9 most famous (but hidden) dogs in Moscow

As soon as you arrive, but also even before, when you decide and start planning a trip in Moscow, you already know what you don’t want to miss there: Saint Basil’s Cathedral, the Kremlin, Lenin’s Mausoleum and the Bolshoy Theatre, being the most famous places of the Russian capital, top every tourist’s to-do list. However, even if you don’t have a plan and decide just to go for a walk around the city, it’s impossible not to notice some widely-known beautiful statues representing imperial family members, poets, artists, soldiers, and so on. Nevertheless, you would never guess that around the city it is possible to find also special monuments dedicated to… dogs! As a matter of fact, here there are at least nine dog memorials paying tribute to the man’s best friends for their heroic acts or just for their loyalty and friendship. Are you looking for an unique tour in Moscow? Then follow me and let’s track them down together!
Ploshchad Revolyutsii metro station
Let’s start from the undoubtedly most famous dogs in Moscow: they are the four bronze ones inside the Ploshchad Revolyutsii metro station (станция метро Площадь Революции). Students come here since 1938 to rub their noses to have good luck and successfully pass their exams.
Park Pobedy metro station, Poklonnaya Gora
The second most famous dog is situated inside the Park Pobedy (Парк Победы) on the Poklonnaya Gora ( Поклонная гора). The monument, erected in 2013, represents a German Sheperd named Half. It commemorates more than sixty thousands of dogs of various breeds that served in the army during the war, pulling out of the fire more than seventy thousands of soldiers, detecting and neutralizing explosive devices of the enemy.
Slavyansky Bulvar metro station, Kremenchugoskaya street
The third one is a monument dedicated to rescuers and firefighters, but also to those heroic and courageus dogs that helped them searching for people trapped on the rubble. This monument reads “Prevention, Rescue and Help” (Предотвращение, спасение, помощь).
Dinamo metro station, Petrovsko-Razumovskaya alleya 12
The fourth monument is no less important as it represents Laika, the first living creature into space. This famous little dog was launched into orbit in 1957, four years before Gagarin’s flight.
Mayakovskaya metro station, Sadovaya-Chernogryaskaya street, Patriarshiye Prudy
In the fifth place you can find three other dogs. They can be seen at Patriarch’s Ponds (Патриаршие Пруды), not too far away from the Mayakovskaya metro station, among the numerous statues dedicated to Krilov’s fables.
Mendeleevskaya metro station
The sculpture “Empathy”, situated in the entry of Mendeelev metro station (Станциа метро Менделеевская), was erected in 2007 and was dedicated to the human treatment of stray animals. Here, indeed, a stray dog named Malchik (Мальчик), that was under the care of the metro station’s workers, was publicly stabbed with a kitchen knife. The resonance caused by this sad event was huge and it was organized a fundraising to cast the monument.
Frunzenskaya metro station, Efremova street 12
This interesting monument is situated near the House of the Russian Union of Circus Figures. It represents Karandash, a famous Russian clown, whose real name was Mikhail Rumyantsev, who lived and worked in Moscow for many years. Next to him we can see his little friend Klyaksa.
Sportivnaja metro station, Novodevichy Kladbishche
A giant Schnauzer named Fyodor lays down inside the Novodevichy Cemetery (Новодевичье кладбище), near the statue of its owner, another famous Russian clown, Yuri Nikulin.
Kurskaya metro station, Sadovaya-Chernogryanzskaya street 13/3
And, to conclude our special trip, be very careful not to bother this last dog! Let’s give it some privacy and leave it alone.
This blog was brought to you by Lucia, currently studying Russian at Liden & Denz.