Memorable place in Ulyanovsk - Peoples' Friendship Park was the hallmark of the city for many years in the USSR. In the post-Soviet space, many changes awaited him, but he is still known throughout the country.
Symbolic idea
The picturesque coast of the Volga in Soviet times was not well equipped. Back in the 40s, it was planned to ennoble the banks of Ulyanovsk with gardens, but because of the frost they died. Therefore, it was decided to create a park, which was also conceived as a gift from the state to the homeland of V. I. Lenin on his anniversary. It symbolized the respect and affection of the union republics, the unity of nations in one big country.
The project was put forward by Alexander Brosman in 1966, 4 years before the centenary of the Bolshevik leader. The idea was supported, the best artists and architects began to work on the creation of a large-scale object. Several dozen craftsmen were involved in the preparation of the territory. The residents of Ulyanovsk themselves were no exception, they organized subbotniks and cleared the site.
Initial view
The park was born in 1969, when it was completelya flower lawn, a symbol of Kyrgyzstan, was arranged, and a box of cotton, personifying Uzbekistan, was placed. Peoples' Friendship Park glorified Ulyanovsk. The territory of 36 hectares made it one of the largest in the USSR. The hilly terrain suggested a multi-level device, so the upper and lower tiers are officially distinguished.
The upper part was common, and the lower part was divided into 15 separate pavilions - its own for each republic - the small-town VDNKh. Sculptures, monuments, gazebos and other architectural structures, characteristic of the culture of the people, were located on each site. A huge inscription "Lenin" was planted from barberry bushes, which is still visible today. In the 80s, a cable car was installed to admire the beauties of the park. It turned out to be a great place for citizens to relax.
Something went wrong…
The decline of culture during perestroika marked the "beginning of the end" of the park. With the collapse of the USSR, the former brotherhood of the republics was lost, funding for sites and security ceased. The territory began to overgrow with impenetrable bushes, and the masterpieces of architecture were quickly snapped up for scrap by local bandits. Only a few monuments have survived.
By the mid-90s, the favorite place of the townspeople became an abandoned wasteland overgrown with weeds. The Park of Friendship of Peoples in Ulyanovsk looks like an impenetrable jungle in the photo.
And still the remains of beauty are mutilated by vandals. From the statues there were only frames, walls"decorated" with obscene inscriptions.
Modern ruins
The first and foremost thing that catches your eye is the famous flower bed with the inscription "Lenin", which is the best preserved. The pictures taken clearly illustrate how the letters have changed with a difference of 40 years. An old photo of the Friendship of Peoples Park in Ulyanovsk can be seen below.
Also not the latest (already 30 years later) shows the following photo.
The surrounding objects are either completely destroyed, or continue to be destroyed every year. Every year, clean-up campaigns are organized, which are rarely crowned with success. The collected garbage remains in the park - there is no one to take it out. Several attempts were made to restore the cultural object, but the controversial issue of its ownership and the need for the state did not allow the completion of what had been started.
Different goals - same attendance
If tourists and residents of Ulyanovsk used to visit the Friendship of Peoples Park for family vacations, outdoor walks and cultural education, now such pleasures remain only in memory. However, there are many visitors to the "ruins". Now tour groups come here to listen to the facts and imagine this place 40 years ago.
The park has gained particular popularity among lovers of night walks. The abandoned place looks more mysterious at night, giving rise to legends among the locals. Therefore wholeexcursions are going to a night promenade along the largest Russian "abandoned".
Park of Friendship of Peoples in Ulyanovsk: interesting facts from the past and present
The project was so valuable for the creators and the people that the protection of the park was given the most attention. Careful coverage, many police stations and patrols with dogs - violators were severely punished. It was strictly forbidden to litter, even seed husks were punished!
"Plots of peoples" were not just symbolic, they really belonged to representatives of the republics. They themselves ennobled and allocated funds to maintain a decent appearance of the sites.
The RSFSR itself owned the most ascetic site, no matter how paradoxical it may sound. It was the Russian pavilion that was decorated very modestly, when the territories of the other republics differed in their color.
The structure existed only at the expense of the forces and money of volunteers. After the collapse of the Union, it turned out that officially the park does not belong to anyone! That is, everything done was solely the desire of the representatives of the republics to create a memorable place for recreation. And when the unity was gone, no one needed the park - it's "no man's".
The gloominess of the abandoned park attracted director Andrei Tarkovsky. It was here that the film "Stalker" based on the work of the Strugatsky brothers "Roadside Picnic" was filmed. The squalid aesthetic has become suitable for creating a dead zone atmosphere.
Until now, the most desperate athletes go for a run along the ruined paths. Teenagers arrange games among the ruins: paintball,hide and seek, "Stalker" in reality.
Future plans
In 2017, the Ulyanovsk Housing Mortgage Lending Agency and Strelka, a Moscow-based company, took up the zone restoration and modernization project in earnest. According to information on the First Ulyanovsk portal, it is planned:
- strengthen the slope;
- zoning the territory;
- completely renovate asph alt walkways;
- build sports and playgrounds;
- install small architectural forms, restore the rest.
For the time being, the changes will affect the upper tier of the park, the area of the territory to be developed will be approximately 5 hectares (out of a total of 36, but this is only the beginning). Some recreations are planned to be brought to their original form.
Barberry bushes, from which the pseudonym of the leader of the proletariat is formed, are also planned to be replaced. Despite the service life of 25 years, they survived for half a century, but the last few years have been actively destroyed by downpours. Andrey Kobzev, the author of the modernization project, said that the flower gardens in the pavilions of the republics will be restored first. In the upper part there will be bike paths, gazebos, modern coffee houses, as well as venues for concerts and festivals.
Where is the Peoples' Friendship Park in Ulyanovsk?
The park is located between the city center and the Volga, on the way down to its bank. From here you have a breathtaking view of the river and bridges. In the immediate vicinity is the apartment-museum of V. I. Lenin, the memorial of the same name. Multiple museums:
- regional artistic;
- Simbirsk classicgymnasium;
- Goncharov Museum.
The abandoned park can be seen in the very center of the Ulyanovsk infrastructure. The exact address of the Park of Friendship of Peoples: Ulyanovsk, Stepan Razin's descent, 33.
