated with flowers.
I remember the song of Vladimir Vysotsky: “There is not a single personal destiny here, all destinies are merged into one…”
Veteran Vasily Durnev, who spent all 900 days of the defense of Leningrad in battles for Mount Kolokolnya, in 1980 decided to visit the sites of past battles and went from his native Voronezh region to Leningrad. After visiting the memorials near the village of Gostilitsy, Vasily Durnev decided to walk to Mount Kolokolnya on foot. Before starting the journey, he bought a loaf of black bread. To a friend’s question “Why?” the front-line soldier replied - “I dream about my colleagues asking for bread.”
Having climbed the mountain, the veteran knelt in front of the monument to the “Heroic
to the defenders of Leningrad, who stood here to the death in 1941-1944,” he knelt for a long time and silently, immersed in memories or mentally talking with his fallen comrades. Then the front-line soldier broke the bread into several pieces and said “My dear comrades, I fulfilled your request!”
Leaving home, the veteran took with him a handful of earth, which absorbed the blood of his fellow soldiers.
Rusty helmets, shovels, and shells from the war are stacked near the old monument.
And always flowers
In conclusion, winter photos of the Kolokolnya mountain, as well as songs by Vysotsky and Okudzhava, which I suddenly remembered at this place
Our tenth airborne battalion
Bulat Okudzhava
The birds don't sing here,
Trees don't grow
And just us, shoulder to shoulder
We're growing into the ground here.
The planet is burning and spinning,
There is smoke over our Motherland,
And that means we need one victory,
One for all - we won’t stand behind the price.
A deadly fire awaits us,
And yet he is powerless.
Our tenth airborne battalion.
As soon as the battle died down,
Another order sounds
And the postman will go crazy
Looking for us.
A red rocket takes off
The machine gun hits tirelessly,
And that means we need one victory,
One for all - we won’t stand behind the price.
One for all - we won’t stand behind the price.
A deadly fire awaits us,
And yet he is powerless.
Doubts away, goes away into the night separately,
Our tenth airborne battalion.
Our tenth airborne battalion
From Kursk and Orel
The war has brought us
Right up to the enemy gates.
That's how things are, brother.
Someday we will remember this
And I won’t believe it myself.
And now we need one victory,
One for all - we won’t stand behind the price.
One for all - we won’t stand behind the price.
On mass graves
Vladimir Vysotsky
And widows do not cry for them,
Someone brings bouquets of flowers to them,
And the Eternal Flame is lit.
Here the earth used to rear up,
And now - granite slabs.
There is not a single personal destiny here -
All destinies are merged into one.
And in the Eternal Flame you can see a tank bursting into flames,
Burning Russian huts
Burning Smolensk and the burning Reichstag,
The burning heart of a soldier.
There are no tear-stained widows at mass graves -
Stronger people come here.
There are no crosses on mass graves,
But does that make it any easier?..
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