The monument to Valery Chkalov, one of the attractions of Nizhny Novgorod, is located near the Georgievskaya Tower of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin. It is dedicated to the famous Soviet pilot who made the first non-stop flight from the USSR to the USA over the North Pole. A staircase, known as Chkalovskaya, leads from the monument to the Volga.

On the site of the modern Chkalov monument, a women's monastery was founded in the early 17th century, later named the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, and moved in 1815 to its current location near Lyadov Square. The dilapidated buildings of the monastery were preserved until 1840, when all structures in the areas adjacent to the Kremlin were demolished, and a recreation area with walking paths lined with trees and shrubs was created along the walls.

The monument to the legendary test pilot was unveiled on December 15, 1940, on the second anniversary of his death. The sculpture was created by Chkalov's friend, I.A. Mendelevich, who, along with him, chose this site for the monument to A.M. Gorky. For his work, Mendelevich received the Stalin Prize. The architects of the monument were I.G. Taranov and V.S. Andreev.

The surface of the pedestal features the outlines of a map of the Northern Hemisphere indicating the flight routes of Chkalov's crew, including Baidukov and Belyakov, to the Far East and across the North Pole to America. The pedestal is faced with labradorite.

The pedestal bears the years of the pilot's life and the inscription "To Valery Chkalov, the great pilot of our time." Below these words, above the flight map, there are holes from fastenings where the inscription "to the Stalin Falcon" was previously located, removed during the struggle against the cult of personality surrounding Stalin.