A memorial in honor of Soviet soldiers who fell in the name of the Great Victory in the war against Nazi Germany appeared by the Kremlin walls in Aleksandrovsky Garden in 1966, marking the 25th anniversary of the liberation of Moscow. The ashes of an unknown soldier, taken from a mass grave, were buried here.
A year later, the famous architectural ensemble of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was unveiled on this site. The Eternal Flame was lit from the flame on Leningrad's Field of Mars. The lighting ceremony was carried out by L.I. Brezhnev, who received the torch from the hands of Hero of the Soviet Union Alexei Maresyev.
Russia's main guard post stands at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, known as the Honor Guard or simply "Post No. 1." The sentries of the Presidential Regiment are changed once an hour. Previously they guarded Lenin Mausoleum, but in 1997 the post was moved to the memorial by Presidential Decree.
The memorial's architectural composition is extremely simple: a recumbent battle banner, with a soldier's helmet and a laurel branch on it. It is precisely this simplicity and brevity that evoke the strongest emotions, reminding visitors of the feat of Soviet soldiers who fell for peace and the Motherland. "Your name is unknown, your deed is immortal" can be read by the Eternal Flame.
