Shishkin Ponds Park is located in a lowland on the banks of the Toima River. The high bank of the Embankment Street rises above it, where several museums are located. In the 19th century, Ivan Vasilyevich Shishkin, the father of the great Russian artist, created a park here. Now it is one of the most favorite vacation spots of Yelabuga citizens and tourists.
In the middle of the 19th century, this place was a swampy floodplain of the Toima River. The houses of the historical center of Yelabuga are located on a high bank. You need to go down a steep slope to the river. Since the 19th century, the house of the Yelabuga merchant Ivan Vasilyevich Shishkin has been located here. In 1832, the great Russian artist Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin was born in this house. Now you can visit the Shishkin Memorial House Museum there. The father of the great artist did a lot for the development of Yelabuga, so he was elected mayor twice.
In 1832, Ivan Shishkin (father) laid one of the first water pipes in Russian cities in Yelabuga. He created it according to his own design from larch logs, and financed the construction partly at his own expense. At the same time, he began to create a park area in the floodplain of the Toima River, and grateful residents named the park after him: Shishkin Ponds.
A large staircase has been laid from the high bank down to the Shishkin Ponds Park. There are two ponds, around which there are paths for walking. Later, pavilions began to appear here, where local artisans could sell their goods.
Yelabuga has always been a merchant town, and many artisans lived here, so since the 18th century, a fair began to be held in the city. It attracted artisans and merchants from all over the area. At first, the fair was held on Cathedral Square near the walls of the Cathedral of Savior, so the fair was called Spassky.
In the middle of the 19th century, the Spasskaya Fair was moved to the Shishkin Ponds Park. In 1846, stone pavilions were built here. In 1917, the Spasskaya Fair was closed and the territory of the Shishkin ponds fell into complete desolation. The reconstruction of the park was carried out in the 2010s, however, a new reconstruction was launched in 2022. The city authorities plan to make Shishkinskie Prudy Park one of the best urban parks in the whole of Tatarstan.
