27.10, 20:59 Called everything from beautiful to unusual and downright strange-looking, Moscow’s St. Basil’s Cathedral remains the city’s most celebrated landmark and nothing short of Russia’s national symbol.
04.03.2010, 21:18 When it comes to space, Russia has had many firsts – the first satellite, the first man in space, the first space station. And in the north of Moscow is a whole area celebrating Russia’s fascination with the stars.
18.02.2010, 19:31 Get ready to go deep – this time RT will guide you though the secret maze shrouded in darkness, a museum and icon that puts the Russian capital head and shoulders above any other city in the world… the Moscow metro.
04.02.2010, 20:45 There is only one China Town in the world that has nothing to do with China. RT takes you for a walk around “Kitai Gorod” – one of Moscow’s oldest areas – and explains the origins of the name.
28.01.2010, 20:45 On January 29, Russia will mark the 150th anniversary of its most cherished storyteller, Anton Chekhov, so RT has decided to guide you through the most important Chekhov locations in Moscow.
//Published: 03 November, 2011, 22:50
Sokolniki park (RIA Novosti / Yury Artamonov)(33.2Mb) embed videoTo include this chart in your web page, paste the following HTML tag into your web page HTML: TAGS: Prime Time Russia, Walking distance, Anya Fedorova, Svetlana Kurakina, Neil Harvey
A perfect getaway from Moscow’s concrete jungle, Sokolniki Park has a fascinating history and plenty of stories to tell. RT invites you on a trip into its place’s thrilling past.
Located north-east of the city centre, Sokolniki is four times larger than London’s Hyde Park. Few remember that it used to be a forest that Russia’s tsars traditionally liked to hunt in.
Royal falcon hunting became especially popular in the 17th century during the reign of Tsar Alexey I, the father of Peter the Great. That was how the area got its name – “sokolnik” in Russian means “falconer.” Peter also became a fan of the place. Only instead of chasing game, he liked to play games and the wood was his venue of choice for outdoor feasts and celebrations.
Under his orders the park’s current layout began to be formed. The forest was not all about fun and games. In 1812 it became a hide-out for many Muscovites when Napoleon’s troops invaded. Several decades later, in 1879, the city authorities bought the land and the exclusive playground of the tsars was turned into a public park, much loved by the city’s artists and poets.
During Soviet times, Sokolniki became one of Moscow’s most popular leisure spots, filled with cafes and open-air dance floors. The park truly shot to fame when in 1959 the American National Exhibition was held there. Sponsored by the US government, it followed a similar Soviet Exhibition in New York City. The project was meant to strengthen ties between the two countries.
The display featured everything from the latest home appliances and sporting equipment to cars and even a typical American home.
The exhibit that proved to be the biggest hit with the public was a model kitchen – so much so that it sparked the so-called Kitchen Debate between Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and Richard Nixon about the merits of communism versus capitalism.
Both men praised their country’s industrial achievements, with Khrushchev stressing that the USSR focused on “things that matter” rather than luxury.
If escaping the hustle and bustle of the big city is what matters to you, a breath of fresh air is by no means a luxury in Sokolniki. A perfect place for summer strolls and winter sports, the park is going through a big makeover to become a modern leisure and exhibition centre. Nature’s beauty, history and fun – Sokolniki does have it all.
Today: 22:16 Russia’s banks could soon suffer as a result of their own generosity, as the huge number of loans dished out recently has depleted the padding in their cushions.
Today: 22:52 The space wedding of two Soviet cosmonauts and the demolition of a major Kiev cathedral are recalled in tonight’s Historama.
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