Fountain of Friendship of Peoples - the embodiment of peace and friendship

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Not so long ago, one of the main symbols of the great Soviet Union, embodying the ideals of peace and friendship between the fraternal republics, was located on the territory of the former VDNKh, and now the All-Russian Exhibition Center, the Friendship Fountain of Peoples. This building can rightfully be called one of the most striking architectural monuments of the Soviet era.

History of Creation

The fountain was opened in 1954, its first name sounded like "Sheaf", or "Golden Sheaf", and only in August,

after the reconstruction of the All-Russian Agricultural Exhibition (All-Russian Agricultural Exhibition) and its re-profiling into VDNKh, the fountain "Friendship of the Peoples of the USSR" received its new name. Then, in the early nineties, for reasons known to all, the prefix "USSR" disappeared by itself. The authors of the project were a talented artist-architect K. T. Topuridze in alliance with the remarkable engineer V. I. Klyavin. Also, a team of sculptors worked on the creation of images of girls: Z. Bazhenova, Z. Ryleeva, A. Teneta, M. Chaikov and V. Gavrilov. Interestingly, representatives of different nationalities actually posed for them as models, among whom were ballerinas, pianists, andsimple students.

What does the Fountain of Friendship of Peoples at VDNKh look like and what does it symbolize

The fountain is located on Friendship of Peoples Square, formerly Kolkhoz Square, and its main theme was to demonstrate the abundance of prosperous socialist agriculture. The stepped base is crowned with a huge bowl-shaped sheaf of ears of rye, sunflowers and hemp. Around it are statues of sixteen collective farm girls covered with gold leaf, symbolizing the 16 republics of the USSR.

The Peoples' Friendship Fountain itself was erected in the center of a large octagonal pond, 81 m long and 56 m wide. The length along the perimeter is 170 m, and the total area is 3723 sq.m. The jet system of the central part of the fountain was originally capable of reaching a height of 20 meters. Now, due to the deterioration of the main structures, the pumping station is not turned on at full capacity. The cycle of changing the figures of the fountain jets is one and a half hours, and the unique color night illumination changes 16 times within an hour. For this, 250 strongest searchlights were installed. The current plans of the Government for the revival of the All-Russian Exhibition Center include the complete restoration of all functions, original characteristics, the external and internal reconstruction of such a bright landmark of the capital as the Peoples' Friendship Fountain.

Who is the sixteenth?

It is well known that there were 15 republics in the USSR, so many unwittinglythe question arises: "Who is this sixteenth girl?" Some people expressed the opinion that, perhaps, this is Bulgaria, because, thanks to fairly close economic and political ties, it was indeed once called the 16th republic of the USSR. However, this opinion is erroneous. The thing is that in the period from 1940 to 1956, the Karelian-Finnish Autonomous Republic had the status of a union. So in 1954, at the time when the Friendship of Peoples fountain was being created, the Soviet Union really included not 15, but 16 union republics, and therefore this sixteenth girl is a full-fledged representative of the Karelian-Finnish SSR.