Gorky Park

The most central park in Moscow situated on the south bank of the Moscow River just west from Church of Christ the Saviour was first opened in 1928. It was the first venue of its kind and was an instant hit, revolutionising leisure in Soviet Russia.

In the post Soviet period the park became an amusement park with fairground rides and fast food outlets which by the early 2000s were, at best, outdated and jaded.

In 2011 the park was completely redesigned. The dodgy amusement rides have gone, as have the even more dodgy fast food outlets. The idea was to create an eco-friendly recreational area withe focus on more sporty activities. There is a beach sport area where you can play beach volleyball, there are skateparks galore, an open air cinema, there are qualified fitness instructors who lead a whole range of activities and all the paths and walkways have been redone which has resulted in it becoming a vast outdoor rollerskating rink.

There is free wifi, an area for contemporary public art projects, design fairs and a new line up of more modern cafés.

This is the view across the boating lake and the building in the background is the army HQ on Frunzenskaya Naberezhnaya.