by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 11:11 AM ET, Wed September 13, 2017
Merging historic city streets with wild natural habitats, a new 32-acre park has opened in the shadow of Russia's Kremlin and Red Square.
Named Zaryadye Park, the innovative new green space is the first major new park to be created in the Russian capital in 50 years, according to Lonely Planet.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin visited the park on Saturday to commemorate its opening, which coincides with a celebration of Moscow's 870th anniversary.
Designed to mimic some of the well-known features from Russia's landscape, the park includes artificial micro-climate areas with plants representing Russia's steppes, tundra, wetlands, and forests, Associated Press reported.
It was built on the site of the notoriously unattractive Rossiya Hotel, a building dating back to the 1960s that once had the claim to fame of being the world's largest hotel with 3,000 rooms. The massive new park cost about $223 million and was designed by the New York firm Diller Scofidio & Renfro (DS&R).
Some of the additional noteworthy features include an ice cave that will be kept below freezing year-round. The cave will feature creations of Arctic ice artist Alexander Ponomarev, Lonely Planet reported.
Another buzzed-about feature is the floating bridge, a structure spanning the Moscow River and its embankment without support.
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The park also includes an outdoor amphitheater, interactive media center, and a 4D cinema where the history of Russia is presented on a 360-degree screen.
During the course of constructing the park, remains from a medieval street were discovered under the site of the Rossiya Hotel, including old coins and medieval weapons. The archaeological findings from subsequent excavations will also be on exhibit at the park in an underground museum.
The first element of the park opened to the public was the Zaryadye Park Pavilion, which houses a virtual overview of the attraction's development.
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