Chasing the Sunset

11 points3 km3 hours

“Sunset Capital” is one of the city's main brands. The route starts on Gorky Square, and most of it runs along Fedorovsky Embankment, with a wonderful view of the confluence of the Oka and the Volga. See a ten-meter (33-foot) mosaic, visit an exquisite early-20th-century mansion and Russia's only monument to Jules Verne, and many more amazing places.

Route author

Susanin Team

Things to do

🌅🌇 Watch the sunset or sunrise
🏞️ Enjoy the view

Route points (11)

Gorky Square in Nizhny Novgorod

Point on route “Chasing the Sunset”

Point 1

Gorky Square

⛲ Square • 📜 Historic site

Record Holder for Name Changes

The outlines of the future square appeared in the 1830s–1840s, and it was called “New Square.” The first buildings on it were a prison and an orphanage, which gave it the name “Convicts' Square.” In the late 19th century a market was held here on Wednesdays, so the square became known as “New Market.” In the 20th century the market was moved, and in Soviet times the square was renamed “May Day Square.” In the 1950s–60s it received its current name. In 1952 a monument to Maxim Gorky by Vera Mukhina was erected on the square.

The Square's Garden

The garden on Gorky Square was created in 1952 and has a geometrically regular layout with pronounced symmetry. Saplings for it were bought from arboretums and botanical gardens all over the country. The garden has about 50 species of trees and shrubs from different latitudes: eastern white cedar (arborvitae), blue spruce from North America, smoke tree from the Mediterranean, and other plants from around the world. Surprisingly, all of them have successfully adapted to the city's conditions.