#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. Norilsk after the Great Patriotic War. Komsomol brigades came to the All-Union construction site. The city is growing fast, iconic places also appear. Few people know what is hidden under the usual Norilsk urban constructions.
There is a column structure at the end of Leninsky Prospekt, near the Metallurgists Square, in front of the Arena Sports and Entertainment Complex. It was established by the members of one Komsomol brigade working in Norilsk.
“Natives of different cities and countries of the Soviet Union gathered at this huge construction site: Russia, Ukraine, Bashkiria, Kazakhstan and so on. For each of them, Norilsk became a new home. They created its appearance, embodied their vision of the modern city”, said one of the Norilsk residents, the general producer of the City Culture Center Vadim Krasnoselsky. “On one of the holidays, perhaps in the year that Norilsk was granted the city status or its first anniversary, one of the Komsomol brigades installed the column structure. The number of its parts corresponded to the number of the cities from which the brigade members arrived”.
It is believed that while establishing the construction, builders placed a time capsule under it – a popular message to posterity at that time. The concept of the “time capsule” appeared in 1937. Messages to future generations were left in a festive atmosphere during the construction of buildings, the installation of monuments and other notable infrastructure.
Sometimes builders reported the date of the alleged opening of the capsule, sometimes it was kept secret. In the case of the capsule on the “circle” near the Metallurgists Square, it is not known for certain whether it has survived to this day. The fact is that an introductory collector was installed at this traffic intersection, and during its construction the message of the Komsomol members could be discovered and obtained. Like it or not, checking it is hardly possible. But the legend remains.
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Text: Julia Gubeladze, Photo: Nikolay Schipko
