VDNKh Park in Moscow

Всероссийский выставочный центр (the All-Russian Exhibition Center) better know as VDNKh was initially conceived as an exhibition centre and amusement park for the people of the republic of USSR, that was first established in 1935 on the existing site of Ostankino Park, north Moscow, but wasn't opened until 1939.

The park is a huge lush of greenery with fountains, numerous cafes and restaurants and one of the most popular resting place for Muscovites. It covers over 300 ha. and is spread with 80 pavilions that tell the Soviet achievements in various fields.

The main entrance gate is a triumphal archway surmounted by the statue of a tractor driver and a farm girl brandishing sheaves of wheat. The gate leads visitors to the Central Pavilion in front of which stands a statue of Lenin.

The Central Pavilion originally featured a huge illuminated map of the USSR, dioramas of Lenin's hometown and a Siberian hydroelectric power station.

The Fountain of the Friendship of Peoples has 16 gilded statues of maidens in their national costumes from the 16 Soviet republics, surrounded a huge golden wheat sheaf.

In the middle of the park next to the spacial pavilion erected in 1964 in honour of the great Soviet achievements in that field stands a copy of the Vostok rocket in which Yuri Gagarin first circled the world on April 12, 1961.

An old Yak-42 jet whose paintings are dedicated to the Soviet victory during WorldWar II can be seen close to the rocket.

And what better way to discover Moscow than from the top of the Ferris Wheel which is situated next to the entrance of the Park.

The park is really worth a visit as there are plenty to be seen inside and more nearby, especially the wonderful Cosmonautics Memorial Museum, the space obelisk and the alley of the cosmonauts as well as the Ostankino TV Tower.