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 VDNH, and now the All-Russian Exhibition Center, the Fountain of Friendship of Peoples. This building can rightly be called one of the most striking monuments of architecture 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 at VDNH, the fountain “Friendship of the Peoples of the USSR” received its new name.
Then, in the early nineties, for the reasons known to all, the prefix "USSR" fell off by itself.
The project was sponsored by the talented artist-architect K.T. Topuridze in alliance with the remarkable engineer V.I. Klyavin. Also, a team of sculptors worked on creating the images of the girls: Z. Bazhenova, Z. Ryleyev, A. Tenet, M. Tchaikov and V. Gavrilov. Interestingly, as models, they were actually posed by representatives of different nationalities, among whom were ballerinas, pianists, and ordinary students.
What does the Fountain of Friendship of Peoples at VDNH look like and what symbolizes
The fountain is located on the Square of Friendship of Peoples, formerly Kolkhoz, and its main theme was a demonstration of the abundance of prosperous socialist agriculture. A stepped base is crowned with a huge cup-shaped sheaf of ears of rye, sunflowers and hemp. Around him are statues of sixteen gold-plated collective farmer girls, symbolizing 16 republics of the USSR.
The Fountain of Friendship of Peoples itself
erected in the center of a large octagonal pond, the length of which is 81 m and the width is 56 m. The length along the perimeter is 170 m and the total area is 3723 sq.m. The system of jets of the central part of the fountain was originally able to reach a 20-meter height. Now, due to the deterioration of the main structures, the
pumping station is not turned on at full capacity. The flicker jets change cycles for one and a half hours, and the unique color night illumination changes over the course of an hour 16 times. For this, 250 of the strongest spotlights were installed. The current plans of the Government for the revival of the All-Russian Exhibition Center include the full restoration of all functions, initial characteristics, external and internal reconstruction of such a vivid landmark of the capital as the Fountain of Friendship of Peoples.
Who is the sixteenth?
It is well known that there were 15 republics in the USSR , so many involuntarily raise the question: "Who is this sixteenth girl?" Some people expressed the opinion that perhaps this is Bulgaria, because thanks to the rather close economic and political ties, it was in fact 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 Union status. So in 1954, at the time when the Friendship of Peoples fountain was being created, the Soviet Union really had in its composition not 15, but 16 union republics, and therefore this sixteenth girl is a full-fledged representative of the Karelian-Finnish SSR.