Sparrow Hills- This is a large park on a slope, in a bend along the banks of the Moscow River. Its territory is 137.5 hectares. In 1987, Sparrow Hills became a natural monument, since 1998 it has been a state nature reserve, created to preserve the historical, cultural and natural environment, a broad-leaved forest located in close proximity to the city center. In 2013, the Vorobyovy Gory reserve was included in the composition.
In the east, the territory of the Vorobyovy Gory begins from the Novoandreevsky railway and road bridges across the Moscow River. From the south and from the west, the territory of the Sparrow Hills is limited by the area adjacent to Kosygin Street. In the north, the border of the Sparrow Hills is the mouth of the Setun River.
Vorobyovy Gory is a spur of the Teplostan Upland, rising 80 meters above the level of the Moscow River. Large oaks, ash-trees, maples, lindens, birches, alders, willows, herbaceous plants of deciduous forests grow on the slope to the river. Small animals and birds, rare for Moscow, live here.
The territory of the park is crossed by the Luzhnetsky (Luzhnikovsky) metro bridge with the Vorobyovy Gory metro station (until 1999 - Leninskiye Gory) on it. The Luzhnetsky Bridge was opened on January 12, 1959. Due to errors in the design and construction of the bridge, it had to be completely rebuilt. The reconstruction of the bridge was completed in 2002.
Vorobyovy Gory got its name from the village of Vorobyov, first mentioned in 1453 in the will of Grand Duchess Sofia Vitovtovna. since 1473 the village was owned by Ivan III. Since that time, it has not left the hands of the grand duke. Vasily III, who fell ill, returned to Moscow through Vorobyovo on the eve of his death. He spent several days in the village, entered the city and the next day, December 3, 1533, he died. In the Vorobyov Palace, Ivan the Terrible waited out the grand fire in June 1547. Then about a third of the city burned down.
At the end of the 17th century, during the reign of Princess Sophia, a new Vorobyov Palace was built, about 80 sazhens (about 160 meters) long, wooden on stone foundations. It was replaced by the palace of the architect I. Michurin, built in 1732-1735. There were about 250 large and small halls on two floors of the palace.
In 1776, the wooden Prechistensky Palace of Matvey Kazakov was moved to Vorobyovo. It was built as a temporary one on Prechistenka in 1774-1776. The palace burned down in 1812. After him, palace construction in Vorobyov was not resumed. By the beginning of the 20th century, it was a village with a Trinity Church built in 1811-1813, which was common for the middle lane. The village survived until 1956, when it was demolished. There was no place for him next to the new building of the University. Today, only the name and on the edge above the river reminds of Vorobyov.
On October 12, 1817, the solemn laying of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior took place on Sparrow Hills in memory of the Patriotic War of 1812. It was assumed that a temple about 170 meters high would be built with a staircase to the river, with an underground temple - a crypt. But due to changes in the outlook on the construction program and because of the complexity of the soil in the chosen place, work was stopped in 1826.
Few people know that the Vorobyovsky reservoir of the Moscow water supply is located on the Sparrow Hills. This large structure with a capacity of 170,000 cubic meters of water was built in 1902 by the architect M.K. Geppener. A beautiful pavilion with an observation deck and a square was erected above the reservoir. During commissioning and filling the tank with water, plumbing engineers poured a bottle of champagne into it, bought at the nearby Krynkin restaurant, so that all Muscovites would celebrate this event. Today, the reservoir is located on the territory of Mosvodokanal, there is no access to its pavilion.
Vorobyovy Gory has always been used as a place of rest. In the summer, people came here for the whole day, families, large companies, with their own samovars, food, and drinks. Skiing here in winter. A continuation of this pre-revolutionary tradition was the construction in 1953 of a ski jump. Near the ski jump there is a ski slope and a chair lift operates.
In 1948, on a site 850 meters away from the crest of the Sparrow Hills, on reliable ground, construction work began. The building with a height of 182 meters, and with a spire - 240 meters, was built according to the project of a group of architects headed by L.V. Rudnev. September 1, 1953 University - the temple of science was opened. From the University to the edge of the hill, on which the observation deck is located, there is a wide boulevard with flower beds, fountains, cast-iron lanterns and busts of prominent scientists.
At the end of 2014, the observation deck of the Sparrow Hills was reconstructed. It contains an interactive granite map of Moscow. It is assumed that in 2015 a monument to the baptist of Russia, Prince Vladimir, will be erected on the Sparrow Hills.
Vorobyovy Gory is Moscow's main observation deck. In fact, these are not mountains, but a river bank cut by cliffs and landslides. Here, springs and springs make their way out of the ground. This place is 150,000,000 years old. Previously, there was a sea here, and then - one of the oldest human settlements.
Not much is known about the village here. In 1435, it was bought by a fighting princess, who ruled the principality, fought against the specific princes, and defended Moscow from the Tatars. She bought it from a priest named Sparrow - hence the name. Sometimes, however, they say that the mountains got their name because many sparrows historically lived in this area.
What do Sparrow Hills remember? The fire of 1547, the Crimean khans, hetman Khatkevich, who fled here in troubled times. Defense against Napoleon in 1812. They also remember the entertainment traditions of Peter I, and cannon shooting, and the first mirror factory in Russia. Sand from Sparrow Hills has long been famous for its quality and has long been used instead of blotting paper. They remember the mountains and the conclusion of peace with Turkey, and the transit prison located here in the 19th century.
On September 1, 1900, the Rublevsky water pipeline began to be built here. The city grew, there was not enough water, and then the water supply of the city went from the Moscow River through the Vorobyov reservoirs.
This prompted the idea of building a park. The idea was in the air, but nothing went beyond vague dreams. Muscovites came here for a walk - to drink tea, to listen to the gypsies. In 1924, there were peasant gardens with tables and benches dug into the ground, with handwritten signs "Wave", "Date of friends", "Eldorado", waiting for their guests.
Since 1953, the era of Moscow State University begins, a platform with a magnificent panorama of Moscow and a ski jump appears. A metro station is also being built here, but it is extremely unsuccessful - in order not to disrupt the deadlines, the builders add salt to the concrete, which leads to the rapid destruction of the structure. After some time, the station for a long time becomes a blind spot on the map of the Moscow Metro, leaving an abandoned escalator vault as a warning to the hurry-ups.
In the restaurant, located on the observation deck, Chaliapin often sang. In winter, people went skiing and sledding here, and in summer it was possible to ride a motor boat or a steamboat.
The Soviet government planned to build a whole city here - a stadium for 40,000 seats, a park, an open theater. They were going to bring all types of transport to the latter, including the plane. But for some reason, this idea was not implemented.
What Sparrow Hills now? A nature reserve with segregated waste collection, excellent information boards, a family of falcons that live here, and cozy picnic areas.
And they also invited a French artist here to capture the views of the mountains. She peered at the panorama of the city from the hill for a long time. And then she lowered the brush with the words: “I don’t dare ...”.
If you are thinking about starting new life come here at sunset and dream. Maybe this magical place will tell you something.
Sparrow Hills (former Lenin Hills) is a green massif on the banks of the river, a magnificent park with alleys where you can walk, rollerblade. This is an excellent observation deck in front of the Moscow State University building with the best panoramic view of Moscow in the city, a pedestrian embankment, a river station, many sports facilities, restaurants and souvenir shops.
We exit the metro station. m. Sparrow Hills.
If you come by car, then the difficulties with parking in places where it should not be difficult will surprise you - everywhere there are numerous signs prohibiting parking in the area of the observation deck of Sparrow Hills. You will either have to break the rules, risking that your car will be taken away by a tow truck, or stop far enough from the observation deck - the center of the route. In addition, in any case, you will park the car only where you are lucky, so we will in any case be guided to start our route from the metro.
So, we leave the subway. The subway exit is one of the most original in the city. The metro platform is located right inside the bridge across the Moscow River. It is both a metro bridge and pedestrian bridge, and an automobile bridge connecting Komsomolsky Prospekt coming from the center with its continuation - Vernadsky Prospekt.
The exit from the metro is located right in the bridge body, covered with glass. Therefore, already from the metro - an excellent view of both sides of the bridge (by the way, from passing metro trains - also). On the one hand, we see - directly Sparrow Hills, Moscow State University and Luzhniki, on the other hand - the building of the Academy of Sciences, St. Andrew's Monastery and the end of the Sparrow Hills (both the park and the embankment).
We leave the bridge to Vorobyovskaya embankment. When moving from the center, this is the direction of the first car (the beginning of the train). When looking at the Luzhniki Stadium, it's to the left.
The embankment, which runs along the Moskva River and the park located above the embankment on both sides of the bridge, is a great place for romantic walks, for sunbathing in the summer, for rollerblading.
On a hillside in a green massif there is a monument to Herzen and Ogarev.
Below, near the embankment, there is a roller skating rink for specialized roller skating.
A high ski jump with a lift reminds you that Vorobyovy Gory is a sports facility, especially in winter. The springboard is also an identification mark. On it you can navigate to the location of the observation deck. The site is located near the top of the springboard. In fact, this is the main site, but there are other sites in the park, from where they also offer good views.
However, you will not confuse the main platform with anything. Here at any time of the year - a large number of people. With photo and film cameras, with easels. Lots of tourists, lots of weddings. Entire rows of souvenir merchants.
We rise to the site, crossing the springboard line. By the way, on the lift you can go up and down the mountain by paying at the box office for a ticket. Floating over the park, you can take pictures of the views and surroundings from the lift chair no worse than from the observation deck.
On the way from the top point of the lift to the observation deck there is a restaurant with a terrace open in summer overlooking Moscow.
Nearby you can eat in a more budgetary option - fast food outlets are located right next to the observation deck.
On the main observation deck of the Sparrow Hills, we look at the panorama. Fabulous!
Directly in front of us is Moscow - the river and the huge bowl of the Luzhniki stadium, behind it a little to the right - the Novodevichy Convent.
On the right we see the bridge where we left the subway. Immediately behind him on the shore, even more to the right - St. Andrew's Monastery. And behind it is the tall building of the Academy of Sciences with solar panels on the roof, a little to the left of it - the Shukhov Tower.
If you turn and pay attention to the objects located on the far left, we see the skyscrapers of Moscow City, the pseudo-Stalinist high-rise Triumph Palace on Sokol, the Tower-200 on Kutuzovsky Prospekt, and high-rise buildings in the area see Begovaya metro station.
To the right we see the Stalinist skyscraper of the Ukraine Hotel, between the nondescript factory pipes we look at the Ostankino television tower, which is very far away. We see two more skyscrapers - a building on Kudrinskaya Square, and even more to the right - the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Between them, you can see the White House (House of the Government of the Russian Federation), the building of the Beijing Hotel, book houses on Novy Arbat and other objects.
Now let's pay attention to the central part of the panorama, located behind the stadium and the Novodevichy Convent.
It is impossible not to notice the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. To the right of it, from most points of the site (but not from all!) You can see the heart of Moscow and Russia - the Moscow Kremlin. You can see white Kremlin cathedrals and dark red fortress towers. The bell tower of Ivan the Great cannot be confused with anything. Looking at a small bell tower against the backdrop of huge skyscrapers and skyscrapers located much further away, it is worth remembering that the Kremlin bell tower was the tallest building in Moscow for a long time.
A little to the left of the Kremlin, the dark silhouette of Peter the Great with a ship's mast is a monument to the 300th anniversary of the Russian fleet.
To the left of the Kremlin - a powerful building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - a Stalinist skyscraper. You can search for other Stalinist skyscrapers. The third building is easy to find, to the right of the Kremlin on the banks of the Moscow River, which, of course, is not visible near the building - a high-rise building on Kotelnicheskaya embankment.
But the other two most remote skyscrapers - the Leningradskaya Hotel and the building at the Red Gate - are not very well visible and not from all points. They can be seen in the center of the panorama behind the Kremlin line.
Despite the fact that the Stalinist bulks are much larger than the ancient bell towers, they are also much inferior to modern skyscrapers. And the modern skyscraper is made in the style of Stalin, located much further (on the Sokol - the North of Moscow), it is visible much better. However, this building is still not included in the six famous skyscrapers.
The sixth building is best seen from the observation deck. However, it is not in the overview panorama, and in order to look at it, you just need to look around. And you will see the excellent knowledge of Moscow State University in all its glory. We will approach him.
Another modern building - a tower with a plate on the roof, the building of the hotel Svisotel Red Hills on Paveletskaya also attracts attention.
A powerful bayonet - the central monument of Victory Park on Poklonnaya Hill at the far left viewpoint is not visible from every point and can be obscured by trees. Even in this perspective, where the panorama goes far to the left, it is not visible.
On the panorama you can see many more interesting buildings, but this is the subject of a more detailed study.
Let's go to the church, located next to the observation deck of the Sparrow Hills. Church of the Holy Trinity. It is believed that it was here that Kutuzov prayed before deciding to leave Moscow. And now in front of it is a gathering place for bikers and a regular free exhibition of the most expensive and diverse motorcycles.
A little down the slope from the church is a memorial stone, which speaks of the merits of the Moscow City Hall.
Let's look back at the slope of the Sparrow Hills. Tsar Alexander initially wanted to build the Cathedral of Christ the Savior here after defeating Napoleon and solemnly entering Paris on a white horse. However, the hillside is dangerous because slides down into the river and large construction is undesirable here. Even the almighty Stalin had to change plans for the construction of the bulk of Moscow State University and move it away from the slope. But originally they also wanted to build it here.
After all, there is simply no more majestic hill in Moscow.
It was from here that the Master and Margarita in Bulgakov's novel started their farewell flight, on the slope of the Sparrow Hills the Master said goodbye to Moscow.
Content Topics
The place is unique and not only because of its glorious past. Sparrow Hills are known for their natural originality: there are rare slopes, springs, an atmosphere that acts on a person like a placebo.
Towering eighty meters above the Moscow River, they are the highest of the seven hills on which the capital is located. Therefore, millions of people strive to get to the famous observation deck, from which majestic city lies in the palm of your hand. Capturing a panoramic view from this vantage point is not only a dream of photographers. This site has been included in several feature films.
Here the heroes of Bulgakov said goodbye to Moscow, and from here they rushed on their last journey. The delightful view of the capital has been preserved on the canvases of artists and on old engravings. And on the map of Moscow, the sights of the village of Vorobyov came to us at an even earlier time.
Today this part park capital adorn ancient temples, monasteries, estates and the most majestic building of the seven Stalinist skyscrapers, erected by several thousand prisoners. The building of Moscow State University, together with the spire, is 240 meters, and its architect Lev Rudnev was awarded the Stalin Prize in the amount of 100 thousand rubles for this project even before construction began.
In 2016, an updated cable car, the springboard has been lengthened, and by 2018 a new sports complex will open its doors. And this object will surprise you with its records! They will create everything to host the World Cup.
How to get there?
- Address: Russia, Moscow, Sokolnicheskaya line, Vorobyovy Gory metro station;
- Map and scheme:
palace village
The widow of the Grand Duke of Moscow took a fancy to this steep slope and bought it from the owners in order to place the residence of the palace here in summer time for his son. Vasily the Dark loved to watch the sunset and walk along the slopes.
The village of Vorobyevo appears in her papers as a priestly one. No one knows for sure whether it was named after the boyars, or a priest who served in a local church named Sparrow.
The new owner breathed life into it. In a short time, it was transformed: a church was rebuilt, a palace was erected, many buildings were cut down, elegant gates were cut down, and a garden with a pond was laid out, where sturgeon and other noble fish were bred.
The surviving documents indicate that the wooden palace at that time was luxurious, with rich interior decoration, glass, sometimes mica, windows inserted into carved frames. Since then, the place was called the palace village, it was inherited by all subsequent rulers, many of whom have been here more than once. Ivan the Terrible, and Boris Godunov, and Alexei Mikhailovich liked to come here. Although not as often as, for example, in Kolomenskoye.
Vorobyevo was repeatedly subjected to Tatar raids. From them got to the palace, it was devastated, but not set on fire.
Wooden and tiled, he sheltered Ivan the Terrible during the Moscow fire, when a third of the city burned down, including churches and buildings up to the Kremlin.
During the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna, factories for the production of glass and mirrors were built, since the sand in this area was amazingly white. At her request, a birch grove was planted; rare specimens of trees can be found even now.
And two centuries later, Fedor Alekseevich ordered the wooden mansions with 57 rooms to be raised on a stone pedestal - this is how the basement floor appeared. A hundred years later, the logs fell into disrepair, the frame was dismantled and given to the monks of the Donskoy Monastery. The wooden palace of Catherine II from Volkhonka was transferred to the pedestal, which served the royal people for another hundred years, after which it was liquidated.
A village with four churches
There were four churches in the palace department, but locals and the reigning persons have used from time immemorial the most snow-white - Trinity.
The building, built in 1811, is an Empire style, traditional for the architecture of churches. It is small, with portals decorated with columns, single-domed, with a two-tiered bell tower. In the photographs, it has reached as an invariable element of the Sparrow Hills panorama.
By the way, historians say that on the eve of the council in Fili, the commanders Kutuzov and Bagration examined the positions here. And in the church, the great commander, who defeated the French, prayed for a victorious end to the war.
Not far from the church in 1827, young friends Herzen and Ogarev took an oath to fight for freedom until the end of their lives. Like it or not, there is no documentary evidence, but in the Soviet years a monument in the form of a stele was erected to the freedom-loving people.
In the 17th year, the Kremlin was shelled from white detachments from heavy artillery from here. Endless wars and conflicts did not harm the church, it did not close from the change of political regimes, and its bells were almost the only ones in the capital that did not stop ringing even after the Bolshevik prohibition of bell ringing.
At the foot of the hill, Andreevsky Monastery spread its “white clothes”. The monastery was known as a center of sciences, book teachings and free thought. Rumor has it that it was from her that in the 17th century the countdown of the academic system began in the capital. For more than a century, he served education until he became impoverished. The monks were forced to build an almshouse within its walls. But the library is still great. Now it belongs to the Moscow Patriarchy.
In the name of the victory over Napoleon, another temple was laid - Christ the Savior, for which money was collected by the whole world. By the way, they say that when Bonaparte fled from Moscow, his path ran through the observation deck of the Sparrow Hills, where he looked at the capital he had not conquered for the last time.
But the temple could not be built because of the sliding slope of the mountain. After ten years of incorporeal work to strengthen the embankment, all attempts were abandoned, and construction was stopped.
He opened the list of unrealized grandiose projects, to which the Palace of Soviets and a monument to Prince Vladimir were later added.
At one time, the place was occupied by workers' barracks for builders and abandoned brick factories, which at the beginning of the century before last were used as temporary prison walls. The transit prison gained fame thanks to the activities of the philanthropist, Dr. Haas, who did many good deeds for the locals.
After the demolition of the barracks, the place was vacated for festivities. Muscovites got here by highway or by boat along the Moscow River from the Novodevichy Convent. In those days, tables were popular with residents, which were placed everywhere for relaxation and picnics. For a small fee they brought a samovar.
Here, in a picturesque place where tea was especially tasty, the Krynkin restaurant appeared. It should be told in more detail.
The menu offered a spyglass
Contemporaries would sit with great pleasure today on the terrace of Krynkin's restaurant, taste an excellent chop with lightly salted cucumber with cold vodka, fresh strawberries with whipped cream. For the menu, the owner offered those who wished a spyglass for an additional fee. It was the most fashionable place at the end of the 19th century, overlooking the capital.
It was visible for many kilometers, had the shape of a palace and several levels. It was possible to get to it by road by car for 3 rubles, back more expensive: 50 kopecks per mile. This was the most popular route. In the summer, boats ran along the Moscow River to the restaurant. The romance of these places attracted many customers at any time of the year. And now it remains popular for newlyweds. Although the restaurant is long gone, in its place is a springboard. But his memory lives on in old photographs of the outskirts of Moscow.
The restaurant was ruined by the revolution of the 17th year. The drinking establishment was given over to a reading room, and three years later the palace-picture burned down. On the ashes, they wanted to build the Red Stadium - another unrealized project of the nascent Soviet government.
The owner of this land, Stepan Vasilyevich Krynkin, did not see the sad end of his beloved offspring, he died before the revolutionary events, leaving his sons a rich inheritance. According to rumors, one of the dispossessed sons himself burned the building so that no one would get it. The descendants of Krynkin were evicted in 1951, when the village was finally demolished. Their family line is still going on.
Manor Island
Sparrow Hills adorn private estates with a magnificent estate, stretching over several thousand hectares. The oldest Mamonova dacha, where the buildings of the Russian Academy of Sciences are located. It was built in 1761, and it belonged to the noble Moscow princes, but it went down in history thanks to Count Mamonov.
The territory is adjacent to the Andreevsky Monastery. The mansion was rebuilt several times: it received its majestic appearance in 1820, when it grew with a third floor built for balls and receptions, and on the side - turrets for open review. The manor area included fruit orchards, melons and gardens, greenhouses where delicious exotics were grown.
Among its owners was the Moscow governor. Ivan Fonvizin allowed a psychiatric hospital to be placed within its walls.
During the years of the Silver Age, the city council bought the property, but the revolutionary events made their own adjustments. The new government placed a museum of ethnology here, and after the war, only universities settled in the halls. Therefore, today the estate houses the museum apartments of Nikolai Semenov and Peter Kapitsa, who were directors of universities: chemical physics and physical problems.
In the other wing, a place was allocated for the Soviet nomenklatura: Alexei Kosygin and Mikhail Gorbachev came here. And the building itself surrounds beautiful park, with rare surviving trees from tsarist times.
Lenin's mountains
In the 30s, with the light hand of Ilyich's comrade-in-arms, People's Commissar Krasin, a new name was approved, the project of the monument and the Palace of Soviets - all named after the leader. Posthumous architecture filled the cities and villages of the Soviet country. What came true from this was only the Lenin Hills, which regained their original name only in 1999.
And two years before the death of Lenin, the Sparrow Hills entered the borders of the capital, and the authorities immediately began to improve the park, build an observation deck and an avenue across the river, and after the war - in 1949 - a magnificent university building, the project of which was personally approved by Stalin.
It took three years to build Moscow State University with the help of many thousands of prisoners. In the year of Stalin's death, it became the highest in Europe and remained so for four decades. The building has fifty rooms, kilometers of corridors, it has 36 floors, on the 32nd there is an observation deck. Two thousand students live and study in it, and there is everything to receive all the services without leaving the building: shops, hairdressers, a clinic, and so on.
A colorful decoration of the spire and the star is the color: many people think that this is gilding, but these are just plates of yellow glass coated with aluminum.
There are many legends around this building. For example, about the tunnel that goes straight to Stalin's dacha. That this is either a secret subway line, or a bunker. There are also horror stories about builders buried in the walls, who died in large numbers at a construction site, and it was easier to immure their bodies than to bury them in a Christian way. Suicides of students are also associated with this terrible story from the past: they say that there are many of them among non-residents. Diggers have repeatedly examined the underground passages under the university building and found many stalactites and empty bottles there.
But those who come here not to study, but on an excursion, see a very friendly place with a square, a rose garden and a monument to the founder of Moscow State University - Lomonosov.
nature reserve
During the times of perestroika and glasnost, the Lenin Hills received the status of a specially protected natural area. Everything that is located on the right bank of the Moskva River - a steep slope on which nothing can be built due to landslides and 1300 km around - remained untouched. Therefore, they left a natural landscape with oaks, lindens, maples, birches and unique flora and fauna. This reserve is the only one closest to the center of the metropolis.
Lilies of the valley and bluebells are often found on the path of walking excursion groups, which flow in abundance to the Sparrow Hills. The administration of the reserve offers to walk along ecological paths where you can meet birds and small animals listed in the Red Book of the capital. In 2013, the reserve entered the territory of the neighboring ones - Gorky Park and Neskuchny Garden.
Karamzin, Lermontov, Gorky, Blok, Tchaikovsky, Kustodiev and other famous people walked here.
Leo Tolstoy mentions this place in his epic novel. Alexander Blok wrote that the view of the capital from the Sparrow Hills is much better than that of Paris from Montmartre.
The only building that is located on the territory of the reserve is the former residence of Khrushchev. With the entire surrounding area of 2.5 hectares, it was sold to private individuals.
Sports past and present
Since the 1950s, the construction of sports facilities began on the Sparrow Hills. There was a ski springboard, a lift of 340 meters.
Ski competitions were held here in the 20s - the terrain allows. Many Soviet jumpers trained here - champions of Europe, the world, and the Olympics.
The glorious sports past will be continued in the present. The complex is conceived as an all-season one, it will help host the World Cup next year. Everything is subject to reconstruction: cable car, ski slope, ski jumps and other facilities.
The ropeway will double in size and stretch to Luzhniki. Its capacity will reach more than one and a half thousand people per hour.
According to the plan of the Moscow authorities, the best athletes of various sports will train at the Vorobyovy Gory Sports Complex. However, for beginner skiers, snowboarders, jumpers and lovers of speed skiing, the doors will also open.
After the completion of construction and reconstruction of a number of facilities, the place will become the main sports center of Moscow.
Around the Sparrow Hills there is an embankment, a highway and two whole passages with the same names - Vorobyovskie. The metro station "Vorobyovy Gory" is unique and, like many things in this wonderful place in the capital, it breaks a record for the length of the platform - 280 meters.
It is worth coming here and taking Chekhov's advice - to look at Moscow from here in order to get to know Russia.
Almost in all the works where the story is about Moscow, Sparrow Hills are mentioned. Woland Bulgakov watched the ancient city from this wonderful vantage point. You can see this place in films, but it's better to see it yourself. Sparrow Hills are filled with history and the spirit of ancient times. They changed their name several times. In fact, these are not mountains, even on old maps they are Vorobyovy Kruchi, in Soviet times they became Leninsky, and now they are Vorobyovy Gory Park.
Not a single tour of Moscow is complete without visiting them, there is an observation deck here, and it offers an excellent view of the capital.
History reference
There is no doubt that Sparrow Hills have been inhabited since ancient times. From about the 2nd millennium, these lands were developed by man. This is evidenced by numerous archaeological finds, for example, stone tools were found under the building of Moscow State University. also in different time arrowheads, various ornaments, traces of settlements were found.
The name Sparrow Hills was given from one of the first owners of local villages, Kirill Voroba. A sparrow is a nickname that may have come from a tool, a board walking around on a nail. Many times the villages changed owners, at one time royal estates stood here, and the kings of different eras rested here, hid and made their plans.
Sparrow Hills in the XX century and in our time
The village of Vorobyevo survived for a long time. Summer residents lived here, raised and kept tea houses for tourists. In 1924, the village consisted of 180 households and more than a thousand inhabitants.
Since 1917, local festivities have been held on Sparrow Hills with rides, carousels, fairs, ice cream and waffle stalls. After his death, they began to call him Leninsky, and even the nearest metro station was called that. It is located on the lower level of the bridge. The station, like the bridge itself, was rebuilt and remodeled, and were closed for use for many years. Now the park on Sparrow Hills bears its usual name.
The birth of the green zone
For several centuries, the capital's university has been asking the territory of the Sparrow Hills for its buildings and has consistently been refused. Only under the power of the Soviets in 1948 was permission obtained, and the construction of the Moscow State University building began. The houses of summer residents were demolished, and a botanical garden was grown near the university, the slopes were strengthened, the indented bank of the Moskva River was straightened, in general, the territory was ennobled. This is how the park was born.
Why visit the park
If you happen to be in Moscow, then in the list of places worth visiting, be sure to add the Vorobyovy Gory park. How to get there? This question has multiple correct answers. You can do this by metro, there is a station with the same name, not far from Frunzenskaya. If you prefer by car, there are enough parking spaces in front of the Moscow State University building on Kosygin Street.
Park "Sparrow Hills" is a protected area as green. Cars do not drive here, only cyclists and pedestrians walk. The green zone has a total length of 10 km and stretches along the embankment. There is also a forest area, and shady ponds, in good weather you can see local animals, especially squirrels. Here you can disconnect from the non-stop metropolitan traffic, relax, breathe fresh air, listen to birdsong, enjoy the scent of lilacs, the bushes of which are planted along the embankment.
Near the observation deck there is a cafe where you can have a delicious meal, and for fans active rest Bicycle rental is available during the warm season.
In addition to the observation deck and nature, there is a chairlift or funicular, where you can go down to the pier. The ski jump is 72 meters long and is open all year round. Near the observation deck is the Trinity Church, known for the fact that it was here that Kutuzov prayed before the battle of Borodino. After enjoying the Sparrow Hills, you can take a pleasure boat on the pier and view Moscow from the river. And at the next opportunity, be sure to visit Sparrow Hills again.
Gorky Park
The famous natural reserve in Moscow is a desirable place for any developer, local residents do their best to oppose this. But not so long ago, the rights to it passed to the Park of Culture. M. Gorky. This greatly excited everyone, since the first actions on the part of the park management were the construction of a fence around the perimeter of the nature reserve, and they also limited access for park regulars, athletes, coaches and others. They built a buffet, closed one of the ski jumps and destroyed the informal parking lot, which had been used for a long time and was used to. And after the rumors about the increase in the building height and the construction of an underground parking lot under the observation deck, residents began to write letters and complaints to the city administration.
People don't want change because it's not often for the better. Many are in favor of preserving a piece of nature, and not covering everything with an artificial lawn, conducting communications, and making large-scale lighting. How this story will end and whether the Vorobyovy Gory park will become another shopping and entertainment complex is still unknown. Let's hope for the best.