Rocks, stars and a park: Fersman Museum and Gorky Park

⏱ 4 h🚶 3.5 km🍽 2📍 5 stops

🚶 Moderate — 3–7 km

Gems and meteorites at the museum, the shady Neskuchny Garden and a telescope at the observatory.

👶 With kids🌳 Parks and nature

👶 3–6, 7–12 years · ✗ hard with a stroller

The Mineralogical Museum is reached by a grand staircase, with no lift or ramp — you'll have to carry the stroller or leave it outside with someone. Neskuchny Garden has steep slopes down to the river, so stick to the upper paved paths.

🗺 Open in Yandex Maps

1
🖼 Fersman Mineralogical Museum
Ленинский пр-т, 18, корп. 2
🎟 ticket
One of the world's largest mineralogical museums, in the former riding hall of an estate in Neskuchny Garden, with about 135,000 specimens.
Minerals, gold nuggets and meteorites
📖 More about the placeCollapse
© Ivtorov · CC BY-SA 4.0
- The museum traces its history to 1716: on Peter I's orders a collection of 1,195 minerals was bought in Danzig for the Kunstkamera.
- In 1745 Mikhail Lomonosov compiled the first catalog of the mineral collection.
- The museum moved to Moscow in 1934 together with the Academy of Sciences.
- The building is the former riding hall of Count Alexey Orlov-Chesmensky, from the early 19th century.
- Alexander Fersman became head of the museum in 1919, and it has borne his name since 1956.
- In November 2016 the museum celebrated its 300th anniversary.
🚶 on foot
2
🌳 Neskuchny Garden
A hilly, wooded part of the park zone on the river bank, with ravines, bridges and 18th-century estate pavilions.
Shady paths on the way to Gorky Park
📖 More about the placeCollapse
© A.Savin · CC BY-SA 3.0
© Katia Sparks · CC BY-SA 4.0
© A.Savin · FAL 1.3
- The Neskuchnoye estate was founded in 1728 by Prince Nikita Trubetskoy; one version says its name came from his balls and entertainments.
- In 1756 Prokofy Demidov built a palace here with a botanical garden of more than 2,000 plant species; it is now the Alexandrinsky Palace.
- The garden took shape in 1826–1842, when Nicholas I's palace office bought up the Trubetskoy, Orlov and Golitsyn estates.
- Under the Orlovs the garden had an open-air "aerial" theatre for 1,500 spectators.
- Since 1990 the quiz show What? Where? When? has been filmed in the Hunting Lodge, an 18th-century rotunda.
- In the 1990s the garden was a gathering place for Tolkien fans, who called it Eglador.
🚶 on foot
3
🍽 Neskuchny restaurant in Gorky Park · 🧸 play area
ул. Крымский Вал, 9, стр. 26 (Парк Горького)
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On the way from Neskuchny Garden to Gorky Park. There is a kids' room. You can change a baby at the mother-and-baby room in Gorky Park.
🍴 A restaurant with panoramic windows over the park, between Golitsyn Pond and the Neskuchny Garden: a big kids' room with toys and coloring books, and kids' workshops on weekends. Try: shashlik, steaks, pasta; the kids' menu is available on weekends.
🚶 on foot
4
🌳 Gorky Park
A big central park along the Moskva River with fountains, lawns, cafés, rentals and a skating rink in winter.
Playgrounds and rentals
📖 More about the placeCollapse
© A.Savin · FAL 1.3
© A.Savin · FAL 1.3
- The park opened on 12 August 1928 on the site of the 1923 All-Russian Agricultural Exhibition, whose layout was designed by Konstantin Melnikov.
- The park received Maxim Gorky's name in 1932.
- On its very first day the park was visited by more than 100,000 people.
- The main entrance arch was built in 1955 to a design by the architect Georgy Shchuko.
- In the 1930s the park had an amusement parachute tower.
- In spring 1943 captured German equipment was displayed here, including the first Tiger tank taken in working order.
- From 1993 to 2014 a 50-tonne mock-up of the Buran spacecraft stood in the park.
🚶 on foot
5
☕️ Garage Museum café
ул. Крымский Вал, 9, стр. 32 (Парк Горького)
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Lunch
🍴 A bright café at the Garage museum: simple food from seasonal produce and breakfast all day. What to order: the soup of the day, scramble for breakfast, Napoleon cake, coffee.