Drisvyaty. The "Druzhba Narodov" Hydroelectric power station

In the very north of Belarus, in the Braslav district, where the borders of three countries - Belarus, Lithuania and Latvia - converge, an unusual landmark is located among forests and lakes. This is the "Druzhba Narodov" (Friendship of Peoples) hydroelectric power station (or Drisvyatskaya HPS), a hydroelectric power station that never became a power plant in the full sense of the word, but forever remained a symbol of brotherhood and an architectural monument of a bygone era.

The idea of unity.

The history of this place began in the cold autumn of 1951. On November 21, representatives of three neighboring collective farms gathered in the village of Drisvaty: the Belarusian Molotov collective farm, the Lithuanian Mickiewicz collective farm and the Latvian Sverdlov collective farm. They discussed an urgent issue - how to give light to the houses. The decision was bold and unusual: to build a hydroelectric power station together. The place was chosen symbolically - on the river Prorva, connecting the lakes between the three republics. The name was born by itself - "Friendship of Peoples".

Construction of the century.

The construction of the hydroelectric power station has become an all-Union event. Not only the regional newspapers, but also the central "Pravda" wrote about the progress of the work. The construction inspired artists: Petrus Brovka dedicated the novel "When Rivers Merge" to her, Eduardas Mezhelaitis - "The Poem of Brotherhood", and the composer Zhilinsky even created the operetta "Towards the Blue Lakes".

The writer Vladimir Tendryakov in his essay "In one Family" described in detail how ordinary collective farmers - yesterday's farmhands - became concrete workers. The place was swampy, and at first seven tons of tubular powder were laid in the excavation. After the explosion, excavators cleared the bottom, and then manually, in the conditions of a team competition, the concrete wall of the future dam grew.

Triumph and oblivion.

The grand opening took place on July 19, 1953. According to various sources, up to 20,000 people and government delegations from the three republics gathered for the holiday. A bronze monument to Stalin (soon dismantled during the struggle against the cult of personality) was erected in front of the building of the hydroelectric power station, designed in the style of the Stalinist Empire.

For about 20 years, the station generated electricity for 11 households, but in the 1970s it was declared unprofitable and mothballed. In the 1980s, the Ignalinsk NPS was launched nearby, and the need for a small hydroelectric power station finally disappeared. For many decades, the station remained alone in almost impenetrable forests, dilapidated and crumbling.

A new life.

It seemed that the fate of the hydroelectric power station was a slow decline. However, at the end of 2024, an event occurred that gave the "Druzhba Narodov" a second life. The Energy Department has carried out major repairs of the building. The roof was covered with metal profiles, the facades and moldings were restored, and the historical inscription was restored. New automatic valves for water discharge were installed and the canal banks were reinforced.

Interesting fact: the most amazing thing is that the hydroelectric power plant will not generate electricity. Two generators have not been restored. Its main function today is hydraulic engineering: the dam regulates the water level.

A landmark of a high-security object.

Today, the renovated building of the "Druzhba Narodov" hydroelectric power station attracts the eyes of tourists. However, you can't just approach that: this is a special security facility surrounded by a fence. Swimming and fishing are prohibited within a 50-meter radius.

Nevertheless, even a glance at this monumental building in the middle of the Belarusian nature from afar is worth a long dirt road. This place is a unique portal to the past, where the history of the three nations, Soviet aesthetics and the silence of the borderlands create a unique atmosphere.