Sokolniki Park, named for the falcon hunt of the grand princes 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 ...

formerly conducted there, is located in the eponymous Sokolniki District of

. Sokolniki Park is not far from the center of the

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

, near Sokolnicheskaya Gate. The park gained its name from the Sokolnichya Quarter, the 17th-century home of the sovereign's falconers (sokol (сокол) is the Russian word for

falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Some small species of falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some that hover while hunting are called kestrels. Falcons are widely distrib ...

). It was created by Tsar

Alexei Mikhailovich Alexei Mikhailovich (, ; – ), also known as Alexis, was Tsar of all Russia from 1645 until his death in 1676. He was the second Russian tsar from the House of Romanov. He was the first tsar to sign laws on his own authority and his council ...

(father of

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

), a keen hunter who loved to go falconing in the area. Today, Sokolniki is a typical Russian park, with an aging funfair and other amusements for children, and numerous

fast food Fast food is a type of Mass production, mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. ''Fast food'' is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheat ...

stalls all clustered near the main entrance. In summer the central alleyways are a mass of brightly colored formal flowerbeds, while the depths of the park are a wilderness home to

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

s and

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

es and

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

s, limes and

maple ''Acer'' is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the soapberry family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated si ...

s - all trees native to the Moscow region - as well as a number of non-indigenous trees, such as

larch Larches are deciduous conifers in the genus ''Larix'', of the family Pinaceae (subfamily Laricoideae). Growing from tall, they are native to the cooler regions of the northern hemisphere, where they are found in lowland forests in the high la ...

es, cedars,

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus '' Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an i ...

, red oaks, etc. The park's

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animals and uncultivated plant species which can exist in their natural habitat, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introdu ...

includes

hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores and live Solitary animal, solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are precociality, able to fend for themselves ...

squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae (), a family that includes small or medium-sized rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrel ...

s and

weasel Weasels are mammals of the genus ''Mustela'' of the family Mustelidae. The genus ''Mustela'' includes the least weasels, polecats, stoats, ferrets, and European mink. Members of this genus are small, active predators, with long and slend ...

s, as well as 76 types of bird.

History

The park's current layout of clearings and alleys began under Tsar

. In 1900 a "labyrinth", or network of alleys, was laid out. It was established as a public municipal park in 1878. From 1931 onwards, Sokolniki has been developed as an official "park of culture and leisure". The park, with an area of six square kilometers, is also the most Western extension of a larger

Losiny Ostrov Losiny Ostrov National Park (, literally - '' Elk (Moose) Island'') is the second oldest national park of Russia (after Sochi National Park). It is located in Moscow and Moscow Oblast. It is the largest urban park in Europe. Losiny Ostrov is ...

natural reserve that spans from the Eastern edge of Sokolniki to

MKAD The Moscow Automobile Ring Road (), or MKAD (), is a ring road running predominantly on the city border of Moscow with a length of 108.9 km (67.7 mi) and 35 exits (including ten interchanges). It was completed in 1962. The speed lim ...

ring road and beyond. The park territory contains an amusement park, a winter outdoor

ice skating rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water or an artificial sheet of ice where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The growth and increasing popularity of ...

and an exposition centre which was the site of the

Kitchen Debate The Kitchen Debate () was a series of impromptu exchanges through interpreters between U.S. vice president (later U.S. president) Richard Nixon and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev, at the opening of the American National Exhibition at Sokoln ...

between

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

and

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...

at the American National Exhibition in 1959. It also contains the Sokolniki Sports Palace, home to the ice hockey team

HC Spartak Moscow HC Spartak Moscow (, ) is a professional ice hockey club based in Moscow, Russia. It is a member of the Bobrov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The club played in the Tarasov Division of the KHL during the 2013–14 season. Howe ...

. The soccer club in Sokolniki was the site of the 2006

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

Central Bank of Russia The Central Bank of the Russian Federation (), commonly known as the Bank of Russia (), also called the Central Bank of Russia (CBR), is the central bank of the Russia, Russian Federation. The bank was established on 13 July 1990. It traces its ...

executive Andrey Kozlov.

Culture institutions

Contemporary museum of calligraphy

Sokolniki Chess Club

Sokolniki Park is famous for its chess club, which is located on the rotunda of the far end of the park's circle. The chess club produced some of the finest grandmasters of history. During the 1959 US-USSR expo, exhibition matches were held for the eyes of the US delegation, headed by then-Vice President

. In the 1970s, the then-little known engineer

Natan Sharansky Natan Sharansky (; born 20 January 1948) is an Israeli politician, human rights activist, and author. He served as Chairman of the Executive for the Jewish Agency for Israel, Jewish Agency from June 2009 to August 2018, and currently serves as ...

coached locals at the chess club. He would later go on to be a renowned

refusenik Refusenik (, ; alternatively spelled refusnik) was an unofficial term for individuals—typically, but not exclusively, Soviet Jews—who were denied permission to emigrate, primarily to Israel, by the authorities of the Soviet Union and oth ...

activist and Israeli politician.

Sokolniki Exhibition and Convention Centre

The Sokolniki Exhibition and Convention Centre is one of Moscow's venues to host some exhibitions and conferences. It is located in East Administrative District directly in Sokolniki Park for Leisure and Recreation. It is one of the oldest exhibition sites and the first to start exhibition industry in Russia.

Museum of Sokolniki Park

On September 5, 2015, a museum dedicated to preserving and commemorating the history of Sokolniki was opened on the first floor of the park's administration building (Sokolnichesky Val, Building 1, Structure 1). During the opening ceremony, Alexander Kibovsky, the head of Moscow's Department of Culture, donated family photographs to the museum's collection, which were related to the post-war restoration of Sokolniki Park. The museum hosts exhibitions, guided tours, and quests.

Transport

Located 400 meters from the park's main entrance is Sokolniki station on the Sokolnicheskaya Line of the Moscow Metro. Nearby, the construction of the eponymous station on the Bolshaya Koltsevaya Line (Greater Ring Line) has been completed. At the park's western boundary lie the Moscow-3 and Malenkovskaya platforms of the Yaroslavl direction of the Moscow Railway. Public transport routes along the park's boundaries include: * Eastern side: Trams 4 and 25, and Bus 75. * Northern side: Trams 11 and 25, and Bus 311. * Southern side: Buses 40, 122, 140, and 265. * Western side: Bus 140. Additionally, the Rizhsky Railway Station, Rizhskaya metro station ( Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya Line), and the Rizhskaya and Rzhevskaya railway platforms are situated near the park.

References

Bibliography

*
Cite Sokolniki Park

External links

* {{ Official , http://park.sokolniki.com/en/ Parks and gardens in Moscow Amusement parks in Russia Cultural heritage monuments of regional significance in Moscow