Waterfall Stairway (Cascade) - Chisinau

A cascading stairway of stacked fountain basins descends through Valea Monitor Park to the lake, flanked by stone lamp posts with globe lights and terminated at one side by a circular belvedere pavilion on a cylindrical base. Robert Kurtz and Svetlana Stomovaya designed the structure in 1954, with multi-coloured lighting intended to evoke the atmosphere of Black Sea spa resorts, which were at the height of their popularity in the postwar years. The cascading staircase boasts a total of 218 steps, which is 18 more than the renowned Potemkin Staircase in Odessa. The complex was neglected between 1990 and 2015, with fountain components falling apart and the landscape deteriorating. Urban activists and NGOs organised its restoration; repair work began in February 2015, carried out by Dișinaproiect and approved by the National Council of Historical Monuments. The complex reopened to visitors in October 2016, though the fountains took longer to become fully operational.