The area around the Derzhavnaya Hotel is dominated by the All-Russian Exhibition Centre (VVTs). Formerly known as VDNKh, this fascinating park was originally developed in the late 1930s as a showcase for Soviet industrial, agricultural, and scientific achievement. Significantly expanded in a second phase of building after the war, the park has nearly 400 buildings, nearly all designed in the Stalinist neoclassical style, while incorporating motifs from the areas of the Soviet Union or the fields of endeavour that they celebrate. Probably the most famous monument in the park is Vera Mukhina's vast sculpture of Worker and Collective Farm-Girl. Like many of the VVTs's structures, it has fallen in to disrepair, and is currently being renovated.
Walking to the park from the Derzhavnaya, guests will pass VDNKh Metro Station and, right next to it, the Cosmonautics Museum. The museum is housed beneath the striking Space Obelisk monument, erected in the early sixties to mark the Soviet Union's launch of the first satellite in 1957. The museum has a wealth of material and artifacts charting the Soviet Union's massive contribution to the exploration of space.
To the west of the VVTs lies Ostankino Park, once the estates of the influential Sheremetev family, which is home to a beautiful neoclassical palace that is, unusually, made entirely of wood, and which houses a museum devoted to the decorative arts. Also in the park are a charming 17th century church and the stage of the famous Sheremetev serf theatre, which is still used for classical concerts in the summer.
