Fountain Friendship of Peoples

One of the most recognizable sights of VDNKh – Fountain «Friendship of Peoples». The building was built in 1954 for the post-war opening of the exhibition, designed by architects Topuridze and Konstantinovsky. At that time, a children's cafe and small trade pavilions worked here. The name was changed several times during construction. Initially, they decided to call it the "Main Fountain", soon the name was changed to the "Golden Sheaf", but even it did not suit a number of high-ranking officials. In the final version, the fountain became known as "Friendship of Peoples".

There are 16 female sculptures around the fountain. Each of them is dedicated to the Union Republic, which was part of the USSR. At that time, the Soviet Union also included the Karelian-Finnish Republic, which two years later received autonomy and was annexed to the RSFSR, and the usual number of republics remained in the country – 15. The principle of the location of sculptures – by population.

History has not preserved the names of all the models from which the sculptures were made. It is known that well-known pianists, ballerinas, including the wife of the poet Mikhail Svetlov, were involved as prototypes of the republics of the USSR.

"Friendship of Peoples" built in the shape of an octagon. The water surface has an area of ​​over 4000 m2. The water from the fountain can rise to a height of almost 20 meters. A large copper sheaf was erected in the center of the structure. His goal – symbolize the successful development of agriculture in the Soviet state: at the time of construction, the exhibition complex itself was called the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition. Below is a pumping station that provides eight hundred jets of water in various modes.

The building was built in the spirit of classicism and evokes associations with the fountains of Peterhof. Despite this, some critics believed that it lacked majesty, and the sculptures were too monotonous and lacked national features.

By the end of the 90s of the last century, the state of the fountain, which had been working for a long time without careful maintenance, fell into decay. Subsequently, water leaks appeared, and, despite the repairs, the complex had to be mothballed in 2009. The first restoration in the history of the fountain began at the end of 2018, and by May of the following year, simultaneously with the start of the Moscow fountain season, the building became available to visitors.