Walk around the city: Lenina Street
Постоянный автор «It’s My City», студент из Испании, Эдгар Бланко (Edgar Blanco) продолжает делиться своими впечатлениями о нашем городе. За время, что он живет в Екатеринбурге, у него появились любимые маршруты для прогулок, о которых он решил рассказать. Первой будет экскурсия по проспекту Ленина от площади Коммунаров до площади Кирова.
When you`re a tourist, or when you moving to a new city, you always have to find information about new place: where you can eat, what you have to see, where you can walk. So I decided to gradually share the best plans in the city. Today I would like to tell you about Lenina Prospect.
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As in the majority of Russian cities Lenina is the main street that crosses them, this makes it a great point to start exploring the city. In Ekaterinburg Lenina Prospect starts with the Fathers War Memorial (Главный мемориал) and finishes with the main building of Ural Federal University.
You can use public transport to get to the Fathers War Memorial:
Bus stops:
Ploshad’ Komunarov (Площадь Коммунаров) Buses: 21 ,24 ,27 ,28,41 ,52 ,61,69 Minibus taxi (Marshrootka): 11,012, 014, 019, 020, 034, 045, 046
Tram stops:
Ploshad Komunarov (Площадь Коммунаров) 2,5,6,13,16,18, 26, 27, 32.
Youth Palace (Дворец Молодежи): 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 13, 18, 23.
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Starting with the Fathers War Memorial, you can cross all the center of the city from West to East. And if you feel tired at any moment, you can take the trams №26 and №15 that cover the entire proposed route.
The building №1 in Lenina Av. is the Palace of Youth (Дворец Молодежи), on the Square of Communards (Площадь Коммунаров) — a small garden on the left sidewalk. This is a somewhat strange building, with the front made of glass and the stone top. This building is strange as well on the inside — but it should better be seen with your own eyes. A garden with trees and grass is situated behind the building, and it is a perfect place for an evening walk.
You can walk down the sidewalk in the middle of the avenue, which is surrounded by trees and benches, if you like.
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However, as there’s usually heavy traffic in Lenina Avenue, it is better to choose one of the lateral sidewalks to look at the shops. It will be also easier this way to cross the perpendicular streets. After about 5-7 minutes walk you will reach the corner between Lenina Street and Sakko I Vantsetti Street, there you will see a building built of orange brick — the Church of St. Innocent and Svelrlovsk Male Choir School.
Continue walking for two more blocks and you will reach the Square of 1905. Just before entering the square on the right there is Vainera Street (Улица Вайнера) and on the left is the Mall «Europe» (Торговый центр «Европа»). Now you are in the city main square (Площадь 1905 Года), where is located the City Hall, built in Stalinist style.
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Right opposite is the statue of Lenin, and a large public parking that occupies the rest of the square (if we are lucky to visit the city in January or February we can enjoy the Ice City instead of it).
Bus and tram stop: Ploshad’ 1905 Goda (Площадь 1905 Года)
After leaving the 1905 Square and crossing March 8 S. (Улица 8 Марта) I strongly recommend you to follow your path on the left sidewalk. In the corner of the square you can find the Gymnasium No. 9, one of the most emblematic and ancient schools of the city, and on our left there is a magnificent lake (Gorodskoy Prud) now.
Walking along the lake we can continue to enjoy the charm of the city, seeing the busts of some Ural writers, and the Order of Lenin given to the city in 1973. It is also a nice place to take pictures and to rest enjoying the city landscape.
Continuing our walk, just in front of us we will see a green building which is notable for its European Classicist style — it is called the House of Trade Unions. Although the date of the original building construction is prior to 1817, the building you can see nowadays was built by N. Sevastyanov, collegiate assessor and a wealthy merchant.
Leaving behind this magnificent building, on your right you can see the «History Museum of lapidary and jewelry». Urals are famous for their metals and stones, therefore it is an interesting place to visit (adult ticket costs 150 RUR). If we continue our way, to our left there is a large ground with flowers and fountains (in summer) with the statue of the great Russian inventor, who is claimed to be the inventor of radio, A. Popov in the center of it (Take that, Marconi!) .
Bus Stop: Ploshad’ Truda (Площадь Труда)
The next building is the «Head Office of the Russian Postal Service» (Главпочтамт). The beauty of the building is questionable and so is its correlation with the environment... In any case, you can take the photo at the 0 km of the region, not showing this building. (For those who haven’t read Michael Strogoff, it is never too late, especially Chapter XII, First part). Then we cross the Tolmacheva St. and in the center of Lenina Av. it’s the tram stop Musical Comedy Theatre (Театр Музкомедии).
One of my favorite cafes in the city is situated on the corner of Lenina Av. and Karla Libknehta st. on the second floor of the Kolizey Cinema. I can’t explain exactly why, but, as for me, it has a melancholic atmosphere that I like. At this point we face the Muzkomedia Theatre, which could be defined as Comedy Theatre. Following Lenina Av., now reappears the central garden walk, and to the right there are shops and cafes. Here the street becomes a little steep (200m) just to the next crossroad, where we can see the magnificent facade of the Ural Federal University (former main building of the Ural State University called after M.Gorky).
In front of it there is a statue of Yakov Sverdlov, who was a prominent Bolshevik, an important figure in the communist era, and Ekaterinburg (former Sverdlovsk) took its name from him. Across the street there is the Opera and Ballet House, dating from 1912, making it one of the oldest Opera Houses in Russia. From my point of view, these two buildings are the most beautiful ones (provided that they don’t have advertising on their facades) and should definitely be seen.
Tram and bus stop: Opera Theatre (Оперный Театр)
Continuing our walk, passing the next block, at the intersection between Lenina Av. and ul. Lunacharskogo (ул. Луначарского) we will be amazed by the facade of Iset’ hotel, example of the impressive Constructivist architecture. It was built between 1928-39 as a community building, and resembles a sickle from the plan view. Behind it there is the museum of «Regional history», in its turn resembling a hammer.
Leaving behind the «Regional Natural History Museum», also on the left side there is another facade imposed by Stalinism, Georgy Zhukov, Marshal of the Soviet Union army, in front of it. Zhukov was the most decorated general officer in the history of the Soviet Union and Russia. His monument is usually adorned with wreaths in spring and summer.
Bus and tram stop: Ulitsa Bazhova (Улица Бажова)
In the next crossroad there is a plaque commemorating the writer Pavel Bazhov, famous for his book about the Russian Civil War, and for his narrations about Urals. Walk another block and to the left you can find a bronze statue of three men chatting, called “Townspeople”. It is a tribute to three local artists, Michael Brusilovsky, Vitaly Volovich and Herman Metelev. If you continue, you will find a small bridge, passing under the railroad tracks, and you will see the end of the avenue (a bit away yet). On the left the “Urals Polytechnic College" will appear.
There aren’t more important constructions in the street, but it is full of cafes and shops, and buildings also have a colorful lighting during hours of darkness that brings charming atmosphere into the warm summer nights. At the end of the street we enter a garden, which is the beginning of the URFU campus (formerly UPI). Before arriving at the principal building, we can stop near the statue of Sergei Kirov and look back to admire the city. If you are lucky to see the sunset on a clear day, you also have an opportunity to enjoy one of the best views of the city (at least for me).
As for the public transport in the end of the route:
Busses:
Cinema-Theatre Iskra (Кинотеатр «Искра» ) Buses 18, 27, 60 Minibus taxi (Marshrootka): 054
UGGU-UPI Buses: 5 ,10, 50а, 50м, 118 Minibus taxi (Marshrootka) :020
Trams:
UGGU-UPI 4, 8, 13 ,15 ,18, 26
It`s My City 
