"Gorky Park, Kazan" - this is the name of the Central Park of Culture and Arts named after In order to make it clear to A. M. Gorky, this is precisely about the Kazan landmark, in contrast to the world-famous Moscow one. After all, Gorky Park in Moscow, like Luxembourg Park in Paris, and Hyde Park in London, is a kind of visiting card of the capital.
Analogue to the capital
But Kazan also had the right to call its green spaces that way, because Alexei Peshkov, having arrived here at the age of 16 with a dream of entering Kazan University, lived here for 4 years - from 1884 to 1888. Naturally, he spent a lot of time in urban squares separated by the Arsk field and bore the names of Russian and German Switzerland. The field, in ancient times located near the Kazan Kremlin, got its name in honor of the tract running along it from the Tatar city of Arsk to Kazan.
History Battlefield
It is known not only by the fact that now the forest plantings surrounding it are almost united and have a common name - Gorky Park. Kazan is famous for its opposition to Moscow princes. It was here, on the Arskoye field, that a battle took place between the inhabitants of the city - Kazan - and the troops of Ivan the Terrible in 1552, which ended in the capture of Kazan. Here, on the Arskoye field, the troops of Emelyan Pugachev were also grouped, as a result of which in July (10-11) 1774 the Krasnoufim fortress was taken and a victory was won near Kengur. Therefore, these places in 1833 were visited by A. S. Pushkin, who wrote his "History of the Pugachevsky Revolt."
Resort area of the city
Already in the XVIII century, the city came close to the Arskoye field, here began the development and "cultivation" of wild groves, spread on both sides of the field. The Kazanka River flows in the same area. All this led to the settlement here, both in those days and now, of the rich inhabitants of the city.
And once upon a time there was, according to legend, a very beautiful linden grove, and immediately after it began the Arsky forest, and in those days it was dense. In a word, wonderful places, not in vain called Switzerland. At that time, obviously, this was the best praise - on the Seversky Donets, of course, Donetsk Switzerland, there were Russian and German. The latter was called so because several German teachers from Kazan University settled on its territory, beyond the Arsk field and cemetery. Both then and after, it differed from the "balagan Russian" part of the park with respectable silence. German doctor Vogel found spring sources with clean and clear water here - goodness and peace spilled in the air attracted people who wanted to relax from the hustle and bustle.
Pre-revolutionary folk festivals and fun
And already in those days, the surrounding groves turned into Kazan parks with all the signs of urban places of folk festivals - the “Shapito” circus (traveling) with then-fashionable “gutta-percha” acrobats (in the image of the “Gutta-percha boy” in which D. V. Grigorovich described fate stray actors of that time) and wrestlers. There were booths and swings, mechanical theaters and dog concerts, cockroach races and other pleasures of large public places of festivities of pre-revolutionary Russia. Especially a lot of people gathered in the Trinity week - Kazan hotels were crowded with visitors, "catering" flourished.
Pancake week, perfectly shown by N. Mikhalkov in the "Siberian Barber", was not inferior in popularity and attendance to the parks with ice slides to his summer sister. That was until 1917, and then the park was desolate for a long time and slowly went wild.
Socialist park period
The Soviet government in the 30s drew attention to the rest of the townspeople, and in each regional center began to be built CPKiO. In 1932, the Neskuchny Garden in Moscow was reconstructed and named after the famous proletarian writer Maxim Gorky. The central green city massif of the future capital of the Republic of Tatarstan was also given the name of Alexei Maximovich, and it became known as Gorky Park. Kazan in 1936 completely rebuilt it in the spirit of happy pre-war Soviet times. Merry-go-rounds with horses and "girls with an oar", laughter rooms and a giant swing, the "Immelman" attraction (older people still remember it) for fans of adrenaline rushing now.
There were good parks
Any place of summer vacation of the townspeople necessarily had a dance floor and an open stage. Gorky Park (Kazan) in this sense is no exception. The summer stage had an orchestra shell with very good acoustics, and it lasted until the 90s of the last century. Wooden cinemas, which began work only after dark, were also an integral part of parks built throughout the country, in fact, of the same type, so that no one was offended. Such was Gorky's park.
Kazan even went bankrupt on a small cable car. And here people poured here again. The park has become the favorite vacation spot for citizens - all interesting events took place here. Concerts of pop stars in the open air, a demonstration of new Soviet feature films, which in themselves were events. Here you could meet absolutely all the inhabitants of the city.
Park location
As a holiday, every evening the youth of the cities sought to parks in the country and, of course, to Gorky Park (Kazan). Everyone knew how to get there, or rather, get to it - the Vakhitovsky district, where the park is located, is the historical center and the main urban territorial and administrative unit of Kazan. Everything is nearby, within walking distance of the Kazan Kremlin.
Ershova Street borders the southern part of the park, Vishnevsky - the east, Podluzhna - the north, and the western edge of the park is limited to the Suvorov School. Since the formation of the Republic of Tatarstan, a construction boom has begun in its capital and other cities.
New times - new entertainment
The central park could not help changing . In addition to the emergence of new corners and objects corresponding to the time, large changes have occurred with attractions. And the matter is not only in their appearance - in connection with the construction of the Millennium Bridge across the Kazanka River, a significant territory was torn away from the park, including a playground for attractions. They were not just taken out, they were thrown out, some lay for a long time in the surrounding ravines. But time passed, and Kazan has changed a lot in connection with the Millennium City campaign (it turned 1000 in 2005) and the holding of the Universiade 2013 here. A huge work was done, and before the eyes of thousands of fans appeared a new beauty, Kazan. And in 2013, it was decided to recreate and reconstruct the park. Residents of Kazan very much respect and honor the chief architect of the city T. G. Prokofiev, under whose leadership, together with the NP “Preservation of city parks and squares”, work was carried out. That is why one of the new green squares in the center of the capital is named after her - Tatyana’s corner.
Old rides will return
I would like to believe that soon it will be possible to see the new and restored old Gorky Park (Kazan). All residents of the city know how to get into it - any transport going to the center will bring you to this pearl. Already now the facility boasts many achievements of park culture, which are not inferior in technical innovations and after-sales service to the parks of Western capitals. Now in all the cities of Russia, not to mention the capitals of the constituent entities of the Federation, everything is being done to increase the level of urban recreation - parks are being reconstructed and filled with new attractions, running and bike paths are appearing, corners for skateboard enthusiasts are being created.
Kazan, Gorky Park , does not lag behind its brethren in this . Hire of bicycles, cycle mobiles, carriages with bicycles, tandems and everything related to the "bicycle" exists here in large numbers. The range of services is very diverse - you can take inventory daily or for some specific period. TAGA transformers, Navigator bikes, kids bicycles, scooters and rollers are all in excellent condition. In addition, the park’s advertisements detail the rental price, benefits and fines.
Best tip
Modern Kazan is a visited tourist site. Naturally, buying a guide to the city and republic is not a problem. In any of them one of the main attractions of the capital is described in detail, its pride is Gorky Park. Kazan, the map of which is presented in the article, will show and tell where the objects of interest to you are located, including the well-known park zone. From other areas of the capital of Tatarstan , the park gets through the cable-stayed bridge "Millennium", which itself is a city attraction so much that is depicted on smart cards. Now Kazan - this once provincial city - is one of the most beautiful and most equipped in Russia. The pearl of the renovated capital is the green massif (located at 1 Ershov Square), which Kazan is rightly proud of - Gorky Park. Photos give a complete picture of the beauty and originality of this object, despite the standard entertainment attractions inherent in all parks in the world.