The Moscow-Volga Canal, also known as the Moscow Canal, is one of the Soviet Union's most impressive engineering marvels and connects the Russian capital Moscow with the Volga, Europe's longest river. Stretching 128 kilometers, it mainly runs through the Tver and Moscow Oblasts, as well as a small section directly within Moscow's city limits, and was constructed in just four years and eight months—a monument to forced labor and planned economic mobilization. The idea for this canal originated as early as 1931, when the Central Committee of the Communist Party decided to use it initially primarily for supplying water to the million-strong metropolis, but the plan soon expanded into a strategically vital shipping connection. Construction began in December 1932 under Stalin's regime and was ceremonially opened on May 28, 1937, shortly before the outbreak of World War II. Thousands of Gulag prisoners, including political detainees, toiled under brutal conditions on the project, which estimates suggest claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands—a dark chapter that continues to define the canal as a symbol of Stalinist repression to this day.From a technical standpoint, the canal is a masterpiece of hydraulics: It features eight locks, including the monumental Khodynka Lock with a vertical drop of over 19 meters, and conquers numerous hill ranges via tunnels and bridges. The total elevation gain is around 78 meters, allowing for efficient navigation by cargo and passenger vessels. Originally intended to secure Moscow's water supply from the Volga and shield the city from droughts, its true importance lay in forging a direct waterway from the Baltic Sea via the Volga to the Caspian region—a dream of Peter the Great that finally became reality here.Today, the canal primarily serves tourism and recreational boating: Luxury cruises glide peacefully through its picturesque shoreline landscapes, passing dense forests, historic villages, and the grand monuments along the route, such as the 100-meter-high Lenin Monument in Dubna, where the canal empties into the Volga. Yet it endures as a vivid testament to the Soviet era, inviting visitors to contemplate progress and cruelty alike, as ships pass beneath the Moscow Kremlin's bridge, linking the metropolis to the heart of Russia.