People's Friendship Arch

The Peoples' Friendship Arch (Ukrainian: Арка дружби народів, romanized: Arka druzhby narodiv) is a monument in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. It was opened together with the All-Union Lenin Museum (today, Ukrainian House) on November 7, 1982 to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the USSR and the celebration of the 1,500th Anniversary of the Kiev city.

On 20 May 2016 the Ukrainian government announced plans to dismantle the arch as part of its decommunization laws. In its place is planned a memorial dedicated to veterans of the War in Donbass. Director of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance Volodymyr Viatrovych stated in February 2018 that "a sculptural group" of the monument should be removed according to the decommunization laws.

For the Eurovision Song Contest 2017, the arch was temporarily painted into a rainbow and renamed the Arch of Diversity; with the arch doubling as the symbol of the Kyiv Pride parade. At night, the arch illuminates as a rainbow as well. Three weeks later everything was turned back to normal.

Description

The Friendship Arch was constructed in 1982 by sculptor A. Skoblikov and architect I. Ivanov and others. The monument consists of three sculptural elements an arch and two statues.

There is a viewing deck there where most of the east bank can be viewed, Troieschyna and towards the north of the city, Podil and Obolon.

Location

The monument is located behind the buildings complex of the National Philharmonic Society of Ukraine in "Khreschatyi" Park (Ukrainian: Хрещатий парк) which at the time of opening was called the Pioneer Park.

The monument complex sits on top of the right bank of Dnieper river overwatching the Park Bridge and the Shore Highway (Ukrainian: Набережне шосе, Naberezhne shose). Park Bridge is a pedestrian bridge that...