Known as Stalingrad during much of the Soviet era, Volgograd is now an important industrial city of just over a million people. During World War II, the hill of Mamayev Kurgan was one of the bloodiest locales of the Battle of Stalingrad (the deadliest battle in history, claiming a million and a half lives), and is now the site of a memorial complex. The Panorama Museum, named for the massive Battle of Stalingrad panoramic painting it houses, is another of the city’s most popular attractions.