Ostankinsky District, also called simply Ostankino, is an administrative district (

raion A raion (also spelt rayon) is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet states. The term is used for both a type of subnational entity and a division of a city. The word is from the French (meaning 'honeycomb, department'), and is c ...

) of North-Eastern Administrative Okrug, and one of the 125 raions of

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. VDNH exhibition center and

Ostankino Tower Ostankino Tower () is a television and radio tower in Moscow, Russia, owned by the Moscow branch of unitary enterprise Russian TV and Radio Broadcasting Network. Standing , it was designed by Nikolai Nikitin. , it is the tallest free-standin ...

, the tallest structure in Europe, are located in Ostankinsky. The district is served by

Moscow Monorail The Moscow Monorail (, ) (Line 13) is a monorail line located in the North-Eastern Administrative Okrug of Moscow, Russia. It runs from the Timiryazevskaya via Fonvisinskaya and VDNHa metro stations to Sergeya Eisensteina street. The monorail ...

History and etymology

Ostankinsky district is named after Ostankino village, which existed on the site before urbanization. Its name literally means 'remains'; however, despite popular misconception, it was not built on a graveyard. 16th-century sources refer to the village as ''Ostashkovo'', from the Christian name Eustachy. As a

populated place In geography, statistics and archaeology, a settlement, locality or populated place is a community of people living in a particular place. The complexity of a settlement can range from a minuscule number of dwellings grouped together to t ...

Ostankino has been known at least since the Russian

Time of Troubles The Time of Troubles (), also known as Smuta (), was a period of political crisis in Tsardom of Russia, Russia which began in 1598 with the death of Feodor I of Russia, Feodor I, the last of the Rurikids, House of Rurik, and ended in 1613 wit ...

, but it is better associated with the Sheremetiev estate in the form of a park and palace complex. During the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

it gained even more fame with its television tower and television centre.

Parks, squares, and pedestrian zones

Landscape Park at VDNKh In 2018-2019, a landscape park with five thematic zones was created in the northern and northwestern parts of the VDNKh (Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy) territory. The park's chief architect was French designer Michel Pena. The "Botanical Nature" zone encompasses the area around the Third Kamensky Pond (part of the Kamensky River). This zone features the restored "Cinema" pavilion, which houses a museum, and the refurbished Golden Ear Fountain. The "Nature of Entertainment" zone includes an artificial stream, a circular beach with decking, sun loungers, and a canopy. Near the bridge between the Second and Third Kamensky Ponds, a green labyrinth shaped like a chessboard was created, with walls made of various trees and shrubs, including two-meter-high thujas, spruces, apple trees, lindens, and other species. The "Wild Nature" zone, located in the Sheremetyevsky Oak Forest, features a 474-meter-long elevated trail with night lighting, reaching a maximum height of 6.5 meters above the ground. Nearby, three stainless steel mesh art installations titled "Birds," created by French artist Cédric Le Borgne, are suspended from trees, each standing about 3.5 meters tall. The "Cultivated Nature" zone, behind the "Cosmos" pavilion, is planted with oats, millet, and silver phacelia. Near the Chapel of St. Basil the Great, a Syringarium (lilac garden) blooms with purple and white lilacs. The Michurin Garden contains over 1,000 fruit trees and 500 fruit bushes, while to the south lies the "Big Picture of Fields," a system of flowerbeds forming an abstract pattern inspired by the works of

Wassily Kandinsky Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky ( – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter and art theorist. Kandinsky is generally credited as one of the pioneers of abstract art, abstraction in western art. Born in Moscow, he spent his childhood in ...

. The "Nature of Science and Arts" zone, located between the Green Theater and the " Moskvarium," features three areas collectively known as the Alley of Halls. The Game Hall, under arched structures, includes spaces for board games such as chess, checkers, Chinese checkers, and Go. Behind the Moskvarium is the Reading Hall, an open platform with tables and benches. East of the gazebo is the Theater Hall, an amphitheater with a stage for performances. Ostankino Park Ostankino Park, located along Botanicheskaya and 1st Ostankinskaya Streets, was part of the 18th–19th-century Ostankino Estate palace and park ensemble. It originally consisted of an "English" landscape section and a "French" formal garden. In 1932, the park was renamed the Central Park of Culture and Leisure named after F.E. Dzerzhinsky, incorporated into VDNKh in 1976, and restored to its original name, "Ostankino," in 1991. The park covers 71 hectares and boasts rich flora and fauna, including lindens, elms, maples, birches, aspens, pines, and spruces, as well as species listed in the Moscow Red Book, such as the martagon lily, lily of the valley, and broad-leaved helleborine. The park is home to hedgehogs, weasels, squirrels, and rare bird species like hawks, tawny owls, and willow tits. In 2014, the park underwent significant renovations, adding modern workout areas, a football field with natural grass, a hockey rink, and a horseback riding trail. During winter, a natural ice skating rink opens. In 2016, the free "Megadrom Ostankino"

skatepark A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, Freestyle scootering, scootering, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairw ...

, Europe's largest at the time, was opened but soon closed due to poor construction quality. Near the Garden Pond, a green belvedere was built in 2014, featuring benches for relaxation. Two cast-iron gazebos in the French style were installed in the eastern part of the park. On the western shore of the Garden Pond, the " Alexander I Peninsula" was created, with a wooden deck and chairs for relaxation. To the east of the pond, an open-air stage and a covered dance floor host events for older visitors. The park also features picnic areas and benches throughout. Square at the "Worker and Kolkhoz Woman" Monument The square around

Vera Mukhina Vera Ignatyevna Mukhina (; ; – 6 October 1953) was a Soviet sculptor and painter. She was nicknamed "the queen of Soviet sculpture". She was one of the members of the art association ‘ The Four Arts’, which existed in Moscow and Leningrad ...

's iconic monument and the "

Worker and Kolkhoz Woman ''Worker and Kolkhoz Woman'' () is a sculpture of two figures with a Hammer and sickle, sickle and a hammer raised over their heads. The concept and compositional design belong to the architect Boris Iofan. It is 24.5 metres (78 feet) h ...

" exhibition pavilion was redesigned in 2018. The previously neglected area was transformed into a formal landscape with symmetrical flowerbeds and benches on either side of the monument. Trees were planted in a zigzag pattern integrated into the tiled pavement. Cosmopark (Alley of Cosmonauts, Alley of Space Heroes) This 9-hectare park, established in 1967 around the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics and the "Conquerors of Space" monument, features a central memorial alley and branching walking paths. Designed by architects Mikhail Barshch and Alexander Kolchin, the alley was named in 1972. It includes 14 monuments honoring Soviet space heroes, such as engineers

Sergei Korolev Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (14 January 1966) was the lead Soviet Aerospace engineering, rocket engineer and spacecraft designer during the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s. He invented the R-7 Sem ...

and

Valentin Glushko Valentin Petrovich Glushko (; ; born 2 September 1908 – 10 January 1989) was a Soviet engineer who was program manager of the Soviet space program from 1974 until 1989. Glushko served as a main designer of rocket engines in the Soviet progra ...

, and cosmonauts

Yuri Gagarin Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who, aboard the first successful Human spaceflight, crewed sp ...

Valentina Tereshkova Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova (born 6 March 1937) is a Russian engineer, member of the State Duma, and former Soviet cosmonaut. She was the first Women in space, woman in space, having flown a solo mission on Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963. S ...

, and

Alexei Leonov Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov. (30 May 1934 – 11 October 2019) was a Soviet and Russian cosmonaut and aviator, Soviet Air Forces, Air Force major general, writer, and artist. On 18 March 1965, he became the first person to conduct a Extravehic ...

. The central alley has flowerbeds and star-shaped pedestals engraved with key dates in space exploration. A sculpture of the Solar System and the "Globe Square" with monuments depicting a star map and a model of Earth are also present. The latter bears quotes from Konstantin Tsiolkovsky: "The impossible today will become possible tomorrow" and "Earth is the cradle of the mind, but one cannot live in a cradle forever". Dubovaya Roshcha Park (Oak Grove Park) Located between Akademika Koroleva Street and Dubovaya Roshcha Passage, near the Ostankino Tower, this park is named for its abundance of oak trees. It is primarily a walking area with a network of paths. A children's playground is situated on the side of Akademika Koroleva Street, while a workout area is located near the television center (19 Akademika Koroleva Street).

Gallery

File:Ostankino.jpg, The Sheremetiev estate at Ostankino File:VDNKh 2017.jpg, The Exhibition Park of the National Economy Achievements File:LiAZ-6274 electrobus and Škoda Rapid as Taxi.jpg, LiAZ-6274 electrobus

References

Notes

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