Alexandrovsky Garden is a public park on the slope of the Upper Town of Nizhny Novgorod, situated in the central part of the Verkhne-Volzhsky escarpment between Minin Square and Sennaya Square. It was founded in 1835 and is the first public park in the city's history.[1] In 2020–2021, the park underwent a major reconstruction in preparation for the 800th anniversary of Nizhny Novgorod.
History
The garden came into being as part of the sweeping urban-planning transformation of Nizhny Novgorod carried out between 1834 and 1839 under the "imperially commissioned works" — projects undertaken by decree and under the personal supervision of Emperor Nicholas I. In 1836, to develop the garden's design in detail, Nicholas I sent court gardener Karl Petzold, who had been brought from Germany; Petzold was a master of Romantic landscape compositions in the English style and had previously worked at Branitz Park in Cottbus. The design of Alexandrovsky Garden was reviewed by the Moscow Palace Office and dispatched on 6 October 1836 to the Nizhny Novgorod governor M. P. Buturlin.[2] The urban-planning works were directed by architect academician Ivan Yefimovich Yefimov and Colonel of the Corps of Engineers of Ways of Communication Pyotr Danilovich Gotman; the construction of the embankment and the descents was carried out directly by engineer-captain A. I. Podnozov and lieutenant D. A. Litvinov, who had at their disposal 844 hired workers and convicts.[2] At the same time, Verkhne-Volzhskaya Embankment was being laid out, ravines that had cut across the riverbank were filled in, slopes were leveled and reinforced with turf, and descents to the Volga were hewn — the Georgievsky and Kazansky Descents.
The year 1835 is traditionally regarded as the founding date of Alexandrovsky Garden. In 1837, Petzold's assistants — Ivan Svoboda and Fyodor Murashkin — arrived in Nizhny Novgorod; over the course of two years the terrain was graded, winding serpentine paths were laid, and trees of various species and ages were planted in groups amid broad open glades — in keeping with the landscape-design principles of the era, which sought to imitate nature.[2] The garden was named Alexandrovsky in honor of Emperor Nicholas I's wife, Alexandra; the park's original area was 15 hectares, occupying a triangular plot between the Kazansky and Georgievsky Descents, whereas within its present boundaries the garden covers approximately 35 hectares.[2][1]
Before the embankment and garden were created, Zhukovskaya Street was the last street in this part of the city, and the Volga slopes were occupied by vegetable gardens, outbuildings, residential structures of Nizhny Novgorod's poor, and the ancient Panskaya Sloboda. The Verkhne-Volzhskaya Embankment with the Otkos and Alexandrovsky Garden was the first systematic effort to improve the Upper Town.[1]
The ensemble of the embankment and garden was subsequently recognized as one of the "The Seven Wonders of the Nizhny Novgorod Region," taking first place among the nominated sites in the corresponding competition.[1]
Decline and the 2020–2021 Reconstruction
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]
In preparation for the 800th anniversary of Nizhny Novgorod, the park was reconstructed to a design by the Wowhaus bureau (design phase: 2019–2020; construction phase: 2020–2021), commissioned by Institute for Urban Development of the Nizhny Novgorod Region". The total area of the improved territory amounted to 350,000 m².[1] The entire park 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 a system of wooden arches was installed along one of the main alleys.[1][3][3] The symbol of the renewed park became a fountain in the form of intertwined colorful pipes.[1] The work was carried out under a public procurement contract worth approximately 500 million rubles, announced in December 2020 by ANO "Tsentr 800," with a completion deadline of July 1, 2021; the landscaping also covered the adjacent slope of the Otkos between the Chkalov Staircase and the Kazansky Descent, while Alexandrovsky Garden itself holds the status of a regionally significant cultural heritage site.[3]
During the reconstruction, the historic open-air stage known as the "Rakushka" ("Shell"), built in 1958 and destroyed by fire in the 1990s, was recreated. It features a contemporary design while retaining its original function as an open-air concert venue within the city's public space.[1]
The project was led on behalf of the Wowhaus bureau by Oleg Shapiro and Dmitry Likin; the project group was headed by Yekaterina Sporykhina and Gulnara Safarova; the architects were Georgiy Totrov and Gleb Perevoznikov.[1]
Links
The construction of the embankment and descents was allocated 471,705 rubles, and the laying out of the public garden — 222,889 rubles; in addition to state funding, money was raised through increased levies at the [2]
Sources
- wowhaus.ru — ALEKSANDROVSKY GARDEN, NIZHNY NOVGOROD (archive)
- gttp.ru — The urban planning transformations through which the garden came into being were directed by academician of architecture Ivan Yefimovich Yefimov and a colonel of the Corps of Engineers of Ways of Communication (archive)
- NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — Aleksandrovsky Garden in Nizhny Novgorod proposed for landscaping at a cost of 500 million rubles (archive)