In the center of Moscow you can get around the whole of Russia for two hours?

Good morning, day or evening) 

Depending on what time you live and when you read my blog)

In Moscow, there are more and more places where you can safely walk. Disconnect from the bustle of the city and enjoy the tranquility. Now I want to show you and tell you about Zaradie Park. Which is a 10-minute walk from Red Square.

Little history

This is the space between Vasilevsky descent, Kitaygorodsky passage and Varvarka, which connects the Kremlin, the Moscow river and neighboring areas. The toponym means that the territory was "behind the rows" - that is, behind the market at the Kremlin. In the Middle ages, this bustling area was also a trade: the first settlements appeared here in the XII — XIII centuries-merchants settled here, trading with Byzantium and the Mediterranean.

In 1947, in charge, construction began on the eighth of the "Stalin skyscrapers", a height of 275 meters. However, after Stalin's death, the works were stopped, and in 1964 the hotel "Russia"was built on its foundation.

Over time, the hotel" Russia " is outdated morally and technically, and in 2006 it was decided to demolish. But there was no consensus on what to build on this site for a long time. For several years, a huge wasteland surrounded by a construction fence gaped near the Kremlin.

In 2012, at the suggestion of Russian President Vladimir Putin, it was decided to set up a Park here. At the end of the competition won the project of the consortium led by the new York architectural Bureau Diller Scofidio + Renfro with landscape architects Hargreaves Associates and Citymakers Moscow urbanists. The area of the Park is 10 hectares.

More than two years of construction. 14 billion rubles. 10.2 hectares of land. Here could build another business center, but built one of the most popular Moscow parks. On the site of the hotel "Russia" grew "Russia in miniature".

Here you can see forests, meadows and steppes. Mini-tour of the country in two hours.

To come to Zaryadye and not to walk along the Soaring bridge is like to come to Moscow and not to visit the red square. Entering the Park, visitors usually immediately go here, take pictures, and then walk. The bridge was ready for such popularity: during the tests it withstood the load of 240 tons — which means that it can simultaneously be about 4 thousand people.

The main idea of Zaryadye is to allow a person to see the nature of the whole of Russia without leaving the center of Moscow. There is a steppe, forests, and even Karelian boulders with moss. Here you can have a picnic in the meadow. There is even an ice cave, which will have sub-zero temperature in summer. Next time I will definitely show it to you)

The creators of Zaryadye it is important that the Park was in demand all year round. In spring and summer, visitors will probably prefer to walk through the meadow or steppe. And in the cold you can go to the closed pavilions. There is a "time Machine" - a film about how this area of Moscow used to be. There is an Underground Museum where you can look at the archaeological finds made during the work in the area of Zaryadye. And then there are the scientific-educational center "Protected the Embassy." There are seminars on geography, biology and ecology. Any guest can get here, but the main audience is schoolchildren and students. In the "Embassy" is the equipment which can not afford every modern laboratory.