Patriarch's Ponds

In Russian this park is called Патриарши пруды (Patriarshiy Prudy), in English Patriarch's Ponds. "Ponds" is in plural. Although there is only one pond in this park situated between Malaya Bronnaya ulitsa in the east, Bolshoi Patriarshy pereulok in the south, Patriarshy pereulok in the west, and Ermolajevsky pereulok  in the north. It’s a big pond surrounded by a wide footpath with benches. Bulgakov lived nearby for some years in Bolshaya Sadovaya ulitsa or the Big Garden street.

The name refers to the Patriarch, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church who had his residence close to the park. In the past there were three ponds, as suggested by the name af a street nearby:  Trekhproedny pereulok or Threeponds avenue. In 1918, after the revolution, the ponds were renamed Pioneers' Ponds.

"At  the hour of the hot spring sunset two citizens appeared at the Patriarch's Ponds". This is the opening line of The Master and Margarita. The literary authority Berlioz and the young poet Bezdomny are debating on a bench. Subject is the existence of Jesus when a third man is joining the discussion. Later he will introduce himself as professor Woland. He predicts that Berlioz will be decapitated that very day by a Russian woman, a member of the Komsomol. And it was inevitable, because "'Annushka has already bought the sunflower oil, and has not only bought it, but has already spilled it".

And yes, when Berlioz leaves the park in a hurry a little later, he slips on a puddle of sunflower oil spilled by Annushka. He falls under the tram-car that  comes racing along, turning down the newly laid line from Yermolaevsky  to  Bronnaya, and a round  dark object was thrown up the cobbled slope below  the fence of the Patriarch's walk. It's the severed head of Berlioz. With this phrase the key is given for the rest of the novel. Woland is de devil himself who raises hell in Moscow for a couple of days with his companions. That's why Bulgakov gives us the following good advise: "Никогда не разговаривайте с неизвестными - Never talk to strangers"...

The Patriarch's park is still a popular place in Moscow, just because of this association with Bulgakov. Because of this popularity the soviet authorities placed there a statue of the classic fabulist Ivan Andreevich Krylov (1769-1844) in the ´70's. But it was of no avail. The Muscovites kept on associating the park with the autor of The Master and Margarita. In front of the park is the Café Margarita, a cult café for amateurs of Bulgakov and black magic.

In recent years the Patriarch's park is subject of many disputes in Moscow. There were plans for the construction of a parking garage, shops and a casino. With the renovation Krylov's statue would disappear and be replaced by a tribute to Bulgakov: a sculpture group worth some couples of million euro. A primus of twelve meter of height would camouflage the pumping unit of the pond. Around it Woland and his gang, the Master, Margarita and Pontius Pilate would arise. Yeshua Ha-Nozri, Bulgakov's - or rather the Master's - version of Jesus, would walk on the water.

For more than a year the het rustic park was a construction site. Krylov's statue was gone, but nobody knew what would happen. The neighbours presented a petition against the plans. The idea of the parking garage and the shopping mall was blown off and in May 2004 the Moscow Council for the Renovation of the City decided to have the sculpture group elsewhere, on Sparrow Hills. The year before, sculptor Alexander Rukavishnikov, to whom the project was entrusted, had already distanced himself from it in public.

One of the most fanatic opponents, and the driving forces between the actions of the neighbours, is Alexander Morozov, who considers Bulgakov’s work as satanic. Morozov claims to live in Bolshaya Sadovaya 10 himself, in the building where are situated two museums dedicated to the writer. One of those museums he demolished with some followers on December 22, 2006.

The place at the Patriarch’s Ponds is now restored in its former glory, and Krylov is back too. One part of the planned sculpture group will probably placed in the park: Bulgakov himself, sitting on a bench.

Click here to read more about the opposition against the monument
Click here to see a 360° photo of the Patriarch's Pond

Metro: Маяковская (Mayakovskaya)