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Sokolniki
Park,
named
for
the falcon
hunt of
the Grand
Dukes
of
Muscovy formerly
conducted
there,
is
located
in
the
eponymous Sokolniki
District of Moscow.
Sokolniki
Park
is
not
far
from
the
center
of
the city,
near
Sokolnicheskaya
Gate.
The
park
gained
its
name
from
the
Sokolnichya
Quarter,
the
17th-century
home
of
the
sovereign's falconers (sokol
is
the
Russian
word
for falcon).
It
was
created
by
Tsar Alexei
Mikhailovich (father
of
Peter
the
Great),
a
keen
hunter
who
loved
to
go
falconing
in
the
area.
The
park's
current
layout
of
clearings
and
alleys
began
under
Tsar Peter
the
Great.
In
1900
a
"labyrinth",
or
network
of
alleys,
was
laid
out.
Today
Sokolniki
is
a
typical Russian park,
with
an
aging
funfair
and
other
amusements
for
children,
and
numerous fast
food stalls
all
clustered
near
the
main
entrance.
In
summer
the
central
alleyways
are
a
mass
of
brightly
colored
formal flowerbeds,
while
the
depths
of
the
park
are
a
wilderness
home
to pines and spruces, birches and oaks,
limes
and maples -
all
trees
native
to
the
Moscow
region
-
as
well
as
a
number
of non-indigenous trees,
such
as larches, cedars, walnut,
red
oaks,
etc.
The
park's wildlife includes hares, squirrels and weasels,
as
well
as
76
types
of
bird.
It
was
established
as
a
public municipal
park in
1878.
From
1931
onwards
Sokolniki
has
been
developed
as
an
official
"park
of
culture
and
leisure".
The
park,
with
an
area
of
six
square
kilometers,
is
also
the
most
Western
extension
of
a
larger Losiny
Ostrov natural
reserve
that
spans
from
the
Eastern
edge
of
Sokolniki
to MKAD ring
road
and
beyond.
The
park
territory
contains
an
amusement
park,
a
winter
outdoor ice
skating
rink and
an
exposition
centre
which
was
the
site
of
the Kitchen
Debate at
the American
National
Exhibition in
1959.It
also
contains
the Sokolniki
Sports
Palace,
home
to
the
ice
hockey
team HC
Spartak
Moscow.
The
soccer
club
in
Sokolniki
was
the
site
of
the
2006 murder of
Central
Bank
executive Andrey
Kozlov.
Sokolniki
Park
is
famous
for
its
chess
club,
which
is
located
on
the
rotunda
of
the
far
end
of
the
park's
circle.
The
chess
club
produced
some
of
the
finest grandmasters of
history.
During
the
1959
US-USSR
expo,
exhibition
matches
were
held
for
the
eyes
of
the
US
delegation,
headed
by
then-Vice
President Richard
Nixon.
In
the
1970s,
the
then-little
known
engineer Natan
Sharansky coached
locals
at
the
chess
club.
He
would
later
go
on
to
be
a
renowned refusenik activist
and Israeli politician.
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