Fountain "Friendship of Peoples" - the legendary Moscow fountain, located in the central part (on Peoples' Friendship Square near the Main Pavilion) and which has become a recognizable symbol of both the Exhibition itself and Moscow as a whole. One of the three main fountains of VDNKh, along with the “Stone Flower”.
The appearance of the fountain is striking in its gloss, richness and sophistication: it is placed in the center of a huge octagonal pool (81x56 meters) and is made in the form of a tall sheaf of wheat, hemp and sunflowers, around which are placed 16 female sculptures depicting the Union Republics of the USSR. The sculptural group is erected on a stepped granite base. The height of the sheaf is 7.4 meters - it is made of copper sheets, knocked out to shape, and has a realistic relief surface.
The figures of girls surrounding the sheaf are made of bronze and covered with gold leaf. They symbolize the 16 Union Republics (clockwise): RSFSR, Ukrainian SSR, Uzbek SSR, Georgian SSR, Lithuanian SSR, Latvian SSR, Tajik SSR, Turkmen SSR, Karelo-Finnish SSR, Estonian SSR, Armenian SSR, Moldavian SSR, Kyrgyz SSR , Azerbaijan SSR, Kazakh SSR and Belarusian SSR. Each of the 16 republic girls is dressed in national clothes and holds any fruits or plants in his hands: for example, Russia is depicted with a braid on his head and wheat, Belarus - in a headscarf and with flax and an apple, and Georgia - with a bunch of grapes. The sculptures are arranged in an order similar to their mention on the coat of arms of the USSR, which was based on the list of republics in the 1947 USSR Constitution, where they were ranked by population. However, Moldova and Kyrgyzstan are switched places for unknown reasons. In the foreground of the fountain (opposite the Main Pavilion) there are 3 Slavic republics: Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.
The pool with the fountain is located in the center of the large octagonal People's Friendship Square: the level of its central part is lowered, so stairs lead to it, and you can view the fountain from the side as if from observation platforms.
Authors of the fountain: architects Konstantin Topuridze And G.D. Konstantinovsky, engineer IN AND. Klyavin, sculptors Zinaida Bazhenova, Alexey Teneta, Joseph Chaikov, Zoya Ryleeva And V.P. Gavrilov.
History of the fountain "Friendship of Peoples"
The Friendship of Peoples fountain was built in 1951-1954 during the reconstruction and renovation of the territory of the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition (VSKhV), which was converted into the Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy (VDNKh).
At the old VSKHV of 1939, on the site of the future fountain, there was a children’s cafe and part of a recreation area with several small pavilions, but when planning VDNKh here, near the Main Pavilion, they decided to make an octagonal square for meetings, which would begin the central axis of the Exhibition. New republican pavilions were built around the square and along the central axis, and a monument to Stalin was to appear on it itself. From the side of the Ukraine pavilion at the end of the alley, it was planned to build the main fountain of the Exhibition - the Golden Sheaf, according to the design of Topuridze and Konstantinovsky. However, after the construction of the fountain began, the plans changed: the site near the Main Pavilion was considered unsuitable for the square and was given over for the construction of a fountain, after which the “Golden Sheaf” was moved to the vacant site, and the “Stone Flower” fountain was subsequently installed in its place. Just before the opening of VDNKh, the main fountain was named “Friendship of Peoples”.
It is curious that initially they planned to cover the figures of the republican girls with colored smalt mosaics - in this case it could have resembled the “Golden Ear” and “Stone Flower”, but in the end the idea was abandoned, and the girls were gilded. When creating the sculptures, the sculptors posed for representatives of the titular nationalities of the republics, but only three of them are known for certain: the Estonian ballerina Virve Kiple-Pasadanyan, the Turkmen pianist Gozel Annamamedova and the wife of the poet Mikhail Svetlov, the Georgian Rodam Amirejibi.
At the time of launch, the fountain’s operation was ensured by 8 pumps located directly under the sheaf: 800 water jets constantly changed their composition, the cycle duration was one and a half hours. However, over time, the fountain's engineering systems became dilapidated, and its operation was simplified.
Nowadays, the Friendship of Peoples fountain is not only a landmark of VDNKh, but also one of the symbols of Moscow. It is printed on calendars and postcards, and city guests willingly take photographs against the backdrop of a round dance of girls sparkling with gold. And, of course, it’s very pleasant to relax next to him on hot days.
In the evenings, the composition is illuminated by spotlights.
Fountain "Friendship of Peoples" is located on Peoples' Friendship Square on the Central Alley of VDNKh, behind the Main Pavilion. You can get to it on foot from the metro station "VDNH" Kaluga-Rizhskaya line.
Created in 1954. Architect - K.T. Topuridze, engineer - V.I. Klyavina, sculptors - Z.V. Bazhenova, A.I. Teneta, I.M. Chaikov, Z.V. Ryleeva, V.P. Gavrilov.
Current state
The fountain is working.
Geometry, mathematics, engineering
The fountain has an oval geometry: its size along the major axis is 81 m, and along the minor axis 56 m. The length along the perimeter is 170 m. The area is 3723 sq. m. m.
Castling of fountains
The “Friendship of Peoples” fountain is located in the south-eastern oval part of the vast square of the same name (until 1954 it was called Kolkhoz Square), directly being one of its artistic and semantic accents. Initially, on the same site of the All-Russian Agricultural Exhibition in 1939, there was a children's cafe and part of the southern recreation area, which included several small pavilions. During the post-war reconstruction of 1949–1954, due to the need to create new republican pavilions, it was decided to build them along a single central axis, visually connecting Meshchanskaya Street (Mira Avenue) and the All-Russian Agricultural Exhibition. The old wooden pavilions were demolished, and a square for holding rallies was designed on the vacated territory.
In the scheme of the updated planning structure under the leadership of A.F. Zhukov and R.R. Kliksa, this part of the Exhibition was conceived in the form of a three-ray, the axes of which would converge at one point - to the new monument to I.V. Stalin, designed on the site where the floral parterre of the Stone Flower fountain now begins. Just in front of this monument, facing the Main Pavilion, an octagonal, elliptical-shaped square with a lowered central part, like a Roman stage-arena, was supposed to be. Already during the construction work, the artistic council of the All-Russian Agricultural Exhibition came to the conclusion that this site for meetings was inappropriate - and it was decided to place another Main fountain in the center of the created space. It was based on the project of the first Main Fountain at the Ukraine Pavilion, already being implemented at that time. The original fountain, “demoted” from the former to the latter, was reworked by the same authors K.T. Topuridze and G.D. Konstantinovsky - and so the “Stone Flower” blossomed.
Classicism
The architectural design of the fountain fit perfectly into both the layout and the image of the Exhibition as a whole. “Friendship of Peoples” in its entirety reminds us of the most famous examples of fountain art of the 17th–18th centuries. The stepped, oval bowl of the fountain is topped with a golden sheaf of wheat, industrial hemp and sunflowers, woven into a huge sheaf. He is surrounded by 16 gilded bronze girls, personifying the 16 union republics that were part of the USSR at that time. Representatives of these republics posed for the sculptors of the round dance fountain. The names of only three models are known: the Estonian ballerina and actress Virve Kiple-Parsadanyan, the Turkmen pianist Gozel Annamamedova and the wife of the poet Mikhail Svetlov, the Georgian Rodam Amirejibi.
In addition to the national background, there is undoubtedly a mythological one. It is no coincidence that the images of the girls resemble Demeter, the goddess of fertility, the patroness of agriculture, since Soviet art of the 1930s–1950s was aligned with the aesthetic ideals of classicism.
Konstantin Topuridze, as a subtle connoisseur and interpreter of the classical heritage, when creating “Friendship of Peoples,” was clearly guided by the masterpieces of Peter the Great’s era; the appearance of the fountain is very similar to the Peterhof prototypes, right down to the reproduction of individual elements - dolphins. It is interesting that the authors of the fountain did not immediately come to a laconic solution based on a combination of red granite and gilded bronze, since initially all the figures, with the exception of the sheaf, were intended to be polychrome, that is, lined with colored smalt. Oddly enough, but in 1954 it was classic choice the authors were criticized, deserving assessments as “merchant cheapness”, “16 samovars”, etc. Recognizing the artistic successes achieved by the authors of the fountain, domestic art critic V.P. Tolstoy noted: “The figures of the girls are devoid of decorativeness and monumentality, which are necessary for perception in the open air in such a vast space.<…>They are deprived of the plastic expressiveness of the silhouettes, and being covered with gilding, which further destroyed their plastic volume due to the fact that it gleams strongly in the sun, this completely neutralized their national originality, and the figures themselves, which in theory constitute a friendly round dance, are not sufficiently connected with each other . As a result, the very good poetic idea of the “Friendship of Peoples” fountain did not receive a sufficiently vivid figurative embodiment.” .
Composition
There are opinions that the prototype of the fountain was Stepan Pimenov’s “Guriev Service” of 1809–1816 - his porcelain sculptures resembled ancient goddesses with national features in clothing and attributes, just like the characters of Alexei Venetsianov, who worked in the same years. Unlike his academic contemporaries, the artist looked for his ideal of female beauty among peasant women. Against the backdrop of a realistic Russian landscape, his semi-fantastic characters - ancient goddesses in national festive clothes - harrow the earth, and then relax in the shade of trees in the poses of Titian's beauties.
1. Until the summer of 2017, the fountains operated in a truncated mode - the automatic jet input did not work. But when all the fountains were working at full capacity at the Exhibition, the fountain was serviced by about 30 people! The play of jets was achieved using a technique that even today may seem fantastic to many. Imagine a wall ten meters high, on which motor relays hang in four rows - such “alarm clocks” with many arrows. These relays provided the movement and closure of contacts, which in turn turned on various electrical devices. The latter set the pumps and valves in motion, all this was synchronized. There was completely contact automation, not only without computer technology, but even without semiconductors. All this, naturally, had to be constantly cleaned, washed, and freed from dust. That’s why so many people worked, Alexander Egorov, technical director of VDNKh JSC, said in an interview with Moscow-24 in 2014 .
Pchelov E.V. VSKhV, Moscow metro and Soviet symbols // Auxiliary and special sciences of history in the 20th - early 21st centuries: vocation, creativity, public service of a historian. Materials of the XXVI International Conference. M.: RSUH, 2014. P. 301.
Transcript of the meeting of the Board and sections of the Moscow Union of Soviet Artists on November 19, 1954.
Http://www.m24.ru/articles/56873 .
The Friendship of Peoples fountain is the most important symbol of VDNKh (formerly VSKhV).
The structure was built according to the design of a creative team: architect Topuridze, engineer Klyavin and sculptors Bazhenova, Teneta, Chaikov, Ryleeva and Gavrilov. The grand opening took place in 1954. Initially, the project was named "Main Fountain", in 1953-1954 - "Golden Sheaf", and since August 1954 - "Friendship of Peoples".
The fountain on the plan is oval, and not at all round, as many believe. The pool is designed in the form of an elongated octagon. Dimensions: along the major axis - 81 meters, and along the minor axis - 56 meters. The perimeter length is 170 meters. Area - 3723 sq. m.
In the center of the fountain there is a huge sheaf, symbolizing the main agricultural crops of the USSR. The sheaf is made of copper by hammering. Along the periphery of the structure are sculptures of collective farm women made of bronze and gilded.
Muscovites may know, but visitors to the capital would hardly think of counting the gilded sculptures of beautiful girls by the fountain. For what? If everyone remembers that there were exactly fifteen republics in the USSR.
16 majestic ladies! Where did another figure come from?
It turns out that until 1956, the USSR included the Karelo-Finnish SSR, which was later transformed at the direction of Nikita Khrushchev into the Autonomous Republic of Karelia. I think this event played a big role in the future during the collapse of the USSR. It’s scary to imagine the potential separation of Karelia from Russia. This would be irreparable damage. Thank you, Comrade Khrushchev!
But let's return to the fountain. Here is the same sculpture of a Karelian girl.
Of course, they left it, either counting on the inattention of Soviet citizens, or not wanting to destroy a beautiful work of art. I'm sure it's the second one. And who would raise their hand?
Plants used in the design of sculptures:
1. A girl from Belarus holds an apple, berries and flax in her hands.
2. Lady Russia - rye.
3. The Ukrainian woman represents flowers, wheat, grapes and sunflowers.
4. Uzbek and Azerbaijani - cotton.
5. An Armenian woman and a Georgian woman are holding grapes.
6. Girl from Lithuania - flowers, flax and barley.
7. Lady from Latvia - wheat.
8. Karelka is holding some flowers and what appears to be a spruce tree.
9. An Estonian woman hands the viewer flowers and... cabbage (?).
10. Moldova is responsible for corn and grapes.
11.Kyrgyzstan demonstrate garlands and flowers.
12. The Kazakh woman holds wheat (virgin land! We remember everything).
13. Turkmenistan - cotton.
This information is not accurate. If you are interested, take a closer look at the herbarium there.
The order of the fountain figures.
There is no particular logic, except that Russia, Ukraine and Belarus are located in the center (overlooking the Central Pavilion).
If you look at “Friendship of Peoples” from the Main Pavilion clockwise, it will look like this:
RSFSR - Ukraine - Uzbek SSR - Georgian SSR - Lithuanian SSR - Latvian SSR - Tajik SSR - Turkmen SSR - Karelia - Estonia - Armenia - Moldova - Kyrgyzstan - Azerbaijan - Kazakh SSR - Belarusian SSR.
Built in 1954 according to the design of architects K. Topuridze and G. Konstantinovsky. By the way, the fountain has 16 female figures representing 16 republics of the USSR. The 16th republic is the Karelo-Finnish Republic, which in 1956 was turned into the Karelian ASSR as part of the RSFSR.
STORY
The original name of the fountain was “Golden Sheaf” (renamed just before the opening of the exhibition in August 1954).
Authors - K.T. Topuridze and G.D. Konstantinovsky. The design and hydraulic parts were developed under the guidance of engineer V.I. Klyavina, and the electrical engineering part was carried out by the Mossvetproekt design office (V.I. Sokolov). The decorative and sculptural design of the fountain was made by sculptors 3.V. Bazhenova, A.I. Teneta, I.M. Tchaikov and Z.V. Ryleeva. The sheaf was sculpted by V.P. Gavrilov.
According to the project of 1950-1951. a square in front of the statue of Stalin was planned at this place, and the fountain was supposed to be installed opposite the pavilion of the Ukrainian Republic (on the site of the “Stone Flower”). Architects K. Topuridze and G. Konstantinovsky, design engineers L. Shoikhet and B. Novikov, hydraulic engineers A. Vetkin and L. Kesler and electrical engineer N. Volpyan took part in the development of this option.
"GOLDEN SHAP"
The theme of the abundance of socialist agriculture formed the basis of the compositional design of the Golden Sheaf fountain. Its pool in plan follows the shape of an octagonal area, in the center of which a fountain is placed, and is an elongated octagon with internal dimensions along the major axis of 81 m and along the minor axis - 56 m.
The length of the perimeter of the pool is 170 m, and its area, as mentioned above, is 3,723 square meters. m. The side of the pool is lined with massive slabs of red polished granite.
In the center of the pool, above the water surface, rises a large decorative golden sheaf of the main agricultural crops of our Motherland. The sheaf is made of copper leaves by beating into metal forms. It is surrounded by 16 bronze, gilded sculptures of collective farm girls, representing the 16 Union Soviet republics. These sculptures are installed on 16 granite pedestals.
A whole system of jets rises above the central decorative group, forming a sheaf of water of impressive size. It exceeds 20 m in height.
The central part of the fountain has 6 main jet patterns and 25 intermediate ones. The patterns of the jets gradually alternate, changing the overall composition of the fountain.
The central fountain group is flanked along the elongated axis of the pool by two small fountain groups, each of which consists of two concentric rings of supply pipes with nozzles decorated along the outer rings with decorative flowers of two types (24 in each ring). The attachments of the inner rings are decorated with decorative fish (8 on each ring). Fishes and flowers are made of copper sheets using the hammering method.
In addition, four pairs of decorative dolphins are installed in the pool; 8 longitudinal jets fly out of their mouth.
Changing the shapes of fountain jets is carried out automatically.
The total duration of the fountain's closed cycle is one and a half hours.
In the evening, the fountain is illuminated according to a set program that runs automatically. The change of colors is linked to variations in the play of fountain jets. About 250 floodlights have been installed for this purpose.
An extensive pumping station is located in the central part of the basin, under decorative design fountain. Its premises are connected by an underground tunnel to the basement of the pavilion Russian Federation, where the transformer station serving the fountain is located.
The 8 pumps located in the pumping station are driven by electric motors with a total power of 550 kW. Every second, 880 fountain nozzles throw out 1.2 thousand liters of water. This water is sucked in by the pumps through the water intake chamber that surrounds the pumping station and released again in the form of fountain jets.
The design of the pool consists of a reinforced concrete bottom and side walls that form one whole. The central part of the fountain is an oval in plan, built along two radii. The plan dimensions are 21.3 m along the major axis, and 16.32 m along the minor axis. The area of the pumping station is 262 sq. m. m.
A decorative sheaf 7.4 m high is placed above the central part of the pumping station (its height from the finished floor reaches 5.66 m).
The central part of the fountain in section has a stepped appearance and is divided into separate cascades with a decrease from the center. Around the base of the sheaf there is a first chamber illuminating the jets, glazed over metal frames with stalinite, 1.29 m wide.
This is followed by an upper cascade of variable width from 1.6 m to 2.13 m, which is a reinforced concrete tank. The cascade has a circular closed shape in plan. Its sides are decorated with copper decorative cuts. The lower wall of the cascade is lined with red polished granite. The depth of water in the cascade is 85-90 cm.
Below the upper cascade there is a second illumination chamber, also glazed with stalinite. Underneath it there is a middle reinforced concrete cascade 1.15-1.7 m wide. Its front wall is lined with torn red granite, and a pattern-shaped forged granite slab is laid on top of it. There are 16 cast iron sinks installed along the perimeter of the cascade wall.
From the second - middle - cascade, water flows into cast iron sinks, and from there it flows into the lower cascade. From here the water flows over the side into the pool. The front wall of the lower cascade is also lined with torn granite, and its side is decorated with decorative copper cutting.
- Other names: Friendship of the Peoples of the USSR
- Date of construction: 1954
- Architect, sculptor, restorer: Konstantin Topuridze, sculptors: Z. V. Bazhenova, L. A. Bazhanova, A. I. Teneta, Z. V. Ryleeva, I. M. Chaikov.
- Address: VDNH, near the central pavilion
- Coordinates: 37°37′54.44″E; 55°49′47.39″N
One of the main attractions of VDNKh - the Friendship of Peoples fountain, symbolizing the abundance of socialist agriculture, was opened on August 1, 1954 on Kolkhoz Square (now Friendship of Peoples Square) of VDNKh.
Initially it was planned to be called the “Golden Sheaf”, but just before the opening it was renamed. Previously, the fountain was called "Friendship of the Peoples of the USSR", but over time the last word fell away.
The fountain was created according to the design of the architect-artist K. T. Topuridze, engineer V. I. Klyavin and a team of sculptors Z. V. Bazhenova, A. I. Teneta, I. M. Chaikov, Z. V. Ryleeva and V. P. Gavrilova.
The structure is a sculptural composition, where in the middle there is a golden sheaf made of copper leaves depicting agricultural crops - rye, sunflower and hemp. Around the sheaf are sixteen bronze sculptures of collective farm girls, covered with gold leaf, representatives of the Union republics.
If you look at the fountain clockwise from the Main Pavilion, you will get the following sequence: RSFSR; Ukrainian SSR; Uzbek SSR; Georgian SSR; Lithuanian SSR; Latvian SSR; Tajik SSR; Turkmen SSR; Karelo-Finnish SSR; Estonian SSR; Armenian SSR; Moldavian SSR; Kirghiz SSR; Azerbaijan SSR; Kazakh SSR; Byelorussian SSR. That is, the republics are not located in the same order as on the coat of arms of the USSR.
If you walk from the Main Pavilion, then in the foreground of the fountain are the three Slavic republics of the USSR. A girl with a braid on her head, holding wheat in her hands, personifying Russia, stands in the center overlooking the Main Pavilion, and the fraternal Slavic republics - a girl in a wreath - Ukraine and Belarus - a girl in a headscarf - stand on the sides (from left to right: Ukraine, Russia , Belarus). The sculptures are installed on 16 granite pedestals.
It is noteworthy that during the creation of the sculptures, representatives of nationalities corresponding to each republic posed.
In 1954, the number of union republics within the USSR was 16. However, in 1956 the republics became fifteen, but the sculpture of the girl of the Karelo-Finnish SSR (girl with a Christmas tree) was left, since it was almost impossible to remake the fountain at that time. The coat of arms of the Karelo-Finnish SSR is still painted over on the façade of the Main Pavilion.
The "Round Dance of the Republics" is located in a pool, which is an elongated octagon (81 m along the major axis and 56 m along the minor axis). The sides of the pool are lined with massive slabs of red polished granite.
The water column above the central part of the decorative group of the fountain reached the height of a six-story building (up to 24 meters). Every second, about 2000 fountain nozzles threw out 1.2 thousand liters of water. But recently, the height of the jets has been significantly reduced due to wear and tear of the fountain’s pumping station. The station is located under the central part of the fountain and is connected by an underground tunnel to pavilion 71, where in the basement there is a transformer station and an automation system that serves the fountain.
An impressive spectacle takes place here in the evening. 250 spotlights illuminate the fountain according to a set program, which changes sixteen times in one hour. The change of colors corresponds to the system of playing fountain jets.