Black Pond (Chyorny Prud) — a square and public garden at the junction of Osharskaya and Piskunova streets in the historic centre of Nizhny Novgorod. They took their name from a body of water that lay here for several centuries and was filled in in 1926.[1]
The pond and its names
Documents record the Black Pond as early as before 1621. Its second name was Pogany ("Foul"): meltwater and rainwater from the whole neighbourhood drained into it. The name is also linked to the river Chyornaya, which flowed into the Kovalikha; judging by the present-day relief, the pond drained in exactly that direction.[1][2]
By the beginning of the 20th century the ponds of the old part of the city had disappeared one after another: the plan of 1919 no longer shows them, and the Black Pond remained the last large body of water in this part of the upland city.[1][2]
The garden of the merchant Medovikov
In 1831 the merchant Medovikov cleaned out the stagnant pond at his own expense, laid out a garden around it and put up a rotunda pavilion, spending three and a half thousand silver roubles. Every year on 1 May he held a public festival here.[1]
The Nizhny Novgorod chronicler Nikolai Khramtsovsky described the festivities: a floating temple lit up with lanterns was set in the middle of the pond, boats with singers moved across the water, music played, refreshments were served to the crowd, and the merrymaking went on almost until dawn.[1]
In the middle of the pond a floating temple was set up, magnificently illuminated[1]
Skating rink, cinema and the filling-in
In 1916 the pond was leased out, and in winter a skating rink opened on it, with lighting, music and skate hire. Shortly before the revolution a screen was put up here and films were shown free of charge.[1]
In 1926 the water was drained, the basin was filled in, and construction began on the vacated site.[1]
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| before 1621 | the pond is known from documents under the names Chyorny and Pogany |
| 1831 | the merchant Medovikov cleans the pond, lays out a garden and puts up a rotunda |
| 1916 | the pond is leased out and a lit skating rink is set up |
| 1926 | the water is drained and the basin filled in |
| 1926—1927 | the "Chernoprudsky skyscraper" is built on the site of the pond |
The Chernoprudsky skyscraper
In 1926—1927, at the corner of Alekseevskaya and Piskunova streets, the city’s first multi-storey block of flats for workers rose to a design by the architect Alexander Alexandrovich Yakovlev — four floors with a single-storey superstructure in the middle, and thirty flats: twenty-four with three rooms and six with two, ranging from thirty-five to ninety square metres.[3]
For its time the building was a luxury: central steam heating and running water, with six retail units on the ground floor. Townspeople nicknamed it the skyscraper. It still stands and is protected as a monument of regional significance.[3]
The square and garden today
The name is all that is left of the pond. It has stuck to the square and the garden, to the tram loop and to everyday speech: the address "at the Black Pond" needs no explanation to a resident of Nizhny Novgorod.[1][4]
Beside the garden lies the Chernoprudnoye tram loop — the terminus of route No. 18, which runs here from depot No. 1. In the summer of 2025 the loop was closed for track reconstruction: the work ran from 15 June to November and was tied in with the relaying of utilities. The reconstruction of the loop is part of a programme to renew 149 kilometres of tram track and fifteen traction substations, with 170 tramcars to be bought by the end of 2026.[4]
The name has passed into culture as well: at the Rekord culture centre, exhibitions by Nizhny Novgorod artists are held under the shared title "Black Pond".[5]
See also
Sources
- Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — Oksana Snegiryova. The Pokrovsky Gates: where the ponds of old Nizhny Novgorod went, 28 September 2022 (archive)
- opentextnn.ru — Otkryty Tekst — I. L. Mininzon. Changes in the landscapes of Nizhny Novgorod over the last hundred and fifty years (archive)
- Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — Oksana Snegiryova. The Chernoprudsky skyscraper: how the first multi-storey block of flats for workers appeared in Nizhny Novgorod, 17 February 2020 (archive)
- Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — Tram track reconstruction to begin at the Chernoprudnoye loop, 9 June 2025 (archive)
- Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — The exhibition "Black Pond. Five Differences" has opened at the Rekord culture centre in Nizhny Novgorod (archive)