Leningrad in winter, 1978

A look at some of the sights of a snowy Leningrad, 1978.

This charming folder of 12 winter postcard images of Leningrad was released in 1978. With captions in Russian it was aimed at a domestic Soviet audience.

Here are shots of famous spots like the Winter Palace, Peter I House (the log cabin where Peter I lived for 5 years), and St. Isaac's Cathedral, along with sights like Decembrists' Square. the monument to V. I. Lenin on Moskovskaya Square and the legendary revolutionary naval ship Aurora.

We have translated all the card descriptions into English and in some cases added some details of our own.

Monument to V. I. Lenin on Moskovskaya Square

Unveiled on April 18, 1970, this statue was done in honour of the centenary of Lenin's birth. It was the tallest monument in the city.

Smolny

Lenin lived and worked at Smolny in the very early revolutionary period.

Decembrists' Square

Named after the famed revolutionary group. Sadly the square was renamed in 2008.

Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery

The memorial complex opened in 1960 to honour those who died during the siege of Leningrad.

A poem by Soviet writer Olga Berggolts is carved on a granite wall located behind this monument. It reads:

Here lie Leningraders

Here are city dwellers - men, women, and children

And next to them, Red Army soldiers.

They defended you, Leningrad,

The cradle of the Revolution

With all their lives.

We cannot list their noble names here,

There are so many of them under the eternal protection of granite.

But know this, those who regard these stones:

No one is forgotten, nothing is forgotten.

Peter I House

Summer Garden Lattice

St. Isaac's Cathedral

Winter Palace

Arts Square

The statue is of Pushkin.

Stroganov Palace

Politekhnicheskaya Metro Station.

The station was opened in 1975 as part of Leningrad's subway expansion.

The Aurora

The famed cruiser that fired the shot signaling the launch of the attack on the Winter Palace in 1917 that began the Bolshevik Revolution.