Alexandrovsky Garden is a public park on the slope of Upper Part, situated in the central part of Minin Square and Sennaya Square. It was founded in 1835 and is The History of Nizhny Novgorod.[1] In 2020–2021, the park underwent a major reconstruction in preparation for Celebration of the 800th Anniversary of the Founding of Nizhny Novgorod.
History
The garden came into being during a large-scale urban transformation of Nizhny Novgorod carried out between 1834 and 1839 under the "imperially designated works" conducted by decree and under the personal supervision of Emperor Nicholas I. At the same time, the Upper Volga Embankment was laid out, the ravines that cut through the riverbank were filled in, the slopes were leveled and turfed, and descents to the Volga were carved — Georgievsky Descent. The founding date of Alexandrovsky Garden is conventionally given as 1835.[1]
Before the embankment and the garden were created, the last street in this area was Zhukovskaya, and the Volga slopes were occupied by kitchen gardens, outbuildings, dwellings of Nizhny Novgorod's poor, and Panskaya Sloboda. The Verkhne-Volzhskaya Embankment with the Otkos and Alexandrovsky Garden was the first systematic attempt at improving the Upper Town of the city.[1]
The ensemble of the embankment and the garden was subsequently recognized as one of the "The Seven Wonders of the Nizhny Novgorod Region," taking first place among nominated sites in the corresponding competition.[1]
Decline and Reconstruction of 2020–2021
From the 1990s onward, the park was effectively cut off from city life: its paths and staircases fell into disrepair, utilities deteriorated, and the grounds became overgrown.[1]
For the 800th anniversary of Nizhny Novgorod, the park was reconstructed to a design by the Wowhaus studio (designed 2019–2020, built 2020–2021) on commission from Institute for Urban Development of the Nizhny Novgorod Region". The total area of the improved grounds came to 350,000 m².[1] All of the park's infrastructure was rebuilt from scratch: pedestrian paths and staircases were renewed, gazebos, a workout zone, and viewing platforms with new vantage points were added, and one of the main alleys was given a system of wooden arches.[1] A fountain in the form of interlocking colored pipes became the symbol of the revamped park.[1]
During the reconstruction, the historic open-air "Shell" stage — built in 1958 and destroyed by fire in the 1990s — was recreated. It was executed in a contemporary design while retaining its original function as an open-air concert venue in the city's public space.[1]
The project was led on the Wowhaus side by Oleg Shapiro and Dmitry Likin; the project group was headed by Yekaterina Sporykina and Gulnara Safarova; the architects were Georgy Totrov and Gleb Perevoznikov.[1]
Links
Sources
- wowhaus.ru — ALEXANDROVSKY GARDEN, NIZHNY NOVGOROD (archive)