Moscow is the center of the most unusual and amazing fantasies and creative projects of sculptors and architects of our time. Space Alley can rightfully be considered one of these most beautiful corners.
Cosmonauts Alley Ensemble
Where is this truly pretty corner? Not far from one of the most popular metropolitan attractions - the Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy, better known as VDNKh. The place for the monument was chosen for a long time. At first, it was supposed to be placed on Sparrow Hills, where it would be as open as possible for viewing, but due to its gigantic size, it was decided to move the structure to VDNKh.
Many well-known and little-known Soviet architects and engineers took part in the work on the main monument of the ensemble. More than three hundred and fifty projects were submitted to the commission.
You can get to the space ensemble by metro, having reached the VDNKh station of the same name. Whichever way you come out,do not pass by - you will find yourself either closer to the end of the alley or closer to its beginning.
Center
The center of the Cosmonauts Alley in Moscow can conditionally be called a round platform, on which cast-iron models of the planets of the solar system are located. Each layout is a separate object of study. Indeed, on their axes, in addition to the names, the most important scientific information about each planet is engraved. Unfortunately, in October 2017, the orbits of the planets suffered from vandals. Large parts of them were stolen, apparently sold for precious metals.
All the planets revolve around the sun as they should. Here we can see Pluto, which was excluded from the planetary list. It should be noted that the location of the planets on this site corresponds to the moment when the first Earth satellite was launched.
Part before
The start of Cosmonauts Alley is flanked by two giant mock-ups of globes. One of them is a model of the globe with continents, islands, countries and their capitals, seas and oceans plotted on the surface. There are also our megacities - Moscow and St. Petersburg. Another layout is a celestial sphere, which depicts all the constellations.
Along the wide paved alley, benches for visitors to this open-air museum are comfortably located on both sides, and in the center, at an equal distance from each other, there are marble steles crowned with stars on top. In the stars are informational texts that briefly convey the essence of the events that took place in the country in the field of space exploration and exploration. Many of them are engraved with the names of famous astronauts. And the latter still do not have at allno text - as a symbol of the further development of astronautics, the events of which will someday take place in these voids.
Part after
At the site located closer to VDNKh, a rocket takes off from the alley of Cosmonauts, taking off from a giant pedestal, where the Museum of Cosmonautics is located underground. This is a monument to the conquerors of space. Its facades are decorated with bas-reliefs on the theme of space exploration. Among the characters of the reliefs, one can see representatives of all professions, thanks to which the conquest of space became possible. It is precisely because so many people participated in this work that the monument was named by the authors A. N. Kolchin and M. O. Barshchem "People-Creator". The monument was opened in 1964. Interestingly, the plume from the soaring rocket is lined with titanium panels.
In front of the museum building closer to the central platform on a high pedestal there is a monument to the space genius of the Soviet era Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky. The image of Tsiolkovsky by Faidysh-Krandievsky is embodied in stone. His figure is made in a sitting position, his hands are folded on his knees, and his eyes are fixed on the sky.
To the left of Tsiolkovsky, on a small platform, there are monuments to scientists who made a huge contribution to the development of Cosmonautics: S. P. Korolev, M. V. Keldysh, V. N. Chelomei and V. P. Glushko.
Like Tsiolkovsky, Korolev, in his sculptural embodiment of the work of the sculptors Shcherbakovs and the architects Voskresensky and Kuzmin, peers into thethe sky, as if following a rocket flying into it. The high pedestal of the monument is decorated with reliefs on the theme of astronautics: the first steps in the conquest of space, the launch of the first satellite and the launch of the first rocket piloted by the first cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first spacewalk by Alexei Leonov.
On the right along the facade of the Museum of Cosmonautics there are busts of Soviet cosmonauts, among which you can see: Yu. A. Gagarin, V. N. Tereshkov, P. I. Belyaeva and A. A. Leonova, V. M. Komarov. And in 2016, several more busts appeared there: S. Savitskaya, V. Solovyov, A. Alexandrov and V. Lebedev.
Museum under the monument on Cosmonauts Alley in Moscow
In the basement of the monument to the conquerors of space is the Cosmonautics Museum, rich in amazing exhibits telling about the origin and development of domestic space science and engineering.
Documentary and material sources of the most important information are carefully preserved here, telling about the evolution of spacecraft, about the first flights and the first cosmonauts, including the legendary Belka and Strelka.
