Gorky Park

The Central Park for Culture and Leisure, named for Gorky – to give it its full title – was formed in 1928 by merging the older Neskuchny Palace gardens and those of the Golitsyn Hospital. It covers nearly 300 acres on the south bank of the Moskva River, just across the Krimsky Bridge and was one of the first places the newly-constructed Metro connected to. In the 1930s it more than just a park – it was a representation of the Soviet Union, just as much as the May Day Parade and Comrade Stalin himself.

(Click on the first photograph for a slide show and commentary)