Gorky Park

Gorky Park, situated just across the Moskva River from Park Kultury Metro Station, is famed abroad for the American writer Martin Cruz Smith's novel and later film of the same name. The park was opened in 1928 as the first Park of Culture and Rest in the Soviet Union. It was created by amalgamating the extensive gardens of the old Golitsyn Hospital and the Nezkuchny Palace and covers an area of some 300 acres of land. Today the park is filled with children's play areas, fun fairs, an original Buran spacecraft now open as a "Cosmic Experience for Kids", various rides and an enormous Ferris wheel next to the river, offering some spectacular views of the city for the more daring amongst you! During the winter many of the footpaths are flooded and freeze over to allow children ice skate around the park, and in February visitors can enjoy Moscow's annual Festival of Ice Sculpture. In the summer months hydrofoils and various other small boats depart from the jetty next to the park and take visitors on cruises right through the center of the city and to most of her famous sights.