Tsytsin Main Botanical Garden of Academy of Sciences, founded in 1945 is the

largest in Europe.[113] It covers the territory of 3.61 square kilometres (1.39 sq

mi) bordering the All-Russia Exhibition Center and contains a live exhibition of
more than 20 thousand species of plants from around the world, as well as a lab for
scientific research. It contains a rosarium with 20 thousand rose bushes, a
dendrarium, and an oak forest, with the average age of trees exceeding 100 years.
There is a greenhouse taking up more than 5,000 square metres (53,820 square feet)
of land.[110]

The All-Russian Exhibition Center (Всероссийский выставочный центр), formerly known

as the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition (VSKhV) and later Exhibition of
Achievements of the National Economy (VDNKh), though officially named a "permanent
trade show", is one of the most prominent examples of Stalinist-era monumental
architecture. Among the large spans of a recreational park, areas are scores of
elaborate pavilions, each representing either a branch of Soviet industry and
science or a USSR republic. Even though during the 1990s it was, and for some part
still is, misused as a gigantic shopping center (most of the pavilions are rented
out for small businesses), it still retains the bulk of its architectural
landmarks, including two monumental fountains (Stone Flower and Friendship of
Nations) and a 360 degrees panoramic cinema. In 2014 the park returned to the name
Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy, and in the same year, huge
renovation works had been started.[114]

Lilac Park, founded in 1958, has a permanent sculpture display and a large
rosarium. Moscow has always been a popular destination for tourists. Some of the
more famous attractions include the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site, Moscow
Kremlin and Red Square,[115] which was built between the 14th and 17th centuries.
[116] The Church of the Ascension at Kolomenskoye, which dates from 1532, is also a
UNESCO World Heritage Site and another popular attraction.[117]

Near the new Tretyakov Gallery there is a sculpture garden, Museon, often called
"the graveyard of fallen monuments" that displays statues of the former Soviet
Union that were removed from their place after its dissolution.

Other attractions include the Moscow Zoo, a zoological garden in two sections (the
valleys of two streams) linked by a bridge, with nearly a thousand species and more
than 6,500 specimens.[118] Each year, the zoo attracts more than 1.2 million
visitors.[118] Many of Moscow's parks and landscaped gardens are protected natural
environments.

Zaryadye31.jpg GL(176155)(10).webp Victory park on Poklonnaya Hill1.jpg

Zaryadye Park VDNKh Victory park on Poklonnaya Hill
Moscow rings
Moscow's road system is centered roughly on the Kremlin at the heart of the city.
From there, roads generally span outwards to intersect with a sequence of circular
roads ("rings").

The first and innermost major ring, Bulvarnoye Koltso (Boulevard Ring), was built
at the former location of the 16th-century city wall around what used to be called
Bely Gorod (White Town).[119] The Bulvarnoye Koltso is technically not a ring; it
does not form a complete circle, but instead a horseshoe-shaped arc that begins at
the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and ends at the Yauza River.
The second primary ring, located outside the Boulevard Ring, is the Sadovoye Koltso
(Garden Ring). Like the Boulevard Ring, the Garden Ring follows the path of a 16th-
century wall that used to encompass part of Moscow.[119]

Moscow as viewed from the International Space Station, January 29, 2014
The Third Ring Road, was completed in 2003 as a high-speed freeway.
The Fourth Transport Ring, another freeway, was planned, but cancelled in 2011. A
system of chordal highways will replace it.
Aside from the aforementioned hierarchy, line 5 of Moscow Metro is a circle-shaped
looped subway line (hence the name Koltsevaya Liniya, literally "ring line"), which
is located between the Sadovoye Koltso and Third Transport Ring.

Two modern overlapping lines of Moscow Metro form "two hearts":

Line 14. Since September 10, 2016, Moscow Central Circle renovated railroad (former
Moskovskaya Okruzhnaya Zheleznaya Doroga) was introduced as Line 14 of Moscow
Metro. The cone-shaped railroad initially opened in 1908 (freight-only railway from
1934 until the 2016 reopening).
Line 11. Another circle metro line - Big Circle Line (Bolshaya Koltsevaya Liniya)
is under construction and will be finished in 2023. Kakhovskaya-Savyolovskaya
western half of the line was launched in late 2021.
The outermost ring within Moscow is the Moscow Ring Road (often called MKAD,
acronym word for Russian Московская Кольцевая Автомобильная Дорога), which forms
the cultural boundary of the city, was established in the 1950s. It is to note the
method of building the road (usage of ground elevation instead of concrete columns
throughout the whole way) formed a wall-like barrier that obstacles building roads
under the MKAD highway itself).

Before 2012 expansion of Moscow, MKAD was considered an approximate border for
Moscow boundaries.
Outside Moscow, some of the roads encompassing the city continue to follow this
circular pattern seen inside city limits, with the notable examples of Betonka
roads (highways A107 and A108), originally made of concrete pads.

In order to reduce transit traffic on MKAD, the new ring road (called CKAD -
Centralnaya Koltsevaya Avtomobilnaya Doroga, Central Ring Road) is under
construction now.

Transport rings in Moscow

Length Name Type
9 km Boulevard Ring – Bulvarnoye Koltso (not a full ring) Road
16 km Garden Ring – Sadovoye Koltso ("B") Road
19 km Koltsevaya line (Line 5) Metro
35 km Third Ring Road – Third Transport Ring – Tretye Transportnoye Koltso (TTK)
Road
54 km Little Ring of the Moscow Railway, re-opened as Moscow Central Ring (MCC) –
Line 14 Railway
20.2 km Bolshaya Koltsevaya line – Line 11 Metro
109 km Moscow Automobile Ring Road – Moskovskaya Koltsevaya Avtomobilnaya
Doroga (MKAD) Road
Culture

Tretyakov Gallery
Museums and galleries
One of the most notable art museums in Moscow is the Tretyakov Gallery, which was
founded by Pavel Tretyakov, a wealthy patron of the arts who donated a large
private collection to the city.[120] The Tretyakov Gallery is split into two
buildings. The Old Tretyakov gallery, the original gallery in the Tretyakovskaya
area on the south bank of the Moskva River, houses works in the classic Russian
tradition.[121] The works of famous pre-Revolutionary painters, such as Ilya Repin,
as well as the works of early Russian icon painters can be found here. Visitors can
even see rare originals by early 15th-century iconographer Andrei Rublev.[121] The
New Tretyakov gallery, created in Soviet times, mainly contains the works of Soviet
artists, as well as of a few contemporary paintings, but there is some overlap with
the Old Tretyakov Gallery for early 20th-century art. The new gallery includes a
small reconstruction of Vladimir Tatlin's famous Monument to the Third
International and a mixture of other avant-garde works by artists like Kazimir
Malevich and Wassily Kandinsky. Socialist realism features can also be found within
the halls of the New Tretyakov Gallery.

The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts

Another art museum in the city of Moscow is the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, which
was founded by, among others, the father of Marina Tsvetaeva. The Pushkin Museum is
similar to the British Museum in London in that its halls are a cross-section of
exhibits on world civilisations, with many copies of ancient sculptures. However,
it also hosts paintings from every major Western era; works by Claude Monet, Paul
Cézanne, and Pablo Picasso are present in the museum's collection.

The State Historical Museum of Russia (Государственный Исторический музей) is a

museum of Russian history located between Red Square and Manege Square in Moscow.
Its exhibitions range from relics of the prehistoric tribes inhabiting present-day
Russia, through priceless artworks acquired by members of the Romanov dynasty. The
total number of objects in the museum's collection numbers is several million. The
Polytechnical Museum,[122] founded in 1872 is the largest technical museum in
Russia, offering a wide array of historical inventions and technological
achievements, including humanoid automata from the 18th century and the first
Soviet computers. Its collection contains more than 160,000 items.[123] The
Borodino Panorama[124] museum located on Kutuzov Avenue provides an opportunity for
visitors to experience being on a battlefield with a 360° diorama. It is a part of
the large historical memorial commemorating the victory in the Patriotic War of
1812 over Napoleon's army, that includes also the triumphal arch, erected in 1827.
There is also a military history museum that includes statues, and military
hardware. Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics under the Monument to the Conquerors of
Space at the end of Cosmonauts Alley is the central memorial place for the Russian
space officials.

The Shchusev State Museum of Architecture is the national museum of Russian

architecture by the name of the architect Alexey Shchusev near the Kremlin area.

Moscow will get its own branch of the Hermitage Museum in 2024, with authorities
having agreed upon the final project, to be executed by Hani Rashid, co-founder of
New York-based 'Asymptote Architecture' - the same bureau that's behind the city's
stock market building, the Busan-based World Business Center Solomon Tower and the
Strata Tower in Abu-Dhabi.[125]

The Bolshoi Theatre

Performing arts
Moscow is the heart of the Russian performing arts, including ballet and film, with
68 museums[126] 103[127] theaters, 132 cinemas and 24 concert halls. Among Moscow's
theaters and ballet studios is the Bolshoi Theatre and the Malyi Theatre[128] as
well as Vakhtangov Theatre and Moscow Art Theatre.

The Moscow International Performance Arts Center,[129] opened in 2003, also known
as Moscow International House of Music, is known for its performances in classical
music. It has the largest organ in Russia installed in Svetlanov Hall.

There are also two large circuses in Moscow: Moscow State Circus and Moscow Circus
on Tsvetnoy Boulevard[130] named after Yuri Nikulin.

The Mosfilm studio was at the heart of many classic films, as it is responsible for
both artistic and mainstream productions.[131] However, despite the continued
presence and reputation of internationally renowned Russian filmmakers, the once
prolific native studios are much quieter. Rare and historical films may be seen in
the Salut cinema, where films from the Museum of Cinema[132] collection are shown
regularly. International film festivals such as the Moscow International Film
Festival, Stalker, Artdocfest, and Moscow Jewish Film Festival are staged in
Moscow.

Sports
See also: Football in Moscow

The Luzhniki Stadium hosted the 1980 Summer Olympics and the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Final.

SC Olimpiyskiy was built for the 1980 Summer Olympics.

Over 500 Olympic sports champions lived in the city by 2005.[133] Moscow is home to
63 stadiums (besides eight football and eleven light athletics maneges), of which
Luzhniki Stadium is the largest and the 4th biggest in Europe (it hosted the 1998–
99 UEFA Cup, 2007–08 UEFA Champions League finals, the 1980 Summer Olympics, and
the 2018 FIFA World Cup with 7 games total, including the final). Forty other
sports complexes are located within the city, including 24 with artificial ice. The
Olympic Stadium was the world's first indoor arena for bandy and hosted the Bandy
World Championship twice.[134] Moscow was again the host of the competition in
2010, this time in Krylatskoye.[135] That arena has also hosted the World Speed
Skating Championships. There are also seven horse racing tracks in Moscow,[109] of
which Central Moscow Hippodrome,[136] founded in 1834, is the largest.

CSKA Arena during a game of KHL, considered to be the second-best ice hockey league
in the world
Moscow was the host city of the 1980 Summer Olympics, with the yachting events
being held at Tallinn, in present-day Estonia. Large sports facilities and the main
international airport, Sheremetyevo Terminal 2, were built in preparation for the
1980 Summer Olympics. Moscow had made a bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics. However,
when final voting commenced on July 6, 2005, Moscow was the first city to be
eliminated from further rounds. The Games were awarded to London.

The most titled ice hockey team in the Soviet Union and in the world, HC CSKA
Moscow comes from Moscow. Other big ice hockey clubs from Moscow are HC Dynamo
Moscow, which was the second most titled team in the Soviet Union, and HC Spartak
Moscow.

The most titled Soviet, Russian, and one of the most titled Euroleague clubs, is
the basketball club from Moscow PBC CSKA Moscow. Moscow hosted the EuroBasket in
1953 and 1965.

Moscow had more winners at the USSR and Russian Chess Championship than any other
city.

The most titled volleyball team in the Soviet Union and in Europe (CEV Champions
League) is VC CSKA Moscow.

In football, FC Spartak Moscow has won more championship titles in the Russian
Premier League than any other team. They were second only to FC Dynamo Kyiv in
Soviet times. PFC CSKA Moscow became the first Russian football team to win a UEFA
title, the UEFA Cup (present-day UEFA Europa League). FC Lokomotiv Moscow, FC
Dynamo Moscow and FC Torpedo Moscow are other professional football teams also
based in Moscow.

Otkrytiye Arena, home of FC Spartak Moscow

Otkrytiye Arena, home of FC Spartak Moscow
VEB Arena, home of PFC CSKA Moscow
VEB Arena, home of PFC CSKA Moscow

VTB Arena, home of FC Dynamo Moscow and HC Dynamo Moscow

VTB Arena, home of FC Dynamo Moscow and HC Dynamo Moscow

RZD Arena, home of FC Lokomotiv Moscow

RZD Arena, home of FC Lokomotiv Moscow

Moscow houses other prominent football, ice hockey, and basketball teams. Because
sports organisations in the Soviet Union were once highly centralized, two of the
best Union-level teams represented defence and law-enforcing agencies: the Armed
Forces (CSKA) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Dinamo). There were army and
police teams in most major cities. As a result, Spartak, CSKA, and Dinamo were
among the best-funded teams in the USSR.

The Irina Viner-Usmanova Gymnastics Palace is located in the Luzniki Olympic

Complex. The building works started in 2017 and the opening ceremony took place on
June 18, 2019. The investor of the Palace is the billionaire Alisher Usmanov,
husband of the former gymnast and gymnastics coach Irina Viner-Usmanova. The total
surface of the building is 23,500 m2, which include 3 fitness rooms, locker rooms,
rooms reserved for referees and coaches, saunas, a canteen, a cafeteria, 2 ball
halls, a Medical center, a hall reserved for journalists, and a hotel for athletes.
[137]

Because of Moscow's cold local climate, winter sports have a following. Many of
Moscow's large parks offer marked trails for skiing and frozen ponds for skating.

The Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, which hosted games of the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Moscow hosts the annual Kremlin Cup, a popular tennis tournament on both the WTA
and ATP tours. It is one of the ten Tier-I events on the women's tour and a host of
Russian players feature every year.

SC Olimpiyskiy hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, the first and so far the
only Eurovision Song Contest arranged in Russia.

Slava Moscow is a professional rugby club, competing in the national Professional

Rugby League. Former rugby league heavyweights RC Lokomotiv have entered the same
league as of 2011. The Luzhniki Stadium also hosted the 2013 Rugby World Cup
Sevens.

In bandy, one of the most successful clubs in the world is 20 times Russian League
champions Dynamo Moscow. They have also won the World Cup thrice and European Cup
six times.

MFK Dinamo Moskva is one of the major futsal clubs in Europe, having won the Futsal
Champions League title once.

When Russia was selected to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the Luzhniki Stadium got
an increased capacity, by almost 10,000 new seats, in addition to a further two
stadiums that have been built: the Dynamo Stadium, and the Spartak Stadium,
although the first one later was dismissed from having World Cup matches.

Football clubs
Club Founded League League Rank Stadium
Spartak Moscow 1922 Premier League 1st Otkrytiye Arena
CSKA Moscow 1911 Premier League 1st VEB Arena
Lokomotiv Moscow 1923 Premier League 1st RZD Arena
Dynamo Moscow 1923 Premier League 1st VTB Arena
Torpedo Moscow 1924 Premier League 1st Eduard Streltsov Stadium
Veles Moscow 2016 FNL 2nd Avangard Stadium
Rodina Moscow 2015 FNL 2nd Spartakovets Stadium
Entertainment
See also: List of shopping malls in Moscow

Arbat Street, in the historical centre of Moscow

The city is full of clubs, restaurants, and bars. Tverskaya Street is also one of
the busiest shopping streets in Moscow.

The adjoining Tretyakovsky Proyezd, also south of Tverskaya Street, in Kitai-gorod,

is host to upmarket boutique stores such as Bulgari, Tiffany & Co., Armani, Prada
and Bentley.[138] Nightlife in Moscow has moved on since Soviet times and today the
city has many of the world's largest nightclubs.[139] Clubs, bars, creative spaces
and restaurants-turned-into-dancefloors are flooding Moscow streets with new
openings every year. The hottest area is located around the old chocolate factory,
where bars, nightclubs, galleries, cafés and restaurants are placed.[140]

Dream Island is an amusement park in Moscow that opened on February 29, 2020.[141]
[142] It is the largest indoor theme park in Europe. The park covers 300,000 square
meters. During the park's construction, 150 acres of nature trees unique and rare
animals and birds and plants on the peninsula were destroyed. The appearance is in
the style of a fairytale castle similar to Disneyland. The park has 29 unique
attractions with many rides, as well as pedestrian malls with fountains and cycle
paths. The complex includes a landscaped park along with a concert hall, a cinema,
a hotel, a children's sailing school, restaurants, and shops.