In the north of Moscow, in the Levoberezhny district, there is a small green area, which was given a good name - "Friendship". The park has a small area - 50 hectares. It was founded in 1957 according to the project of three young architects - Valentin Ivanov, Anatoly Savin and Galina Yezhova.
History of the creation of the park
Work on the green space project began in October 1956. This major urban planning project was entrusted to three graduates of the Moscow Institute of Architecture, who were under the patronage of Vitaly Dolganov, head of the design workshop for greening the city.
The place for the future park was chosen on a site near the Leningradskoye highway, where in the coming years it was planned to begin construction of a large residential area of Khimki-Khovrino. This zone amazed everyone with its picturesque decorativeness: the hilly relief is crossed by quarries with the purest water, in which crucian carp are found, the reservoirs are interconnected by picturesque isthmuses.
As planned, the site was to be prepared for the VI World Festival of Youth and Students, which was scheduled to start on 1August 1957. With titanic efforts, in record time (less than a year), all the work was completed, and it was on the appointed day that the park was laid by the hands of the festival participants - planting trees and shrubs, flowers in flower beds according to a given pattern.
Why is the park named "Friendship"?
Initially, novice architects and only one team from the Moszelenstroy trust, numbering only ten people, worked on the territory of the future park. They had one old bulldozer at their disposal, which often broke down. Since there was little time left before the festival, and there was a lot of work - garbage collection, clearing the territory of dilapidated buildings, leveling the site, arranging lawns, preparing places for future plantings, Moscow Komsomol members were sent to help the workers. For more than two months, six hundred boys and girls worked here every day, who, with songs and enthusiasm, worked with rakes and shovels. We met the deadlines, friendship won! The park was named in honor of the close-knit work of Muscovites.
It is interesting that the laying of this object was much ahead of the start of construction of the residential complex, in the center of which it is located today. Only three years later, two streets appeared along the borders of the park - Festivalnaya and Flotskaya.
What Friendship Park (Moscow) looks like today
This small green island stands out from the dusty metropolis. For more than 50 years, Muscovites have been coming and coming here to breathe fresh air andrelax in nature. Here it is pleasant to walk along the shady alleys, admire the picturesque landscapes, climb the hills and go down to the ponds, cross the ponds on openwork bridges.
"Friendship" is a park in which all conditions for full-fledged youth and family recreation are created. Many playgrounds, a sports ground, a football field, benches and gazebos, adult and children's attractions - all this is built for interesting leisure. Also on the territory there is a permanent circus "Rainbow", where wonderful performances are regularly held.
The architectural and park ensemble attracts with many interesting monuments. In the center is the Friendship monument (appeared in 1985), nearby is a huge boulder with the image of Alisa Selezneva with a talking bird on her shoulder, marking the beginning of a beautiful alley, then a memorial plate was installed in honor of the soldiers who fell in Afghanistan, a stele is a tribute to the feat of the Soviet people in the Patriotic War, the "Children of the World" monument was presented by the Finns, not far from it stands the monument of Soviet-Hungarian friendship, the figures of Miguel de Cervantes and Rabindranath Tagore look at the surroundings, the park is also decorated with two sculptures - "Bread" and "Fertility".
However, the monument "Friendship" is still the symbol of the park. It is he who is depicted on all postcards dedicated to this place.
How to get to the park
Many want to visit the park "Friendship". Its address: Flotskaya street, 1-A. The easiest way to get to it ismetro, stop "River Station" (by the way, this territory itself is sometimes called that). Then walk to the entrance. By car, it is more convenient to drive up to the park from Festivalnaya Street. And if you drive from the Leningrad highway, then you need to focus on Flotskaya street.
"Friendship" is a park that you want to return to again.
