History and description of the Alexander Garden (Nizhny Novgorod)

This is the first public park in the city, it is located between the Upper and Lower Volga embankments, on the banks of the great Russian river. Today the park occupies an impressive territory - about 35 hectares.

From the history

Until the 19th century on the slopes and precipices of the Djatlovy Mountains one could see very unsightly huts with baths, sheds, cesspools. They did not decorate the view of the city from the river. On some terraces stood chopped houses, Pyatnitskaya and Petropavlovskaya churches.

In the first half of the 19th century, Emperor Nicholas the First ordered to demolish all these buildings for the arrangement of the park. The slopes were scraped and clipped. The works were supervised by the architect Academician IE Efimov and the communications engineer, Colonel P.D. Gotman. The project envisaged the creation of a wide and straight stone-paved street along the edge of the slope, which was named the Verkhne-Volzhskaya Embankment. Here it was allowed to build only houses made of stone, with facades facing the Volga. Thus, the face of the city was formed.

According to the idea of city planners, a natural background and a pedestal for the newly created city of the European model were to be slopes. They broke a public park, which was called the Alexander Garden. Nizhny Novgorod found its first park, intended for the rest of the townspeople.

The park is named after the wife of Emperor Nicholas I. Thus began the history of the Alexander Garden. Nizhny Novgorod was not the only city in Russia that had a park with such a name - in those days in Russia many landscaping objects received such a name. For example, the Alexander Park in Moscow.

In 1836, Nicholas I sent a court gardener, famous at that time Karl Petzold, to Novgorod for a detailed study of the garden project. The Russian emperor paid attention to this specialist in the city of Weimar, where he created Belvedere Park.

K. Petzold was a master of romantic compositions, which in Europe is called English. Particularly successful are its park landscapes on a complex terrain, with water reservoirs and many species points.

Start of construction

In October 1836 Petzold's project was sent to the governor of Nizhny Novgorod Buturlin. The following year the assistants of the famous gardener Fedor Murashkin and Ivan Svoboda arrived in the city. Within two years, the territory was leveled, serpentine paths were built, trees and shrubs were planted in separate groups. Arrays of oak, holly maple, poplar, elm were planted with significant spatial discontinuities. Thus, a harmonious alternation of closed and open spaces was created.

It was not just the Alexander Garden that was created. Nizhny Novgorod needed a park, so its creation was given special attention. Difficulties were primarily related to the complexity of the terrain. But the creators of the park coped with their task brilliantly.

The garden was created as a series of species points. From them you could admire the magnificent views of the Volga, the Upper Volga Embankment.

In 1841 the Alexander Garden was fully formed. Park (Nizhny Novgorod) fully justified its purpose. After the end of the work, he quickly became very popular among the townspeople. The Novgorodians enjoyed their vacations here, several orchestras were playing, gypsy and Russian songs were performed, and visitors were entertained by jugglers and acrobats. It was often F.I. Shalyapin, AM Gorky and other famous people of that time.

Alexander Garden (Nizhny Novgorod) in the Soviet years

Further development of the park continued after the Second World War. According to the project of Academician L.V. Rudnev, architects A.A. Yakovlev and V.O. Muntza in 1940 was built Chkalovskaya staircase in honor of the famous Soviet pilot. The monument was installed on a slope at the stairs. Around the same time, terraces were formed. They became an ideal place where, in the 60s, blue fir and small leaved lime trees were planted in rows . On one of the terraces was built "shell" - an open concert stage. It became a place where concerts and music festivals were held for many years.

Alexander Garden - reconstruction

In the late sixties, Valentina Vasilievna Baulina developed a project for the reconstruction of the park. There were additional recreational areas and paths. The slopes were fortified with retaining walls, the drainage system was improved. In the garden there were new benches, gazebos, canopies from the rain, original lighting elements. In the lower part of the park on level ground tennis courts are created, volleyball and basketball courts are built. At the top of the slope appeared a platform with a swimming pool and a small cafe "Seagull". Romantic to this place betrayed weeping willows and birches.

In the 80s the restaurant "Burlatskaya Sloboda", which was stylized as a wooden ship, began its work in the park.

Decline period

To the great regret, the Alexander Garden (Nizhny Novgorod), whose photo you see in our article, was completely abandoned in the 90s. The work on the care of the territory was stopped, in places the turf cover fell out, storm and drainage systems partially collapsed, erosion appeared on the slopes, the species points were closed by overgrown trees. In 2004, on the site where once there were sports grounds, built a hotel, or rather, a hotel complex with a restaurant, bowling and office buildings.

"Alexandrovsky Sad" - hotel (Nizhny Novgorod)

This is a modern hotel complex, located at: Georgievsky Congress, house 3. The hotel is located on the bank of the Volga in the same park. Includes restaurant and bar, wellness center, bowling "Strike", two conference halls for 50 and 150 people, parking, underground garage (for guests of the complex - free). It is located five kilometers from the main railway station.

According to the guests' reviews, the Alexandrovsky Sad (Nizhny Novgorod) hotel is an excellent place for a comfortable stay. There are 49 rooms of different levels of comfort. All of them are equipped with wide comfortable beds, a desk with a desk lamp, satellite TV, a minibar, Internet access, an individual safe. On the fourth floor there are non-smoking rooms.

Hotel "Alexander Garden" (Nizhny Novgorod) has a level of 4 *. Unfortunately, many tourists and people who come to the city on business, believe that it does not fit this class. There are many complaints about the work of staff, there are complaints about the work of the claimed Internet, many guests consider the cost of rooms unreasonably inflated.

"Alexander Garden" - restaurant

It is located on the territory of the same park. There is one, but very cozy hall, designed for 70 guests. Fine European cuisine is offered. The restaurant is suitable for business meetings, friendly gatherings or a romantic date. There are great wedding celebrations here.

Quay "Southern"

In June 2014, the first river passenger transport began operating in the city. Transportation is carried out by two boats on the route "Alexandrovsky Sad" (Nizhny Novgorod) - the pier "Yuzhnaya" (microdistrict "South"). The trip takes fifty minutes, its cost is forty rubles. During the summer season, the demand for this route will be analyzed. If there is a need, the number of river trams will increase. Although already the first analytical studies show that the demand for walks far exceeds offers. Many Novgorodians and guests of the city are happy to walk on the river tram along the Volga to the station "Alexander Garden" (pier).

Nizhny Novgorod is a city on the river bank, therefore the development of passenger river transport is quite natural.

The revival of the park

Recently, many local historians and architects have tried to convey to the Novgorod authorities the special significance of the park for the city. Finally, their appeal was heard, and now the city administration has started discussing the project of improvement of the park territory.

The works will cover the entire area of the park to make it a modern, well-groomed and pleasant city for rest. The project includes landscaping, renovation and improvement of green spaces, restoration of species sites and the famous "shell". In addition, plans have been worked out to strengthen the slopes, restore drainage systems.

The main task of the reconstruction project is not to harm the old park. The developers of the reconstruction project see before themselves the main goal - to revive the Alexander Garden, but to keep at the same time its historical layout. Therefore, mayors urge all Novgorodians to get involved in this work, send their own reconstruction options to the department of architecture.