In the very center of the pocket park located at Privokzalnaya Ploschad (Privokzalnaya Square), is a fountain called "Barmaley," and designed by sculptor Alexander Burganov. On the raised platform stands a granite bowl, and in the center of the bowl are the figures of children, dancing around a crocodile – three girls and three boys. Across from them are eight frogs that feed the water.
This installation is modeled after the legendary fountain that stood on this square before World War II. Back then, it did not have an official name, which is why the city residents would come up with their own, calling it alternatively the "Crocodile," "Children's Khorovod" (Children's Circle Dance), and even "Barmaley" ("Boogeyman"). The original fountain was installed at Stalingrad in 1930, and its statuary was designed by Romuald Iodko. The fountain became widely known thanks to the wartime photo shots made after Luftwaffe air raid on August 23, 1942. At the photograph's forefront is the statuary with children, and in the background is the burning building of the Stalingrad Railway Station. The fountain was restored right after the military operations moved away from the city.
In the 1950s, the fountain was dismantled, when authorities began construction of the new railway station building, but it continued to serve as one of the symbols of the unbroken city. A copy of the pre-war sculpture, called "Children's Khorovod," was installed at the Privokzalnaya Ploschad, not far from the historical location, in August of 2013.
- Ulitsa Privokzalnaya, 1
- st. Komsomolskaya