The House of the Aviators museum
Initially, the building formed part of a country estate, housing a cheese factory in times of Baron Freedericksz in the 18th century and household premises in times of a noble family of the Vsevolozhskys in the 19th century. In 1930–1941, the place became a rest home for the Leningrad food industry workers and was unofficially named the “House of the Bakers”.
In 1941–1942, the rest home served as a recovery centre for pilots from the 1st mine-and-torpedo aviation regiment of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, the 26th and 27th fighter aviation regiments, and other air force detachments that were defending Leningrad and the Road of Life. During this period, the House of the Aviators was visited by famous artists, such as singer K. I. Shulzhenko and actor N. K. Cherkasov among many others.
In 1944-1950s, the rest home was returned to the Leningrad food industry workers. Later, the facility hosted a ski base in the 1960s and a pioneers’ camp in the 1970s–1980s.
In 2015, the landmark was recognized as a cultural heritage site and included into the Road of Life museum and memorial project. The reconstructed House of the Aviators represents a “House that hosted in 1941–44 the aviators who were defending Leningrad; among them were many Heroes of the Soviet Union: Yu. Z. Bunimovich, P. A. Kolesnik, E. N. Preobrazhensky, V. G. Chvanov and others.”
The museum’s exposition includes models of aircraft, full-size models of air bombs, sculptures of pilots in full authentic equipment, interactive maps of combat actions, elements of pilots’ military life, multimedia quests.