VDNKh Exhibition Grounds

VDNKh opened in 1939 as an agricultural exhibition and was rebuilt and expanded through the 1950s into something more ambitious: a park of over two square kilometres laid out on an axis with dozens of pavilions, each built for a Soviet republic or an industry and each designed in a manner meant to represent it, so the Uzbek pavilion carries an Islamic-influenced portico, the Ukrainian one is covered in ceramic wreaths and majolica, and others run to full Stalinist classicism with columns and sculpture. Two enormous gilded fountains, the Friendship of Peoples with sixteen gilded figures and the Stone Flower, anchor the central avenue. In the 1990s it became a chaotic market and the pavilions decayed; from 2014 a large restoration cleared the market and reopened them as museums and exhibition halls. Mukhina's Worker and Kolkhoz Woman stands at the entrance, and there is a Buran space shuttle test vehicle on site.

What you actually see

• The pavilions - dozens built for republics and industries, each in a different manner.
• The fountains - the gilded Friendship of Peoples and Stone Flower on the main axis.
• The Worker and Kolkhoz Woman - Mukhina's 1937 sculpture at the entrance.
• The Buran - a space shuttle test vehicle displayed on the grounds.

When to go

May to September for the fountains and grounds; winter brings one of Europe's largest outdoor ice rinks. Half a day - the site is large.

Honest expectations

The grounds are enormous and involve a lot of walking; a bike or the land train helps. Pavilion museums are individually ticketed and some are closed. Very crowded at weekends. The Soviet-era framing of the pavilions is presented largely without commentary.

Nearby

Ostankino palace and the television tower are beside it; the Botanical Garden is north.