Hiroshima is the city that experienced probably the most terrible tragedy in the world. On August 6, 1945, there was a nuclear disaster that divided life into «before» and «after». It is impossible to forget about it. So many places in the city remind us of the tragedy and tell us how people managed to overcome all that horror and rebuild the city from ruins.

One of the most popular places is Peace Memorial Park. It became one of the biggest architectural ensembles which were built after the tragedy. The creation of the park lasted for almost 10 years: from 1949 to 1956.

It was decided to place the park in the Nakajima district. The district was fully destroyed by nuclear bombing. The ashes, just like a phoenix, turned into a beautiful garden created according to all the canons of Japanese landscape art.

Not far from the park, there is a building of Genbaku. Locals call it «Atomic Bomb Dome». This is the only construction that survived the atomic explosion. It was decided not to demolish it in order to preserve this terrible monument of human cruelty.

The territory of the park is relatively big. It houses the Peace Memorial Museum, lots of monuments and a cenotaph, which is a symbolic mass grave with the engraved names of those who died during the disaster.

Moreover, the Fountain of Prayer is located there. It was built in memory of those who survived, despite all the horror around. Water – the symbol of life – overpowers fire, which engulfed the city during the bombing.

The most loved and famous monument of the park is a memorial which depicts a local girl Sadako Sasaki. During the bombing, she was a kilometer away from the epicenter, but she managed to survive. Unfortunately, she died 10 years after the tragedy due to destructive radiation sickness.

Peace Memorial Park is the place where residents of Hiroshima come to honor the memory of the victims. After all, it is difficult to find a family there that would not have been affected by that terrible tragedy.