The Road of Life (official name: Military road No. 101) was the only transport route that connected Saint Petersburg, which was named Leningrad that time, with Republic of Karelia and the rest of the country during the blockade of the city in 1941–1943 during the World War II.
Food, medicine, fuel, and things were delivered to the city by this only road. People were evacuated from the city the same way.
Outdoor writer from the Dolomites, Italy, and Karelia, Finland
— One part of the road (46 km) went to the city by land from Ladoga Lake, the second — by the lake from the opposite shore from the village of Kobona (30 km). In summer, the cargo was ferried by tugboats and ships, in winter the cars went on the ice road.
The Road of Life is a museum, including the actual museum building — a branch of the Central Naval Museum after the Emperor Peter the Great, in memory of the fallen and heroes, which is included in the World Heritage List of UNESCO as part of the Historic center of St. Petersburg and related groups of monuments.
In total, you will see 7 monuments, 46 memorial pillars, and three memorial complexes. All of them are located next to the road.
Read next my post about Road of Life route on the Roadgo website — a project with automobile routes for traveling in Russia.
Text: Ivan Kuznetsov
Cover photo: Ilya Snopchenko / Interview agency “Dialog”
