Friendship of Peoples Fountain

The exhibition's main fountain was switched on in 1954 on the square between the Central Pavilion and the Ukraine pavilion. The composition was devised by the architect Konstantin Topuridze and the sculptors Zinaida Bazhenova, Alexandra Teneta and Ivan Chaikov: a granite bowl shaped like a sheaf is surrounded by sixteen gilded female figures, each in the costume of one of the union republics as they were counted at the time of construction. The gilding is done in gold leaf, hence the warm glow for which people come here at sunset. Bronze sturgeons are set around the perimeter of the basin, throwing their jets towards the centre, while about eight hundred vertical jets rise from the bowl. The basin is more than eighty metres across, so the fountain works as a square in its own right. In 2018 the structure was restored, the pumping equipment was replaced and the gilding renewed. In the evening the lighting is switched on, the water is lit from below, and the figures are reflected in the mirror of the basin.

On the map