Google Sightseeing takes you on tour of the world as seen from satellite, using the free Google Earth program, or Google Maps in your web browser. Each weekday your guides James and Alex present new weird and wonderful sights as suggested by readers.

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The People’s Friendship Arch

Posted by Alex Turnbull, Friday, 5th May 2006

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This is the People’s Friendship Arch in Kiev – a huge titanium arch, 50 metres in diameter, which celebrates the union of Russia and Ukraine. Underneath the arch stand two statues which can be seen at the Kiev City Guide. I’m not entirely sure how the people of Kiev feel about these monuments, anyone want to let us know?

No one submitted this, and I couldn’t find it on any of the other sightseeing sites either! See, there’s still plenty of stuff out there to be found ;-)

9 Responses to 'The People’s Friendship Arch'

  1. leon says:

    that’s hisrory, memory, etc., how can you feel aboit it?

  2. Tim says:

    There also are a lot of monuments in the US, how do they feel about that?

  3. Liam says:

    Couldn’t they build something cool like a friendship waterslide or a friendship concert hall?

  4. Pasha says:

    Been there hundreds of times, if you look on that arc from Khreshatik and over the river Dnipro it looks really cool. Kiev is really beautiful city.

    How do we feel? It is nothing wrong between Russia and Ukraine, it is only politics. And arc is just arc:)

  5. Krebber says:

    I’d quite like to see a Friendship Volcano or perhaps a Friendship West Nile Virus Ward.

  6. Max says:

    This arc is oftenly referred as “the yoke” :) An example of soviet monumentalism and metal waste… Just like the huge lady several miles from it :)

  7. 0ld says:

    It’s usually called “Freaks’ friendship arch” (play on words “narodov” (people’s) and “urodov” (freaks’) here in Kiev

  8. V says:

    It is not an example of metal waste. You do not call “Gateway to the West” in St.Louis as metal waste, don’t you? And you do not call statue of Liberty as metal waste. Please do have a respect. If they (ukranians) do’t like it, they will scrap it.

  9. Ihor says:

    First there’s no union of Ukraine and Russia. Second, this arch is called a rainbow, so often it’s considered to be a massive gay-pride rainbow :-)