Heroes of Plevna

The Plevna Chapel is a public subscription monument to the Russian Grenadiers who died during the Siege of Plevna. It was opened on a square outside the Ilyinka Gate of the Walled City in Moscow on the 10th anniversary of the taking of Pleven, in the presence of Field Marshal Nikolai Nikolayevich. The monument was designed by Vladimir Sherwood. Each side is decorated with a high relief plaque illustrating the exploits of the Grenadiers. The interior, now empty, once housed a set of bronze plaques listing 18 Grenadier officers and 542 soldiers who died at Plevna. An annual memorial service is held in front of the chapel on March 3. In the Perestroika years, the surrounding park used to be notorious as a gay cruising ground.