Monument to the Conquerors of Space

The Monument to the Conquerors of Space was erected in 1964 at the entrance to Moscow's Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy (VDNKh) to celebrate the pioneering feats of Soviet spaceflight. The 107-metre-high titanium-clad stylised rocket curves into the sky and ends in an abstract trail of flame. Designed by sculptor Andrei Faidysh-Krandievsky together with architects Mikhail Barshch and Alexander Kolchin, it is one of the central symbols of the Soviet space programme after Sputnik in 1957 and Gagarin in 1961. Since 1981 the base houses the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics, which displays original capsules, spacesuits, the cockpit of the Mir station and lunar samples. In front of the monument the Cosmonauts Alley begins, with bust sculptures of Gagarin, Tereshkova, Leonov and Korolev. Stepping out of VDNKh metro station, visitors find themselves directly before this iconic image of the space age.